RIM rebrands BlackBerry App World, confirms full-touch and QWERTY BlackBerry 10 handsets

At the BlackBerry Jam Asia developer conference in Bangkok, Thailand, RIM officials announced that the company's mobile application storefront will soon be known as 'BlackBerry World', instead of 'BlackBerry App World'.

In addition to mobile applications and games, the new BlackBerry World storefront will also enable users to purchase movies, music and other digital content.

Apart from this re-branding, RIM confirmed that BlackBerry 10 smartphones will come in both full touch as well as its QWERTY editions. This is contrary to rumours that RIM was planning to do away with its iconic QWERTY keyboard.

Evidence of the upcoming QWERTY avatar lies in the fact that the BlackBerry Dev Alpha program has been expanded to include a BlackBerry Dev Alpha C test device for developers who want to test applications on a BlackBerry 10 device with a physical keyboard.

Senior officials reiterated RIM's commitment to launch its new BlackBerry 10 mobile platform in several countries around the world on January 30, 2013.


The company here also announced updates to its developer ecosystem programs, including BlackBerry Dev Alpha test devices, the 10k developer commitment (https://developer.blackberry.com/builtforblackberry/commitment/), and updated its software developer tools for the BlackBerry 10 platform.

"Developers from around the world are joining us on the last leg of the journey to the launch of BlackBerry 10 and we are thrilled at the enthusiasm we see from them," said Alec Saunders, Vice-president, Developer Relations and Ecosystems.

"Developers asked for hardware to test their apps, and we delivered. They asked for the roadmap about the tools, and we posted it. They asked for RIM to show our confidence in developer success, and we're doing it. We've continued to refine and add on to our developer programs to ensure we are giving developers the best opportunities for success with BlackBerry 10," he added.


The upcoming mobile OS recently received FIPS 140-2 certification, which means that it will be available for government agencies, should they want to deploy BlackBerry 10 smartphones and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10.

According to RIM, this is the first time that BlackBerry products receive the certification before their official launch.

The handset vendor has previously said that it is working with more than 50 carriers to test the devices so as to have them ready for their networks.

(The writer is a regular contributor to Gadgets & Gizmos)