RIM opens App Center submissions, sets launch window
updated 12:45 pm EST, Tue January 20, 2009
RIM App Center in March
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion has set out timing related to its forthcoming Application Center, reports say. Speaking at a music business conference in Cannes, co-CEO Jim Balsillie has announced that the company is currently accepting app submissions from developers, and will officially open the App Center in March as planned. It is unclear if submissions actually began in December, as first scheduled.
Balsillie has also hinted at a strong music focus for the App Center, pointing to the current success of the MySpace BlackBerry app, and the impending release of the Shazam music recognition app within the next few weeks. The focus is likely intended to challenge Apple's iTunes App Store, which has a strong emphasis on music, games and other entertainment software. BlackBerries have traditionally been seen as strictly work-oriented phones, and currently lack a central distribution scheme for apps.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jan 2005
Typical...
Palm, Nokia and RIM could all have come up with a central store for their respective apps a long time ago -- the only reason they are doing so now, is because they HAVE TO in order to compete with Apple's App Store.
This only goes to show that they simply did not care about their market and their ecosystem previously, and frankly, still do not care -- and that is why their respective Application Stores will fail to make a difference.