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RIM Attracts 15,000 Apps For BlackBerry 10 In 2 Days
CWmike writes "It's starting to look like the BlackBerry store will be well stocked with apps when Research In Motion launches BlackBerry 10 (see YouTube preview) at the end of this month. The company held an event over the weekend where it offered app developers incentives to port their programs to the BlackBerry 10 platform and managed to attract 15,000 app submissions. 'Well there you have it. 37.5 hours in, we hit 15,000 apps for this portathon. Feel like I've run a marathon. Thanks to all the devs!' wrote Alec Saunders, vice president of developer relations at RIM, in a Twitter message. The 'port-a-thon' event was held in two parts: One aimed at Android developers and the other at apps written in other platforms, including Appcelerator, Maramalade, Sencha, jQuery, PhoneGap and Qt. RIM was offering $100 for each app ported and subsequently approved for sale in the BlackBerry 10 app store, up to certain limits. Developers could also win BlackBerry 10 development handsets and a trip to RIM's BlackBerry Jam Europe developer event." It's hard to believe that many current iOS or Android users are leaping toward Blackberry, though. If you're in one of those camps, is that so crazy?
How many of those 15,000 "apps" are actually useful, and how many are just worthless single-site frontends?
Thankfully, quick / rushed ports have never been buggy or otherwise lacking in quality. As someone that manages a Blackberry only shop, I can't wait until we finish migrating away from BES.
In the name of all that is unholy, I summon the King Troll by uttering his vile name three times:
APK! APK! APK!!!!!!
instead of an iphone or one of the Galaxy phones?
do they do anything that iOS or Android does not?
If you're a developer / company with an existing BB app, and you see that your product is about to be EOL'd because there's an new OS coming out, then it be prudent to port your app to the new version. Presumably at least some existing apps make money on RIM devices. I have no idea what's involved in the port - whether it's a refactoring of codebase or complete re-write, but 15,000 apps that want to keep pulling money in the door sounds relatively low compared to the total number in iOS or driod stores...
So essentially, BlackBerry have paid $1.5 million in order to have a few thousand apps (of indeterminate utility) in their store for launch.
FTFA:
"RIM was offering US$100 for each app ported and subsequently approved for sale in the BlackBerry 10 app store"
This isn't any indication that people are leaving their favorite fondle-slab for RIM's.
Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
I am wondering how long will it takes to review all of those apps ....
is there a alt community store for FLOSS ?
because, mine is a meego's basic (but helpful) text editor and it is pending since sunday ...
and I am ready to share sources ...
--
http://rzr.online.fr/q/qnx
-- http://rzr.online.fr/
Everybody complains about new platforms not having enough apps (even if it's in the dozens of thousands already) so companies react by trying to attract lots of apps (no matter how bad they are).
Now everybody complains that the apps are crap. So what do you want: quality or quantity? Can't pick both.
I would rather go for a smallish app environment with decent apps than the load of crap there is in Android right now.
After going through hoop after hoop to try to release an app to their store including notarized this, and documented that... for a FREE FRIGGING APP, I gave up when they told me that I needed to submit a business plan to them. I couldn't believe it.
This is what HP should have done with webOS...
Because 100 dollars is a fortune! I mean, it would get you a whole hour of my time! I will EAT TONIGHT!
The smart developer doesn't restrict himself to one platform, especially in a market that already has seen major shifts.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I wonder if Angry Birds is one og those apps. The presence of an Angry Birds port on a platform is pretty much the barometer of whether that platform is worth a damn or not. BlackBerry was done in the past few years by a complete failure to effectively respond to the paradigm shift of the original iPhone. Compounding their problems, all their competitors are sporting MS Exchange capability, and some form of mobile device management without a high cost, dedicated 3rd party server. BB10 will need to kick ass to make a dent in the market...
They may be able to brag about attracting all of these apps, but the blackberry 10 as a device itself still sucks, and everyone will still be buying iPhones and Androids.
Most of those "apps" are probably some kind of web content that was run through a packaging system to turn it into an "app".
Guess a typo in TFA got carried over into TFS. I was trying to search out all these SDK's and google got confused..
So for those interested, it's spelled exactly like the stuff you put on toast. Info here..
RIM is popular in Africa:
http://www.economist.com/news/business/21567977-its-devices-are-still-popular-there-africa-wont-save-rim-blackberry-babes
And for your amusement, check out this genius sketch from Ronnie Corbett, "My Blackberry is not Worlking" [Credit: BBC - thanks Beeb!]:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG39jKi0lI
I've had Android devices for a couple years now and frankly I miss the Blackberry's focus on email and messaging. I'm pretty excited to get a new Blackberry, and if it has some basic apps that I like, such as Songza and a mindless game, then I am going to be happy. The work/personal split personality aspects of the device is very intriguing. I really hope this device takes off so I won't be the only one with a BB10 device. :)
(capcha: prized) --coincidence?!
In all honest, Blackberry even as it stands now has better integration, infrastructure, and toe-holds in the enterprise market for mobile than Microsoft will ever get with respect to mobile. So, yeah - they'll do well and they'll steal market share that Microsoft might otherwise have gotten - and really needs. Look for BB to outsell MS in the mobile space once again with BB10.
Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away. - Elvis Presley (source: imdb.com)
Blackberry was the dominant smartphone. While many scoff at the keyboard, this phone was first and foremost meant for business. Whatever else you could say, it worked and depending on how you managed your apps and OS configuration, it had a superior life to any of today's phone. In this world everything is possible and Blackberry could get a boost in sales if their hardware and usability have kicked a notched up to match Android/IOS phones and most of all, have a superior battery life. I would go back in a heartbeat!
The only way they'll do that is if they skimp on the screen. A small or low res screen can be used with a smaller backlight. My Android phone will last nearly a week if I don't use it. It'll only go about 4 or so hours with the screen on. It's not like Blackberry have some energy saving magic no one else has access to. Their older phones with keyboards sacrificed screen size for the keyboard, giving them less screen space to illuminate.
RIM may not have the largest customer base, but BlackBerry users do actually *buy* apps (unlike Android...)
And the apps are a joy to develop, at least if you have a real BB10 to test with (I do: I have a Dev Alpha). I get a choice between Eclipse and QT Creator for my C/C++, and a huge range of libraries. The platform is QL, and now Nokia have sold that to Digia, QT is coming to Android and Win8 phone in Q3, so I can port even C++ apps between platforms easily.
What's not to like?
I figured someone would describe a bit about how to develop for the BB. Of course this being slashot we have instead fanboi rants from all directions. In any case, you can see it here:
https://developer.blackberry.com/develop/platform_choice/bb10.html
C/C++
Java
C++/QT
AIR
HTML5
are supported.
If the idiots at RIM are smarter than expected, BES will have a database with native APIs and a good way to access that from the balckberry so you can securely (as opposed to trusting the RDF or assuming Android is compromised) deploy corporate apps. "It would be nice" if my damn blackberry could pick things out of a few databases at work, and I'd trust it more for a mobile POS system than the POS mobile POS apps on android. I'd be much more inclined to trust the BB for remote admin than I am for the "assume it's compromised" andoid.
At this rate Blackberry will exceed Apple and Google's 700,000 applications in 73 days!
RIM is back on top!
I've never owned a Blackberry. But I like interesting OSes, and I like marketplace diversity. It's this sort of stuff that makes it interesting to own a device.
I have an iPhone 4. The only Android device that's tempted me at all so far is one of the recently announced Sonys (waterproof, ANT+, Sony's typically good camera) and that's about it. The current state of the market offers me very little that's meaningful in my day-to-day life, and so phones are kind of boring. Samsung vs. Apple. Android vs. iOS vs. WP8! It's Meh vs. Meh if you ask me.
I stick with iOS because it's a Mac household, I have other iOS devices, and my friends and family have iPhones. iMessage and Facetime are staples for me. It'll take an awful lot to pry me away from that.
But that said, if the new Blackberry is interesting enough, I'll give it a serious look. The small players have to work harder to make things interesting, and RIM is now a legitimate 'small' player in this market. It's a bit do-or-die, so I expect some interesting stuff.
It's voice technology that competes with SIRI would be fantastic!
"Hey hoser, in aboot 100 metres take a left eh?"
It's hard to believe that many current iOS or Android users are leaping toward Blackberry, though.
This is a very naive comment.
The author may have a point when it comes to technically aware and OS-loyal Slashdot readers, but the average consumer really isn't interested. A significant number of Android owners barely use the web browser on their phone, much less a significant number of apps. They have absolutely no barrier to platform-hopping if the new BB looks good when they come to renew their contract. iOS users are a bit more loyal, but even they could be swayed by the next shiny.
Last spring, I and a friend had our unlocked quad-band Android phones stolen while in Spain. We quickly remotely wiped them and disabled the IMEI world-wide ... which means North America and Western Europe.
A few months later, those phones showed up in Africa thanks to IMEI tracking that telecoms have. Another friend works for AT&T wireless in device engineering. No way to brick the devices when the network operator doesn't cooperate.
Used devices of all sorts are very popular in places where "new" isn't available, but there is a thriving "used" and "stolen" market.
The old Nexus S is starting to show its age - and I don't just mean the scuffs and the cracked screen - so I'm shopping.
Like many folks here, the lack of a real keyboard annoys me. I do tend to draft e-mails that are more than one or two sentences long, and the on-screen keyboard just doesn't cut it. My last phone was a Moto Charm, sort of a low powered android BB clone, and having real clicky keys was SO much better.
As for apps, the sad fact is that 90% of them are crap. Including many from large corporations. I tend to judge by comparing anything to the Craigslist app - a model of simplicity, speed, and ease of use - better than the real CL site. I can't fathom why every narrow focus app isn't the same, and I'm still amazed that people have time to develop multiple skins for an app that is otherwise half-baked.
What I'll be looking for in the new BB is a mobile computing tool/phone that is aimed at real live business stuff, not Angry Birds or iTunes. I'll be looking at how well it integrates with Gmail, Calendar, and other G-services, and how easy it is to create documents.
Three Squirrels
Yes, but many of the apps are free because there's no point trying to sell them... Unless you are very lucky or have a huge marketing budget, you either make Android apps for market visibility or in the hope that you might make something from the app advertising.
I bought a Blackberry Playbook that I am really enjoying for the princely sum of $131.00, so this is good news.
"MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
It is necessary but not sufficient for RIM to attract App developers by offering $100 for each app ported and subsequently approved for sale in the BlackBerry 10 app store.