Commentary

BlackBerry Apps Store Details Leaked

Research In Motion's answer to the iPhone Apps Store and the Android Market will be called the BlackBerry Apps Center. Images of it leaked over the weekend and give us some insight into how RIM will compete to provide content for its devices.

Research In Motion's answer to the iPhone Apps Store and the Android Market will be called the BlackBerry Apps Center. Images of it leaked over the weekend and give us some insight into how RIM will compete to provide content for its devices.It is little wonder that RIM's Apps Center will go live when the BlackBerry Storm -- RIM's first touchscreen device -- hits the market. The iPhone Apps Store debuted with the 3G iPhone, and the Android Market will launch into a beta mode with the HTC G1 when it becomes available later this month. What does the Apps Center have in store for the Storm?

Well, like the other two repositories of content, the Apps Center will allow users to browse and download content. It will be available with the 4.7 version of the BlackBerry OS. The content will not come from or be approved by the folks in Waterloo. This is a big departure from the model being used by Apple and its iPhone Apps Store. Apple maintains all the control over what's approved and what isn't. The network operators have no say.


More Mobility Insights

White Papers

More >>

Reports

More >>

Webcasts

More >>

Instead, with the RIM Apps Center, all the content will be pushed by the network operators -- in this case, Verizon Wireless. Verizon will be responsible for hosting and delivering all the applications. This allows the network operator to maintain some modicum of control over what's available to its customers. That also makes Verizon responsible for any issues that customers may have with their applications.

Other aspects of the Apps Center will allow users to search for applications that are compatible for their device. Incompatible apps will not be shown. Users will be able to quickly browse a list of available applications and drill down to find out more information about each app before choosing to download it. Information, such as app updates and notifications, will be readily available.

Lastly, the store and applications are accessed via the Storm's browser, not an on-board client.

With the Storm brewing on the horizon, I'd expect things to get windy and sweep into a Verizon store near you in the very near future.


Related Reading




Currently we allow the following HTML tags in comments:

Single tags

These tags can be used alone and don't need an ending tag.

<br> Defines a single line break

<hr> Defines a horizontal line

Matching tags

These require an ending tag - e.g. <i>italic text</i>

<a> Defines an anchor

<b> Defines bold text

<big> Defines big text

<blockquote> Defines a long quotation

<caption> Defines a table caption

<cite> Defines a citation

<code> Defines computer code text

<em> Defines emphasized text

<fieldset> Defines a border around elements in a form

<h1> This is heading 1

<h2> This is heading 2

<h3> This is heading 3

<h4> This is heading 4

<h5> This is heading 5

<h6> This is heading 6

<i> Defines italic text

<p> Defines a paragraph

<pre> Defines preformatted text

<q> Defines a short quotation

<samp> Defines sample computer code text

<small> Defines small text

<span> Defines a section in a document

<s> Defines strikethrough text

<strike> Defines strikethrough text

<strong> Defines strong text

<sub> Defines subscripted text

<sup> Defines superscripted text

<u> Defines underlined text

InformationWeek encourages readers to engage in spirited, healthy debate, including taking us to task. However, InformationWeek moderates all comments posted to our site, and reserves the right to modify or remove any content that it determines to be derogatory, offensive, inflammatory, vulgar, irrelevant/off-topic, racist or obvious marketing/SPAM. InformationWeek further reserves the right to disable the profile of any commenter participating in said activities.

Disqus Tips To upload an avatar photo, first complete your Disqus profile. | View the list of supported HTML tags you can use to style comments. | Please read our commenting policy.
T-Shirt Giveaway T-Shirt Giveaway: Each week we're selecting one great comment from our readers. The author of the comment will receive an InformaitonWeek Community t-shirt. So get posting!
Subscribe to RSS

Resource Links