Today Research In Motion revealed a new, online version of the BlackBerry App World. The Web-based storefront makes shopping faster and easier. Too bad you can't buy applications directly from the store, though.One of the many strengths that the iPhone Apps Store has is its integration with the iTunes desktop software client. For users too lazy to browse for new apps through their handset, iTunes makes it easy to do so directly from a PC. When it launched, the only way to browse for new apps in the BlackBerry App World was to do so from the device-side client. Not anymore.

Today, RIM unveiled the Web-based portal for BlackBerry Apps World. The online site lets users browse through a range of different categories, as well as sort by paid and/or free apps.

RIM has kept the look and feel of the online storefront similar to that experienced by BlackBerry users on their handsets. In fact, some of the navigation features of the Web site are identical to the handset client, such as the sideways scrolling.

The one downer is that applications cannot be bought or downloaded directly from the Web storefront. Instead, users can opt to have an email sent to their device with a link directly to the application. They click on the link from their handset, and it takes them directly to the purchase page for that application in App World. Not a perfect solution, but it gets the job done.

If you're a BlackBerry user and love the App World storefront, I highly suggest you do some browsing via the new Web portal.