1. A system for processing data packets in a mobile data wireless network, the system comprising: a programmable network device hosting a plurality of first network applications and located at a wireless edge of the mobile data wireless network; a programmable cloud device hosting a plurality of second network applications and located in a core of the mobile data wireless network; wherein at least one of the plurality of first network applications in the programmable network device and at least one of the plurality of second network applications in the programmable cloud device are in secure communication with each other to form a distributed application; the programmable network device is powered by a sandboxing operating system which facilitates deployment of the plurality of first network applications independent of hardware vendor associated with the programmable network device, and facilitates hot upgrade of the plurality of first network applications with substantially no interruption to operation of the programmable network device; wherein the programmable network device verifies authenticity and integrity of upgrades to the plurality of first network applications and the programmable cloud device verifies the authenticity and integrity of upgrades to the plurality of second network applications and wherein the verification is based on unique security keys associated with each of the plurality of first and second network applications; wherein the programmable network device and the programmable cloud device form unified capabilities using a plurality of application programming interfaces (APIs) wherein the APIs accessible to each of the plurality of the first network applications and the plurality of second network applications are determined based on a respective access level associated with each of the plurality of first and second network applications; an application repository storing distributed applications which have been tested and certified for installation in the programmable network device and programmable cloud device; and an application management portal coupled to the programmable network device, the programmable cloud device and the application repository, wherein the application management portal presents a user interface to manage provisioning, usage and de-provisioning of the distributed applications on the programmable network device and the programmable cloud device.