Friday, January 30, 2009

BlackBerry Application Storefront accepting submissions


Research In Motion's forthcoming BlackBerry Application Storefront is now accepting developer submissions. According to RIM, the virtual storefront--first announced in October--is now counting down to its spring launch: "The storefront will be an ideal spot for developers to bring their applications--whether they are consumer-focused or targeted to business users," reads the store's homepage. "The market for BlackBerry applications is growing at a phenomenal rate and the application storefront will offer you the exciting opportunity to showcase your applications to millions of BlackBerry smartphone users. It will provide consumers with greater choice, and enhanced application discovery."

In confirming its plans to introduce the App Store-inspired effort last year, RIM promised the BlackBerry Application Storefront will give developers the flexibility to set their own prices and award them 80 percent of revenues generated from sales of their apps. The device maker added it will partner with online payment service PayPal to offer consumers a secure mechanism to purchase apps directly from their BlackBerry devices. RIM also said it is collaborating with its carrier partners to provide operator-customized, on-device application centers to nurture after-market application downloads.

For more on RIM's call for applications:
- visit the BlackBerry Application Storefront homepage

Five things all iPhone and Android developers need to know

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Article Source:

FierceDeveloper
www.fiercedeveloper.com
October 27, 2008 — 1:59pm | By Jason Ankeny
Link to Original Article
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Both Apple's iPhone and Google's Android have revolutionized the business of mobile application development. Not only is the iPhone the first mobile device to illustrate to consumers the true technological promise of the mobile platform, but its accompanying virtual storefront the App Store reshaped the distribution and sale of mobile software, resulting in an unprecedented revenue windfall for the developer community. The rival Android open software platform (first brought to market via T-Mobile USA's HTC-produced G1) is no less a game-changer, promising a brave new world of developmental freedom and flexibility while laying waste to the walled garden mindset long at the core of operator dominance.

But the similarities between iPhone and Android end beyond their massive impact--as developers can tell you, creating applications for one platform is a radically different proposition from writing code for the other.

Here's a breakdown:

App Store tops 15,000 app mark--800 for Android Market

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Article Source:

FierceDeveloper
www.fiercedeveloper.com
January 26, 2009 — 9:37pm ET | By Jason Ankeny
Link to Original Article
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Both Apple and Google reported earnings last week, additionally offering up some revealing information on their respective iPhone and Android mobile efforts. Apple reported strong first quarter profits on the strength of best-ever sales for its iPod portable music device and accompanying iTunes download storefront, with Q1 profits jumping to $1.61 billion from $1.58 billion a year earlier--revenue increased to $10.17 billion year-over-year from $7.9 billion. Apple sold 22.7 million iPods during the quarter, up 3 percent from a year earlier, while consumers purchased 4.36 million iPhone 3Gs during the holiday period, down from 6.9 million phones the previous quarter but close to double the 2.3 million iPhones sold in the year-ago quarter. Apple reports the total number of applications available for download via the App Store virtual storefront now tops the 15,000 mark--iPhone and iPod touch users have downloaded more than 500 million applications in all.

As for Google, the web services giant posted a 68 percent drop in fourth quarter profits, blamed in part on its investment in AOL, but sales remained strong despite the economic downturn thanks to the web services giant's search advertising business and recent cost-cutting efforts. Google reported net income of $382 million, down from $1.21 billion in Q4 2007--revenues increased at an 18 percent annual rate to $5.7 billion, down 31 percent quarter-over-quarter. "Search query growth was strong, revenues were up in most verticals, and we successfully contained costs," said Google CEO Eric Schmidt in a prepared statement. "It's unclear how long the global downturn will last, but our focus remains on the long term, and we'll continue to invest in Google's core search and ads business as well as in strategic growth areas such as display, mobile, and enterprise."

Google senior vice president of product management Jonathan Rosenberg said during Thursday's earnings call that T-Mobile USA's G1, the first handset based on the Android mobile OS, has "done very well," and there are more Android-powered phones in the works. Schmidt later said that Google has already seen billions of page impressions via the G1, while Google CFO Patrick Pitchette said the company's Android Market virtual application storefront now offers about 800 apps. Android Market launched in October 2008--earlier this month, Google reiterated promises to allow developers to begin selling premium mobile applications through the storefront, confirming premium Android apps will launch sometime in the imminent future.