Posted on July 18, 2011, at 12:24 PM .
UPDATE: Please email tips@blackberrycool.com if you are going to enter. We need to know to help give out the prizes.
RIM is hosting a BBM Apps Hackathon Event August 11-12 in NYC. It’s an exclusive event that gives developers the opportunity to participate in an apps-building marathon using the highly popular BBM Social Platform. RIM experts will guide participants through different development approaches and techniques that leverage the viral/social functionality of BBM Social Platform and best integrate with applications.
BlackBerryCool will be identifying the best developers for the Hackathon Event and giving away one trip to the event, $500 spending money, and a BlackBerry Bold 9900.
To be eligible for the Hackathon, the developer must:
- have an idea for a new BlackBerry® application that incorporates BBM
- have the capability to build a BlackBerry smartphone app with their idea
- have a laptop with all the software, accessories and equipment needed to build their app, including a laptop loaded with BlackBerry® WebWorks™ or BlackBerry® Java®
be a resident of the United States, District of Columbia (excluding Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, New York and Florida) or Canada (excluding Quebec)
- be able to travel to attend the BBM Apps Hackathon Event (“Event”), August 10-13, 2011, and be able to confirm such availability within 48 hours of potential winner notification from RIM
- understand that the Event will be filmed and that by participating in the BBM Apps Hackathon Contest, consent to the filming of their developer story and the use of their image
Ideally, the winner will have a BlackBerry app that they want to integrate with BBM.
Click through for the rules of the contest and more details or head over to bbmnyc.com to get started.
Continue reading ‘Developers: Enter Your App Idea to Win a Trip to NYC Hackathon, $500 and a BlackBerry Bold 9900′
Posted on July 7, 2011, at 1:24 PM .
RIM has announced that BlackBerry WebWorks SDK 2.1 is available for BlackBerry smartphones. The update comes on the heels of the WebWorks SDK for the Tablet OS and provides similar functionality and APIs to the smartphone OS.
The new capabilities that WebWorks developers can now leverage include NTML & BASIC Authentication support, Camera API, Top Banner Indicator API, Enhanced Push APIs and improved rendering speeds for some applications. The WebWorks SDK also gives developers access to better app monetization methods such as better integration with the BBM Social Platform.
Developers can learn more about the new APIs at this link and can download the latest WebWorks SDK for BlackBerry Smartphones here.
Posted on July 6, 2011, at 12:49 PM .
App World 3.0 is about to go live and it looks like RIM has updated the desktop App World site. App World 3.0 doesn’t seem to have anything all that new from the consumer side, but does help developers with larger image submissions (for PlayBook), as well as other description changes in the vendor portal. The desktop redesign is really awesome though and has a more “zen” feel to it. As you can see from the screenshot, or heading there yourself, the site has a featured carousel as well as smaller carousels with the Top Free, Top Paid and Newest items. Perhaps the homescreen of the app version of App World should be designed this way too.
Check out the App World homepage at this link.
Posted on December 15, 2010, at 2:19 PM .
Frogger was the very first game Magmic ported to BlackBerry that was not originally designed and developed by Magmic. It was also the first one I did and it may have been the first branded J2ME game ported to BlackBerry. It was interesting from a number of aspects, which I’ll delve into, but it was a personal success for me as I managed to port the entire game in less than a week (granted, many, many hours over-and-above regular working hours that week); which seems more impressive now after I’ve seen so many porting efforts and how long they can take.
Continue reading ‘The Story of Possibly the First Branded BlackBerry Game’
Posted on December 14, 2010, at 3:34 PM .
Photo taken by BlackBerryCool at the event
Today in Ottawa, Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, and the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, issued the following statement:
“We are here to confirm that the Harper Government will not bring in an iPod tax as part of its copyright legislation. The iPod Tax has been proposed and supported by all opposition parties.
“We simply cannot support the opposition’s massive new iPod Tax on Canadian music lovers. The iPod Tax would add up to $75 to the price of every mp3 player and smartphone on the market. It would hurt the economy, punish consumers and families, and send the wrong message during this fragile economic recovery.”
Continue reading ‘How the iPod Tax Affects the Cost of Your Smartphone in Canada’
Posted on December 1, 2010, at 6:12 PM .
If you have a BlackBerry app or you’re considering developing one, chances are that you’re trying a variety of channels, one of which is BlackBerry App World. Like any good business, you have to have a strategy for success with App World, and you can’t rely entirely on organic discovery. Here are a few tips to maximize your success in App World.
Continue reading ’5 Tips for Success When Selling Your App in BlackBerry App World’
