RIM focuses on apps in preparation for BB10

In line with the upcoming launch of the BlackBerry 10, RIM has recently announced the new name of the BlackBerry App World which is now called BlackBerry World. Of course, rebranding their app market isn’t gonna be enough to elevate the OS to the next level. So what will? Investing heavily on the devs to ensure quality apps for the BlackBerry World.

RIM is really stepping up their game in preparation for the upcoming launch of the BlackBerry 10 OS. But instead of just trotting the tried and tested path of bringing the best communication app in the business, the Canadian company is trying a more app-centric approach that would hopefully bring them good results. Below are some of their schemes to encourage developers to create apps for the upcoming OS.

BlackBerry 10k Commitment and Appcelerator Offer

To entice developers to bring their A-game when developing apps for the BB10, RIM is running an incentive program called 10K commitment. What the program does is if the developer, in compliance of the program’s terms and conditions, earns a minimum of $1,000 on his app over the span of 12 months, RIM will pay the difference between the dev’s earnings and the $10,000 for the app.

In addition to the BlackBerry 10k Commitment, RIM has partnered with Appcelerator to give developers more reason to push for excellence with their apps. With this partnership, RIM plans to reward developers for porting their app to the BlackBerry world. For more information on how to be part of this, you can check Appcelerator’s site here.

BB Dev Alpha device and SDK Update

The company will also provide a BlackBerry Dev Alpha C device for developers who are interested in creating/porting an app to a handset with physical QWERTY keyboard. For those who are already using a Dev Alpha device, they are entitled to swap their device for a limited edition BlackBerry 10 handset given that they were able to meet a RIM’s eligibility criteria. Information about these requirements can be found here.

To ensure that each developer has the right set of tools needed to build quality and hopefully viral apps, RIM also updated the BlackBerry 10 SDK. This update enables devs to install BlackBerry 10 IDE to Mac OS X and will improve the Visual Studio plug-in along with other functionalities of the SDK.

There’s no doubt that RIM has a lot of catching up to do, but with a good game plan and a proper mind set, we think that they might just have a shot at reclaiming their old glory with the release of BlackBerry 10.