Looking in on Verizon's App Innovation Center (photos)

CNET swung by Verizon's new App Innovation Center on its opening day to see what cutting edge projects the spacious downtown San Francisco office has in store.

Jessica Dolcourt

Jessica Dolcourt is a passionate content strategist and veteran leader of CNET coverage. As Senior Director of Commerce & Content Operations, she leads a number of teams, including Commerce, How-To and Performance Optimization. Her CNET career began in 2006, testing desktop and mobile software for Download.com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems. She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on iPhone and Samsung. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds. Jessica began leading CNET's How-To section for tips and FAQs in 2019, guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones and home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick (UK).

See full bio

Jessica Dolcourt

Aug. 10, 2011 3:25 p.m. PT

1 of 13 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

Amazing view

Verizon's new Application Innovation Center, opened today in a downtown San Francisco office building, has a gorgeous view of the Bay Bridge. Perhaps Verizon hopes that the stunning scene will inspire app developers to create new products and services for use on Verizon's smartphones, tablets, and networks.

2 of 13 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

Perusing the digs

As soon as you step into the suite, you know it's Verizon's. This glowing red fixture in Verizon's signature color is only one example of the carrier's mark on an otherwise ordinary office suite. Various sizes of Samsung flat-panel displays dot the walls.

3 of 13 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

Innovation's kitchen

The red counter top screams "Verizon" as baristas pour foamy lattes for the press. On a regular business day, you can bet the espresso bar becomes a self-service scene.

4 of 13 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

Verizon's CEO

After Verizon CTO David Small addressed the modest gathering, Big Red's CEO, Dan Mead, officially opened the Application Innovation Center for business. Mead emphasized the relationship between the San Francisco Application center and its sister site, the LTE Innovation Center for devices, based in Waltham, Mass.

LTE is going to make things we didn't think possible within our reach," Mead said.

5 of 13 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

VGo bot

What good would an innovation center launch be without some fun demos to show off? The VGo, an LTE-enabled robotic telepresence unit, is operated by Gulay Kurt (pictured on the robot's screen) out of the LTE Innovation Center. Kurt controls the bot's mobility with controls on her end, as well as the camera angle and lights. The VGo unit can take photos and video. It could be used as a classroom stand-in for a home-bound student, or as an extra pair of eyes to monitor a building's security, to name two scenarios.

6 of 13 CNET, with help from Harry McCracken

Instant 3D gaming

I slide on a pair of 3D glasses for this demo of a development platform, created by BSquare, that can turn 2D games into 3D games on the fly. Here, I'm using a prototype handset with a 1Ghz Qualcomm dual-core processor to see "Desert Winds" on a flat-panel display. The platform uses 3D APIs and the OpenGLS gaming standard to nudge conventional games into 3D territory.

Since this was a demo, there was no actual game play, but I did tap the screen to toggle between 2D and 3D. I'll admit, the graphics in some action sequences did look pretty cool.

7 of 13 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

App Wall

Known only as the App Wall, this first implementation of a 9-panel LCD touch-screen app store showcases apps from Verizon's VCast catalog. Envisioned for retail stores, for instance, you tap your way through categories and apps to surface a nugget of information about the app, and a QR code for downloading it on the spot. Playing with the wall is fun. Tap and drag the screen and the top layers of the concentric circles move with you, adding in some 3D perspective--up to a point.

8 of 13 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

The new era of the jukebox

This digital jukebox, created by TouchTunes, is exactly what you'd want to find in your neighborhood, retro-fitted dive bar. Another product to come out of the LTE Innovation Center, offers up a comprehensive and thoroughly modern digital interface for finding tunes. It's sleek and graphically rich like an oversize app. Interestingly, it also has a camera lens at the top, perhaps for Karaoke, or as an impromptu photo box?

9 of 13 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

More than music

The LTE-enabled TouchTunes jukebox has some cached music and can also fetch a new song in three or four seconds over the network, Verizon's Michael Flynn told CNET. Beyond selling plays of your recommendations, it also offers advertizing opportunities on its digital face.

10 of 13 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

Cashing in

Don't expect the digital jukebox of the future to take your grimy nickels and quarters, though. It'll accept cash and even a credit card, but there's no coin slot in sight.

11 of 13 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

Augmented gaming

Launch a game on a smartphone to play merrily away but come across a pre-defined "target" of any kind--a landmark, some Skittles, or even a ticket to a ball game--to bring the game into a new dimension.

This basketball demo game uses Qualcomm's augmented reality toolkit to create a game that comes to life when the camera "sees" (or senses that it's near) the paper ticket. You can peer through the static gaming elements to see the real-world table top and another sheet of paper on the smartphone screen.

12 of 13 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

Verizon-proof room

It's not all fun and games at Verizon's new developer hangout. After today's event, showrooms will become office spaces, and this austere little closet will become a hive of activity for developers testing various slices of Verizon's LTE network in a controlled environment.

Developers will be able to work with Verizon engineers to test their apps and services on multiple instances of Verizon's real-time network, by accessing the LTE core Verizon has located in its Waltham, Mass., innovation center. The heavy door on the left effectively blocks out local interference from Verizon's network.

13 of 13 Jessica Dolcourt/CNET

Testing bunker

The RF room, as it's called, is in essence a bunker. The door is made of 3/4-inch plywood with galvanized steel on both sides, and the doorjamb is sealed with brass. The heavy arm opens and closes the thick metal slugs that keep the door in place--and keep Verizon's San Francisco network from creeping into results. It isn't exactly air tight, but Big Red's team says it will do the job.