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BlackBerry launched their app store

by Mahesh Kukreja on April 1, 2009

Research in Motion Ltd., the maker of BlackBerry phones, is set to launch its one-stop shop for add-on applications on Wednesday.

While third-party programs have long been available for BlackBerrys from many sources, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company is now following in Apple Inc.’s footstep by creating and operating a central store. Every other major company in the “smart” phone industry is doing the same.

BlackBerry App World will be available for download from RIM’s Web site starting at midday, said BlackBerry Co-Chief Executive Jim Balsillie. A thousand applications will be available at launch.

Unlike Apple’s App Store, BlackBerry App World will share revenue with cell phone carriers and allow them to profile themselves by setting up their own stores-within-the-store, Balsillie said. It will also be possible for customers to charge application purchases to their cell phone bill, if their carrier chooses to enable that function.

Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday announced that carrier stores and billing will be part of its Windows Marketplace for Mobile, an applications store that will launch with new phones toward the end of the year.

Nokia Corp., the world’s largest maker of cell phones, has several application stores but said earlier this year that it would combine them into one. Google Inc. runs an Android Marketplace of programs for the T-Mobile G1 phone, which will be joined by other phones running Google’s Android software this year.

The launch of App World coincides with a speech by RIM’s other co-CEO, Mike Lazaridis, at a cell phone trade show that starts in Las Vegas on Wednesday. He plans to profile the BlackBerry as a music-playing device, an important capability now that RIM is taking it from a business-oriented e-mail device to a mainstream smart phone competing with the iPhone.

But Balsillie said RIM has no plans to launch a music store of its own, like Apple and Nokia have.

“The key thing is to play the enabling card to all the music stores that are out there,” Balsillie said. “It would make as much sense for me to create my music store as it would be me to create my own e-mail application to compete with Yahoo and Gmail,” he said.

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Microsoft announces partners for app store

by Mahesh Kukreja on March 31, 2009

Microsoft Corp has signed up multiple software partners for its upcoming cellphone software marketplace, including Web music service Pandora, game publisher Electronic Arts Inc and social site Facebook.

The software company said on Tuesday it plans to discuss those partnerships and conduct demonstrations of the software store — set to launch later this year — at the CTIA wireless showcase in Las Vegas this week.

Apple Inc started the trend for cellphone application stores last summer and its offerings from third- party developers of software, ranging from the practical to the whimsical, have helped boost iPhone sales.

Some analysts are skeptical whether Apple’s rivals will be able to generate as much interest from consumers and developers with their own mobile software offerings.

Analysts expect BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd, which popularized email on the go, to officially launch its application store at CTIA. Google Inc already has a store for phones based on its Android system. And Palm Inc is planning one for its Pre phone.

In February, Microsoft revealed plans to open Windows Marketplace for Mobile in the second half of this year, but had not announced software partners until CTIA.

Along with a list of initial partners, the company said it expects many of its existing 20,000 mobile phone software partners to offer software via the marketplace.

DESIGN COLLABORATION

Other partners include Gameloft SA, weather website Accuweather.com and News Corp’s MySpace social networking website. The Windows application for social network Facebook will be the first to let consumers upload video captured on their phones directly to Facebook in April.

The apps marketplace will work on phones based on Windows Mobile 6.5, Microsoft’s next version of its mobile operating system, also available later this year. Companies expected to sell phones running Windows Mobile 6.5 include LG Electronics Inc and HTC Corp.

MySpace said LG plans to preload its application onto its new Windows phones in the second half of the year.

In a keynote speech at the show, the president of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices unit, Robbie Bach, will announce an alliance with fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, who will design themes to let consumers customize their phone’s appearance.

Microsoft also plans to make its marketplace attractive to carriers with options such as a share of software revenue, 70 percent of which goes to the software developers, according to Andy Lees, who heads Microsoft’s Window Mobile division.

“We’re also partnering with mobile operators very closely so they can have their own stores in the mobile market place,” Lees said in an interview ahead of the show.

This would mean that purchases could be included in the consumer’s phone bill.

“That means we’re a very friendly strategy for carriers and for (consumers),” Lees said.

He promised strong operator support for the store, but declined to name specific customers.

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Nokia’s Ovi Store to Feature Qik

by Mahesh Kukreja on March 12, 2009

Nokia’s Ovi Store, which is just their fancy name for an app store isn’t even officially launched yet, but that doesn’t stop mobile applications like Qik, the mobile video streaming app, from announcing that they’ll be a featured application in the store — probably because there’s a wait list to get in.

Qik will also be integrated with Ovi Share, a place for members to upload, store, and share their collection of photos and videos — including Qik videos of any length — from their computer or mobile device for free. So Qik users will be able to automatically crosspost their videos to Ovi Share.

Given that Qik works on over three dozen Nokia phones, their alignment with the Ovi Store and Ovi Share is a logical next step. It’s also a perfect partnership for Nokia, because it further reminds us all that Qik is readily available in the Ovi Store, while it’s more senior application competitor refuses to officially support apps like Qik that attempt to use the iPhone’s camera for video.

Ovi Share also looks to be Nokia’s answer to MobileMe’s online photo offering, allowing users the ability to store their entire photo and video galleries in the cloud. Giving Qik users the option to include their videos in one gallery is an extra incentive for Nokia users to keep all their media organized in one place. We just hope it’s not as problematic as MobileMe turned out to be.

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