Sprint didn’t plan for this! Unofficial mobile store shifts free applications

Sprint Nextel announced at the end of October that it would be launching a new, more open application store during 2010. But last night I talked to a man who has already set up a new, more open application store for Boost or Sprint mobile owners.

What’s going on here?

What it boils down to is that Sprint does have applications available for people on its network… it just doesn’t make it easy for them to get them onto their devices. Enter BoostApps, which focuses on getting apps and games sent directly to your Boost or Sprint/Nextel iDEN phone.

Wait, hold up. iDEN?

Very simply, iDEN is a technology that combines voice and data for a mobile phone. It was put together by Motorola back in 1994, and back then it allowed a mobile phone to also act as a radio, pager and modem. The network can be upgraded to 3G services, and Sprint is the biggest operator of the technology in America.

Right. So what’s the problem with apps?

Simply that Sprint iDEN is very closely regulated by Sprint. You want to talk about a “walled garden” model for app stores, Sprint was it. But that approach doesn’t work anymore. The only apps available from Sprint were ones that it had developed itself, and consumers want more choice than that. So Sprint is making its iDEN network more open - APIs are being put together so that developers can create their own apps for the Sprint network.

Ok. So how does BoostApps factor in?

While there hasn’t been an official launch yet, some of the APIs are currently available… if you know where to look. And Dennis Bournique of BoostApps did know where to look. I got to talk to him at the Buzzworthy event in San Francisco last night.

BoostApps is an unofficial app store for Sprint Nextel subscribers and, by extension, Boost Mobile subscribers. The site isn’t affiliated with, supported by or approved by Sprint in any way - but that’s ok because it only offers freeware, shareware and adware applications that are freely available. BoostApps even tests the apps before it posts them. You simply select the app you want, and BoostApps sends it straight to your phone.

What we think?

Sometimes I wonder if the operators know what’s in store for them. They have been able to run a completely independent service, capable of ignoring pretty much everyone and just doing whatever they wanted. But the important part is that they were able to do everything themselves. They’ve been completely isolated from the world for so long now. Now market forces are forcing them to crack open the gates a little. And there is a world full of playful, tech-loving geeks and programmers out there who will wedge themselves into that gap and do things the operators had never even imagined and could not possibly predict.