Lee Epting, group director of content services at Vodafone

Some applications available through Apple’s App Store are failing to meet Vodafone’s internal quality standards, accessing APIs that are non-essential for the applications’ functions, according to the international carrier’s group director of content services, Lee Epting.

“What we’ve found is that there’s lots of stuff getting into the Apple App Store that we don’t think Apple would be happy with,” Epting told Telecoms.com. “We don’t know why; maybe they’ve dropped the bar. But when we quality check these apps they fail our standards, mainly for using APIs not required for the application. So we’re more stringent than other application stores,” she said.

Vodafone recently launched a branded store within the Android market and a curated, multi-platform store of its own in response to what it has identified as a confusingly wide array of applications in the market place.

If Vodafone is correct in its assessment there is a new generation of smartphone users who are clamouring to be let back into the walled garden. It could be argued that the growing adoption of HTML5 as a rich web technology will exacerbate this problem as many see an HTML5 site as a cheaper alternative to a full blown mobile application.

Epting conceded that HTML5 gives brands the ability to bypass all other channels in the delivery of their solutions but argued that the web is, “just another touch-point. Users come in via the browser and are presented an app to download to the desktop.”

She told Telecoms.com that users exploring the device default to an app-centric world and, while widgets as a concept are becoming increasingly dynamic, there is more richness available  from native apps. “I have yet to see one new paradigm put another paradigm to death. Just look at Java,” she said. “It’s still a primary breadwinner for a lot of app developers today and is a mainstream in the emerging markets. Java will still be around for some time because people with feature phones will want content too.”

2009 has seen a rash of industry players launch their own application stores

French international carrier Orange has launched its own application store – the Orange App Shop – promising more than 5,000 applications, games, ringtones and wallpapers at launch.

The store was made available Wednesday to more than one million users in France and the UK, Orange said, through an over-the-air download to compatible handsets. From January 2010, devices including the Nokia 6700, Sony Ericsson W995 and the Sony Ericsson Yari U100i (France only) will be preloaded with the App Shop and sold in the UK and France, Orange said. Later in the year handsets from Samsung, LG, HTC, Motorola and RIM will also be made available with the store pre-loaded.

Orange will roll out the App Shop across its portfolio in 2010, the firm said, extending it to Spain, Poland, Romania, Switzerland, Slovakia, Belgium, Austria, Moldova and Portugal.

The App Shop will be used to showcase Orange branded services, including Orange TV, Orange Games and Orange Maps, as well as a range of applications and content from established, third-party providers.

Content will be compatible with a range of platforms, including Symbian, Windows Mobile, Android, Blackberry and Java.

Yves Tyrode, EVP of Orange Technocentre said: “We are giving customers a tailor-made shop window on the mobile that makes it easier to discover, download, use and manage content. Whether it’s a Smartphone user, or someone using a simpler device, we know the demand for content is there – it’s just about getting that experience right.”

Application stores have been one of the biggest trends in the mobile industry in 2009, with handset vendors, carriers and platform developers all seeking to establish stronger relationships with the end user by mimicking Apple’s genre-defining App Store.

There is much debate as to which type of organisation is best suited to operating application stores, with mobile carriers arguing they are best positioned because they serve a range of users on a range of platforms. Handset vendors, by contrast, believe that they are best placed to manage development communities built around their own devices.

“Orange Partner and our unique global network of developer centres enable us to deliver unparalleled testing, development and marketing assistance,” said Orange’s Tyrode. “This innovation network, our close collaboration with device and platform manufacturers as well as content providers and other industry initiatives, illustrates just how committed we are to reducing barriers to application development to get great content for our customers to enjoy.”