BlackBerry opens vendor storefront to Q10

At its second annual BlackBerry Jam Europe developer event today, BlackBerry announced the opening of app submissions to the BlackBerry World storefront vendor portal for the upcoming BlackBerry Q10 smartphone, writes ARTHUR GOLDSTUCK.

Developers were treated to a feast of options and opportunities as the second annual BlackBerry Jam Europe developer event opened in Amsterdam today.

Alec Saunders, VP Developer Relations, earned the biggest applause of the day when he announced that a 12 000 limited edition run of the new BlackBerry Z10 phone, in “racing red””, was being produced for developers as a “”thank you”” for their commitment to the BlackBerry 10 platform.

Intended for those who had developed apps in time for the launch of the platform last week, the deadline has been extended to February 28. Developers who had previously qualified for a BlackBerry Dev Alpha A or B testing device may swap the test device for the red phone. (Details here: https://developer.blackberry.com/limitededition/)

A Dev Alpha C device was also announced for developers: an advance version of the Q10, the forthcoming BlackBerry 10 device with QWERTY keyboard.

Several more significant announcements were made, however.

The BlackBerry World vendor portal has been opened to apps specifically targeting the Q10, allowing developers to have their apps published as soon as the BlackBerry Q10 is launched – expected in April this year.

An updated developer toolkit was also announced for the Q10, providing developers with a BlackBerry Q10 simulator, and allowing them to optimise apps for the phone’s 720 x 720 display. (Details here: http://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/02/blackberry-q10-sdk-update/)

With 1500 developers, media and analysts in attendance, BlackBerry Jam Europe was sold out for a second year in a row, indicating that interest had not waned in the intervening year, despite a long and heavily criticised wait for the January 30 launch of BlackBerry 10. At launch, the new BlackBerry World app store hosted 70 000 BlackBerry 10 apps at launch “”more apps than any first-generation mobile platform””, BlackBerry has continually reminded developers.

‚””I have never seen as much excitement and enthusiasm for a platform that compares to what we are seeing with BlackBerry 10,”” said Saunders. “”We want to keep that momentum going and are today announcing updates to the toolkit, our reward and incentive programs, and more. We are listening to our community and are evolving our programs to help them achieve success on BlackBerry 10 and be recognized for their efforts and accomplishments.‚””

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