FIRST PICS: BlackBerry App World online software store goes live

First Apple, then Android — now it’s BlackBerry’s turn to enter the app store stakes. RIM beat Microsoft and Nokia to the launch of their respective online software stores with the overnight debut of the BlackBerry App World.


The service kicks off in the US, Canada and the UK, and is due to arrive in Australia later this year – although we’re hoping for sooner rather than later.

It runs on all BlackBerry smartphones fitted with a trackball or touch-screen running BlackBerry OS 4.2 or higher. This covers all recent models such as the Pearl 8220 Flip, Curve 8300 and Curve 8900, Bold 9000 and Storm 9500, in addition to earlier models from the first Pearl 8100 series which have been updated from their factory-shipped OS.

The BlackBerry App World client will be preloaded into new models released in countries where the service is available, and can also be downloaded directly by visiting www.blackberry.com/appworld from the BlackBerry’s browser.

Apps can be downloaded over the mobile phone and Wi-Fi networks, with the store automatically detects the device being used and shows only applications suited to that model – so anyone not using the Storm won’t be need to wade through apps designed for a touchscreen, for example.







The App World predictably mixes business and personal software in free and commercial versions. However, whereas Apple collects the money for paid apps through its long-established iTunes service, RIM backtracked on its original intention to have carriers add the cost of software purchases to the customer’s phone bill.



Instead, RIM has partnered with PayPal and decreed the online payment service as the sole way to buy your BlackBerry apps. This is handy for the many millions who already have a PayPal account, but less so if you don’t want to sign up for the service – something you’re forced to do if you don’t have an existing PayPal account.

(RIM also abandoned plans to have local carriers host the app catalogue, and has assumed full control of the service itself. That’s welcome news to those fearing that a carrier might blacklist apps which competed with its own network services such as music downloads and navigation.)

RIM expects to have 1,000 programs on the App World menu by the end of this week. That first crop will include offerings from Bloomberg, The New York Times, Lonely Planet, Pandora, Shazam, salesforce.com, Viigo and WorldMate.

The ‘My World’ folder keeps track of all applications you’ve downloaded and also manages the process of reinstalling applications and transferring purchased apps to a new BlackBerry device. Users can also recommend BlackBerry apps to their friends via email SMS or BlackBerry Messenger.