I spoke today with the brainiac behind O2 Litmus, which is O2’s latest foray into the world of developer communities. I’m sure many of you will remember the Source O2 days and its successor.

O2 Litmus promises to be different. It’s still mostly in stealth mode with a very low-key sign-up page. I guess we can’t fault them for that, even though stealth mode is generally frowned upon in the Web 2.0 list of commandments.

The general prospect is for O2 Litmus to bring together mobilists and their wares with early adopters. This is a fantastic model and one that I have advocated in numerous workshops with operators when I’ve shared my model for how to develop a ‘Mobilization Factory,’ by which I mean a way for operators to create a conveyor belt of innovative and useful mobile services without encumbering the output with their legacy processes - and, it has to be said, with their legacy mindset.

As hard as many Web 2.0 aficionados try to dismiss the world of operators, the world ain’t that simple. I’ve always felt that an operator with the right approach could still create an updraught of interest and demand in ‘mobile data’ services. What we do know is that this would inevitably mean embracing Web 2.0 as the ecosystem. Vodafone’s betavine attempts such a brave step, but it lacks total commitment to the cause. Whilst sporting a Web 2.0 skin with RESTful APIs (blah-de-blah) and online community participation, it struggles to legitimise itself as a means for developers to make money. Indeed, this was my main criticism of it when I visited (and quickly left).

Bottom line is that developer communities need to overwhelm the developers with stuff and opportunity, which has to at least have the smell of money. Whilst developers love to play in the sand pit of technological possibilities, what developer doesn’t secretly harbor a desire to be at least a successful Micro-ISV or the next Google (or even Twitter without a monetization plan in sight)?

Back when operators first ventured into developer community building, we were already spoilt by the likes of the Microsoft MSDN offering, which was like a feast of opportunity. OK, so it supposedly costs hundreds of millions to run a successful developer community, but at what point does an operator decide that this is core to their business? Hence, my comparison of Betavine with the $100 venture fund announced at the iPhone 2.0 roadmap launch.

Things have moved on. This is Web 2.0 world where networks can make a difference. Nonetheless, money is still what makes the developer world go round. If O2 Litmus can get this bit right, then it stands to make a difference to the world of mobile apps.

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