Desperately Seeking Developers: RIM Offers Appcelerator’s 390,000 Titanium Devs Incentives To Port Apps To BlackBerry 10

BlackBerry 10 devices are still months away from being launched but RIM is ramping up the noise about its next gen platform — partly to make sure potential customers don’t forget the OS is coming, but also to try to rally developers to its cause so those BB10 devices arrive with some semblance of an ecosystem behind them. Hardware alone doesn’t cut it these days, it’s the army of developers beavering away beneath your platform that ultimately determines whether it lives or dies.

In its latest play, RIM is hoping to woo Titanium developers, who use the popular app-building platform Appcelerator, to port their apps to BlackBerry10.

A pre-release version of the Titanium cross platform mobile app SDK that supports BlackBerry 10 will land on December 7. RIM is also offering incentives to Titanium developers to port their apps — namely

  • The first 1,000 developers will receive a BlackBerry Dev Alpha test device, once their application has been submitted for review on the BlackBerry World storefront
  • Up to 10,000 developers will receive one year of free Appcelerator Cloud Services (ACS) and Analytics, once their app is approved and available for sale on BlackBerry World
  • Applications that have been submitted can qualify for the BlackBerry 10k Developer Commitment

RIM claims that Titanium’s cross platform capabilities will enable developers to reuse between 65 to 90 percent of their code when they port apps from rival platforms such as iOS and Android to BlackBerry 10.

The eagle-eyed among you will have spotted that RIM has shortened the name of the ‘BlackBerry App World’ app store to just ‘BlackBerry World’ — TNW reports this is a “symbolic” renaming owing to planned expansion of content on the store, encompassing not just apps but “music, movies and multimedia”.

Also today, RIM announced a new BlackBerry Dev Alpha device which includes a keyboard — known as BlackBerry Dev Alpha C — so developers can test BB10 apps on a traditional Qwerty-packing BlackBerry handset.

Other developer focused announcements include the latest version release of the BlackBerry 10 SDKs — which is due to come out of beta into full launch on December 11.

RIM’s releases follow below

BlackBerry 10 Developer Program Updated

Tools updates, new rewards, hardware opportunities, and revenue commitments to help drive further momentum among developers

Bangkok, Thailand – BlackBerry Jam Asia – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced updates to its developer ecosystem programs, including BlackBerry® Dev Alpha test devices, the 10k developer commitment, updated tools and more. These programs continue to drive enthusiasm from the developer community as they build 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 10and we are thrilled at the enthusiasm we see from them. We have worked hard, and continue to work hard to meet the needs of developers,” 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.”

BlackBerry Dev Alpha C

The BlackBerry Dev Alpha program is expanding 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. For now, developers can sign up for more information on how they can qualify for this upcoming test device. More information is available at: http://developer.blackberry.com/devalphac

BlackBerry Dev Alpha Device Swap*

Developers currently testing their applications on BlackBerry Dev Alpha test devices can now apply to be eligible for a limited edition BlackBerry 10 device. RIM will swap a BlackBerry Dev Alpha test device for a limited edition BlackBerry 10 smartphone after the launch. The deadline for applying is January 21, 2013 and developers must have an app submitted and approved on BlackBerry® World™. More information is available at: http://developer.blackberry.com/limitededition

Quality Apps and the BlackBerry 10k Commitment** 

The Built for BlackBerry® certification lab is now open. Developers can submit their apps for testing to earn the Built for BlackBerry designation, which will signify a high-level of quality for customers. Developers can submit an app for Built for BlackBerry certification once the app has been submitted on BlackBerry® World and approved for sale. Applications need to pass the certification before they can be considered for the 10k commitment. RIM has previously announced that it would top up the amount an eligible developer earns on a BlackBerry 10 app to $10,000, if the app has been approved through the Built for BlackBerry program, and has earned a minimum of $1,000 over 12 months. More information and the full Terms and Conditions are available at: http://developer.blackberry.com/builtforblackberry/documentation/10kterms.html

BlackBerry 10 SDK Update

The BlackBerry 10 SDKs get their latest update today. The developer community has been providing feedback on the tools and this update will add support for installing the BlackBerry 10 IDE on Mac OS X, an update to the Visual Studio Plug-In beta, forward compatibility for BlackBerry® WebWorks™ HTML5 apps, sensor and orientation APIs for BlackBerry WebWorks, and more. The BlackBerry 10 SDKs will come out of beta into full launch on December 11, 2012. More information is available at: http://developer.blackberry.com

BlackBerry App Generator Gold Launch

The BlackBerry® App Generator, powered by Mippin, can turn online content (Rss, Facebook® brand/fan pages, blogs, online galleries, etc.) into a great looking native BlackBerry app within minutes. Apps built with the BlackBerry App Generator for BlackBerry® OS 5, OS 6, OS 7 and the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet include social sharing organically, including BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) integration. The BlackBerry App Generator can automatically take current BlackBerry App generator apps and create a BlackBerry 10 application, and publish it on BlackBerry World in time for the launch of BlackBerry 10. More information is available at: http://www.blackberryappgenerator.com/blackberry/
BlackBerry and Appcelerator Offer*

RIM and Appcelerator are working together to offer developers a unique opportunity to port their apps with Appcelerator’s Titanium™ platform and be rewarded for their efforts. The first 100 Appcelerator developers will receive a BlackBerry® Dev Alpha test device once their applications have been submitted for review on BlackBerry World. Up to 10,000 developers will receive one year of free Appcelerator Cloud Services and Analytics once their apps are approved and up for sale on BlackBerry World. More information is available at: http://www.appcelerator.com/blackberry10

 

Appcelerator and RIM Join Forces to Reward Mobile Developers

Appcelerator’s 390,000 Titanium Developers incented to build and port for BlackBerry 10 with financial rewards, free services, and testing hardware

Mountain View, CA and Waterloo, ON – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, and Appcelerator®, a leading mobile development platform provider, today announced that they are working together to offer mobile developers a number of incentives, including financial rewards, free services, and testing hardware, for creating BlackBerry® 10 applications.

The incentives are open to Appcelerator’s ecosystem of over 390,000 developers, who have 50,000 applications deployed worldwide on over 90 million devices. Through the power of Titanium’s cross platform capabilities, developers and enterprises will be able to build and port their applications to BlackBerry 10, and Appcelerator indicates that developers should have the ability to reuse between 65-90% of their code as they port from other leading platforms to BlackBerry 10.

Titanium for BlackBerry 10 will be available on December 7, 2012 in a prerelease version.

Incentive programs for developers will include the following*:

  • The first 100 developers will receive a BlackBerry® Dev Alpha test device, once their application has been submitted for review on the BlackBerry® World™ storefront
  • Up to 10,000 developers will receive one year of free Appcelerator Cloud Services (ACS) and Analytics, once their app is approved and available for sale on BlackBerry World
  • Applications that have been submitted can qualify for the BlackBerry 10k Developer Commitment

“Developers and enterprises continue to look for robust cross-platform solutions and we are thrilled to work with Appcelerator to have Titanium support for BlackBerry 10,” said Alec Saunders, Vice President, Developer Relations and Ecosystems, RIM. “Appcelerator’s community will not only have the ability to leverage Appcelerator’s native applications for faster porting, but will also be part of the growing momentum for BlackBerry 10 and be able to take advantage of the phenomenal programs we have for developers, such as the 10k commitment.”

According to Appcelerator, customers who standardize on the Titanium platform can get to market up to 70 percent faster and can quickly optimize business results with analytics-driven insights into user behavior and app performance. Appcelerator Analytics gives developers insight on how apps are performing, what features are being used the most, and where there are opportunities for improvement. Appcelerator Cloud Services (ACS) offers a fast and easy way to build connected apps with services including status updates, photo storage and social integration.

 

“As Appcelerator announced at the BlackBerry World 2012 conference in May, we are committed to delivering outstanding support for BlackBerry10 within Titanium,” said Sandeep Johri, Chief Operating Officer, Appcelerator. “In our quest to deliver native apps across all the major platforms, we are excited to roll out compelling incentives for Appcelerator’s mobile developer community, including the tools for building and bringing apps to BlackBerry 10.”

Appcelerator will demonstrate Titanium support for BlackBerry 10 at BlackBerry Jam Asia in Bangkok, Thailand, November 29-30, and will host an on-site developer workshop. RIM will offer training and support through a webcast beginning the week of December 10, 2012.

Titanium (final code) support for BlackBerry 10 is expected to launch in the New Year, ahead of the BlackBerry 10 launch event, which is scheduled for January 30, 2013.