The new BlackBerry Theme Studio 6 Public Beta 2 is available for download in the Developer Zone and it provides support for new and upgraded devices with BlackBerry 6. The new Theme Studio as has import functionality for theme projects designed on previous versions of Theme Studio. Translating your BlackBerry Theme Studio 5 projects to 6 is a simple three step process so you can quickly transition to the new software. Another cool feature of Theme Studio is a simplified theme export for App World so you can quickly submit your BlackBerry 6 themes.
For BlackBerry Theme and App developers, it’s important to check your download/sales reports, and figure out how your product is doing in App World. Ideally, you’re meant to learn more about what sells and how best to tailor your product(s) to fit what users are demanding. A good strategy to success in App World is to have a large portfolio of apps or themes, but as your portfolio increases, it becomes more difficult to manage all of these apps/themes. Here is a typical example of how a developer, with many products in his/her portfolio, would find managing these products given the current features of the App World vendor portal. Continue reading ‘The Arduous Task of Monitoring Your Portfolio in App World’
In a recent Tweet from Mike Kirkup, director of developer relations at RIM, we heard that by the end of January, RIM will be launching an updated beta version of Theme Builder with support for all 6.0 devices. Themes for BlackBerry 6 are pretty interesting because BlackBerry 6 is sort of a theme itself. RIM has gone through a lot of changes in how the UI works, and it wouldn’t be surprising to find out that fewer themes are being purchased as users upgrade to the latest OS. It should also be interesting to see if the upcoming QNX OS will support themes.
Hedone Design’s latest theme looks perfect for anyone interested in winter sports and with all the snow the East coast has been having lately, there are going to be lots of people hitting the slopes. The Loop theme comes with a customizable vertical slider menu that descends from the top of the screen. Device coverage is a little limited to modern devices, and includes: Continue reading ‘Loop Theme is Perfect for the Snowboarding and Skiing Enthusiasts’
When BlackBerry 6 was ramping up, we saw a few themes that gave users the ability to get a BlackBerry 6-like experience before launch. Now that the PlayBook has been getting a lot of media coverage and screenshots, we have a few themes out there that seek to mimic the UI and experience. We know that the PlayBook and QNX OS are coming to smartphones, and while it probably won’t look exactly like the PlayBook, we’ll definitely see a lot of the same features. It will be cool to see theme developers take a shot at guessing what a QNX OS BlackBerry UI would look like.
