Developers have ported another 19,000 apps
to BlackBerry 10, leading Research in Motion (RIM) to extend the deadline for
its various programs aimed at encouraging coders to commit to its platform.
As we noted last week, a previous port-fest
saw 15,000 apps readied for the new version of the other major fruity mobile
operating system. The lure for developers is $US100 in hand for each app they
port, plus a guarantee that if an app cracks $1,000 in sales RIM will guarantee
$10,000 in revenue, making up the difference itself if needs be.
Those schemes appear to be working, as the
company has extend the deadline for submitting newly-ported apps until February
8th. RIM's VP of developer relations Alec Saunders has blogged
http://devblog.blackberry.com/2013/01/extending-the-deadline-for-built-for-blackberry/
that the level of interest in the programs is “remarkable”.
Of course he would say that, wouldn't he?
So it is hard to know if the scheme was always going to wind up last weekend or
if a cunning plan was in place to demonstrate momentum and encourage laggards
to have a go.
Either way, BlackBerry 10 seems set to
launch with at least 34,000 apps, an impressive number for a new platform. Even
Windows 8 (on the desktop) launched with only about 9,000.
RIM has bled market share in recent years,
leading many observers to suggest Black Berry is a bet the company release.
With 34,000 apps in the can, it certainly doesn't look like a dying platform,
nor does life as a zombie look entirely terrible.
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