Rumor: BlackBerry App World 3.1 Coming Soon with “App Gifting” Feature

by the BerryReview Team on November 16th, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Posted in News

I have always been pushing RIM to drive App World improvements at a faster pace. Right now they have been on a 6-9 month release cycle even for small features and that needs to be sped up. Bla1ze over @CrackBerry got word that an update to App World bringing v3.1 is coming soon and being tested internally at RIM. It supposedly allows you to gift apps (aka purchase them for others) through App World. It also supposedly offers full Wi-Fi support to work even without a cellular connection.

These are nice features but there are Major Features that I feel App World needs to implement yesterday:

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“Themes” Start Showing Up in PlayBook App World

by Ronen Halevy on November 11th, 2011 · 2 Comments

Posted in News PlayBook

This one is a real head scratcher. RIM has yet to confirm or deny if developers will be able to theme the BBX OS like they can with BlackBerry 6 devices and earlier. Still that has not stopped RIM from opening up a new category in App World for the PlayBook for themes. The thing is the first “Theme” in that category is really just an app with some wallpaper options. The app is called “Christmas Themes” by Matthew Bailey for $1.99 which offers you multiple Christmas themed backgrounds for your PlayBook.

What do you think about this? Should RIM be marketing these in a separate “Themes” category?

Thanks Terrence for the pictures and other for sharing the news!

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DavidJAtkins.com ( View Profile) Newcomer - Posts: 6

Posted: November 11, 2011 at 8:47 AM EST

Oddly enough this Themes header has appeared all week – until today…

scuebydue ( View Profile) Master - Posts: 854

Posted: November 11, 2011 at 8:55 AM EST

David is right. It is gone now. Personally, I think it should go under a wallpaper or personalization group. It’s not really a theme.

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Updated: RIM Deletes Mention of Removing App World From PlayBook OS 2.0 Developer Beta

Update: RIM let us know that their note in their blog post this morning that said App World not being included in this version of the PlayBook OS 2.0 developer build “was a typo that has since been removed.”  Hopefully that means RIM is not even considering it anymore. Now I can finally download the update and check for myself.

That was quick! We told you earlier today that RIM posted up a new version of the PlayBook OS 2.0 Beta with a huge disclaimer. It specifically said that they had removed App World from the development beta. Now just a few hours later that text has been removed from RIM’s announcement and updaters are reporting that they are getting App World. Specifically RIM’s old blog post said (from Google Cache):

Please note that this build is strictly designed for developers and is NOT a build designed for consumer use, since some apps built for BlackBerry PlayBook OS v.1.0.7 may not work correctly. As such, we have removed the BlackBerry App World™ storefront from this developer build (you can still “side load” your applications for testing). If you’ve downloaded and installed this build by accident, or if you’d like to return your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to its previous state, check out our guide to downgrading on the Inside BlackBerry Help Blog.

While the updated announcement now reads:

Please note that this build is strictly designed for developers and is NOT a build designed for consumer use, since some apps built for BlackBerry PlayBook OS v.1.0.7 may not work correctly. If you’ve downloaded and installed this build by accident, or if you’d like to return your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to its previous state, check out our guide to downgrading on the Inside BlackBerry Help Blog.

Notice the retraction? Hopefully that means that RIM has realized how big of a colossal screw up it would be to remove App World from development builds. If anything they could simply not allow users of Dev Builds to leave reviews on apps in App World. What do you think?

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RIM Deletes Mention of Removing App World From PlayBook OS 2.0 Developer Beta

That was quick! We told you earlier today that RIM posted up a new version of the PlayBook OS 2.0 Beta with a huge disclaimer. It specifically said that they had removed App World from the development beta. Now just a few hours later that text has been removed from RIM’s announcement and updaters are reporting that they are getting App World. Specifically RIM’s old blog post said (from Google Cache):

Please note that this build is strictly designed for developers and is NOT a build designed for consumer use, since some apps built for BlackBerry PlayBook OS v.1.0.7 may not work correctly. As such, we have removed the BlackBerry App World™ storefront from this developer build (you can still “side load” your applications for testing). If you’ve downloaded and installed this build by accident, or if you’d like to return your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to its previous state, check out our guide to downgrading on the Inside BlackBerry Help Blog.

While the updated announcement now reads:

Please note that this build is strictly designed for developers and is NOT a build designed for consumer use, since some apps built for BlackBerry PlayBook OS v.1.0.7 may not work correctly. If you’ve downloaded and installed this build by accident, or if you’d like to return your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to its previous state, check out our guide to downgrading on the Inside BlackBerry Help Blog.

Notice the retraction? Hopefully that means that RIM has realized how big of a colossal screw up it would be to remove App World from development builds. If anything they could simply not allow users of Dev Builds to leave reviews on apps in App World. What do you think?

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BlackBerry App World v3.0.1.29 Rolled Out to Everyone

If you have not already received it you will shortly be getting an update notification for App World. RIM has rolled out v3.0.1.29 of App World following a Beta Zone version of v3.0.1.28. My guess is that they are pretty much the same but you can check it out for yourself sans keycode.

You can pick up the download directly at www.blackberry.com/appworld from your BlackBerry

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RIM Adds * Thank You Gift * Category to App World for Outage Apps

RIM said they would start offering the free apps that they promised to help compensate for the Outage last week and they started showing up today with DriveSafe.ly. Now RIM has a new category in App World called * Thank You Gift * just for these apps. RIM even sent out an email to developers that this category is for RIM’s use only saying:

We have added a new category in BlackBerry App World entitled ‘* Thank You Gift *’. This category is reserved for use by RIM only

If you put an app in this category, whether intentionally or not, we will deny it until you revert the category back.  Reapproving the app after you revert the category may take upwards of one week to complete.

So keep your eyes pealed on the * Thank You Gift * category for the latest in free apps!

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Devs: RIM Shares How BlackBerry Devs Make Money in App World

RIM shared some interesting stats at BlackBerry DevCon. They had the VP of App World, Dr Ronjon Nag, talking about the stats for App World. Nag was sharing some stats that we already heard and others that we have never heard of before like BlackBerry apps getting almost 50% more downloads than iOS and Android. Also RIM shared how devs can get their apps featured in the last slide.

 

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BBM 6.0.1 & App World 3.0.1 Maintenance Releases Coming Tomorrow?

We just heard from a solid source that RIM is planning on rolling out maintenance releases for both BlackBerry Messenger and BlackBerry App World tomorrow (October 11th). App World v3.0.1 is supposed to include general performance enhancements to application response time with no new features. BlackBerry Messenger v6.0.1 is going to be available for OS 5.0+ devices and includes Social Platform API changes and general performance enhancements with no new features.

When they go live we will let you know along with the full change log. Keep an eye out for them and let us know!

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BlackBerry App World Hits 45,000+ Apps, Games, & Themes

Alex pointed out to us earlier this week that App World now has 45,000+ items available. That is a nice ramp up though I am sure they would want to hit 50,000+ for DevCon but that is probably not going to happen. The break down between the three categories for Apps, Themes, & Games works like this:

Something tells me the Android Player for the PlayBook is going to change those numbers drastically. On the other hand I don’t like reading too much into the numbers. Like the many other app stores, App World suffers from spam apps that really don’t belong together with apps or are duplicates of the same app. For example, 12,223 of items in the “Apps” category are in the Reference & eBooks section which translates into 10,659 eBooks in an App Store. In other words there are more than twice as many eBooks than games… I saw one eBook dev split up a book into three parts just to make it three apps…

Either way congrats to the App World team on hitting some more tonnage. Now we just need to boil down those apps to actually useful apps and forget the numbers…

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RIM y Vodafone España ofrecen el pago en factura de las compras realizadas en el BlackBerry App World

Y otra de las novedades que ha presentado hoy Vodafone es el pago de las compras realizadas con BlackBerry App World con la factura del propio operador. Según han contado la forma de pago a través del operador puede incrementar x7 las ventas de App World debido a la confianza del pago que da a mucha gente, en vez de tener que escoger la tarjeta de crédito o la cuenta de PayPal. Aquí os dejo la nota de prensa:

Vodafone España y RIM colaboran para que las compras de aplicaciones de BlackBerry se facturen directamente a través del operador

Madrid 31 de agosto de 2011– Research In Motion (RIM) y Vodafone España firman un acuerdo de colaboración por el cual sus clientes pueden adquirir todas las aplicaciones contenidas en el BlackBerry App World con la facilidad de que el pago se realice directamente en su factura de móvil.

Este sistema permite a los clientes de Vodafone España adquirir aplicaciones desde BlackBerry App World con la máxima rapidez, facilidad, y seguridad, reduciendo el numero de pasos para realizar la compra y sin tener que ofrecer los datos de tarjeta o bancarios.

Además el BlackBerry ID permite a los clientes identificar de una forma segura e independiente el dispositivo tanto para el uso de BlackBerry App World como para esta nueva opción de pago, ya que los usuario transfieren directamente su biblioteca personal de aplicaciones compradas o gratuitas al adquirir o cambiar a un nuevo modelo de BlackBerry. Además, BlackBerry ID es un sistema que protege las compras de los usuarios si el smartphone se pierde o es robado, lo que impide que otros usuarios compren productos BlackBerry protegidos por contraseña.

BlackBerry App World 3.0 ya disponible para su descarga para todo el mundo

Después de pasar por un período de Beta pública, la nueva versión de App World 3.0 ya está disponible para su descarga oficialmente.

Para su descarga directa desde el dispositivo Smartphone BlackBerry acceded a: http://www.blackberry.com/appworld

Más información en: http://es.blackberry.com/services/appworld/?

Fuente: http://www.bbin.in/

Vodafone Spain now supports carrier billing on BlackBerry App World

 

We've slowly been seeing networks support carrier billing for BlackBerry App World. Most recently we saw T-Mobile, A1 Telekom and Vodafone UK make the move, now we see Vodafone Spain jump on the carrier billing wagon too. This method of making purchases on App World has cetrainly been  most welcomed by BlackBerry users as it allows them to pay for the application through their bill, a lot more convenient that having to use Paypal. 

Hopefully we can see more networks adopt the carrier billing method soon.

Read the full Press Release 

BlackBerry App World 3.0 Change Log – Website Getting Iterative Updates

We mentioned that App World was officially updated to v3.0 for all users yesterday but we did not have an official change log. Thanks to their official forums admins we now have one you can see below. The other thing I noticed while looking through the documentation is that the App World website, vendor portal, and purchasing API have been getting regular iterative updates in the form of maintenance releases. We knew about at least one of those but it turns out that RIM is now on App World 3.0 MR3 for their website.

That includes the initial 3.0 website rollout on July 5th along with a August 4th MR1, August 23rd MR2, and September 2nd MR3. You can check out those change logs here but they mostly seem to be cleaning out bugs. This is a godsend because RIM previously used to wait for a major version update to fix bugs on their website like the annoying Firefox search bug in v2.0.

Here is the change log for the on device App World 3.0 release (Release notes here)

Announcing App World 3.0

Product Overview

Explore the sleek new BlackBerry® App World™ storefront, where a world of inspiration is waiting for you. Make play time more fun and personalize your BlackBerry® smartphone, find the hottest games and entertainment, and get apps that help you stay connected with the people who matter. And, find new ways to boost your productivity—with apps that give you easy access to the information you want and need.

For additional support related questions please visit www.blackberry.com/support/appworld

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BlackBerry App World 3.0 ya disponible para su descarga para todo el mundo

Después de pasar por un período de Beta pública, la nueva versión de App World 3.0 ya está disponible para su descarga oficialmente.

Para su descarga directa desde el dispositivo Smartphone BlackBerry acceded a: http://www.blackberry.com/appworld

Más información en: http://es.blackberry.com/services/appworld/?

Fuente: http://www.bbin.in/

BlackBerry App World 3.0 Comes Out of Beta – Download it Now!

We knew it was coming but now it is official. Shahzoor from BBin.in let us know that RIM has unleashed BlackBerry App World 3.0.0.73 out of the Beta Zone. That means all of you can now download the updated version of App World without having to enter in Key Codes and jump through hoops.

You can pick it up at www.blackberry.com/appworld from your BlackBerry!

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BlackBerry App World Rolls Out to 14 New Countries

Its nice to see that BlackBerry App World is getting closer to worldwide availability. JD let us know that RIM sent out a tweet confirming 14 new countries that now have App World access. Sadly RIM has failed to update their own App World availability page so we cannot know the total countries but it is definitely more than 112+. According to RIM’s @BlackBerryDev tweet App World is now available in:

Albania, Armenia, Benin, Algeria, Belize, Burkina, Ghana, Bosnia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Morocco, Serbia, Tunisia, Zambia

If you live in one of those countries you can pick up App World from www.blackberry.com/appworld

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RIM y Vodafone España ofrecen el pago en factura de las compras realizadas en el BlackBerry App World

Y otra de las novedades que ha presentado hoy Vodafone es el pago de las compras realizadas con BlackBerry App World con la factura del propio operador. Según han contado la forma de pago a través del operador puede incrementar x7 las ventas de App World debido a la confianza del pago que da a mucha gente, en vez de tener que escoger la tarjeta de crédito o la cuenta de PayPal. Aquí os dejo la nota de prensa:

Vodafone España y RIM colaboran para que las compras de aplicaciones de BlackBerry se facturen directamente a través del operador

Madrid 31 de agosto de 2011– Research In Motion (RIM) y Vodafone España firman un acuerdo de colaboración por el cual sus clientes pueden adquirir todas las aplicaciones contenidas en el BlackBerry App World con la facilidad de que el pago se realice directamente en su factura de móvil.

Este sistema permite a los clientes de Vodafone España adquirir aplicaciones desde BlackBerry App World con la máxima rapidez, facilidad, y seguridad, reduciendo el numero de pasos para realizar la compra y sin tener que ofrecer los datos de tarjeta o bancarios.

Además el BlackBerry ID permite a los clientes identificar de una forma segura e independiente el dispositivo tanto para el uso de BlackBerry App World como para esta nueva opción de pago, ya que los usuario transfieren directamente su biblioteca personal de aplicaciones compradas o gratuitas al adquirir o cambiar a un nuevo modelo de BlackBerry. Además, BlackBerry ID es un sistema que protege las compras de los usuarios si el smartphone se pierde o es robado, lo que impide que otros usuarios compren productos BlackBerry protegidos por contraseña.

BlackBerry Developer Gets Hit with Lodsys In App Payment Patent Lawsuit

The patent wars have once again made their way into the BlackBerry ecosystem. Both Apple and Google along with many of their developers are being sued by Lodsys who owns a patent for “in app payment methods.” Originally when Lodsys (who makes nothing useful aka Patent Troll) starting suing they were aiming for payments that happen inside the apps. The first BlackBerry developer to be sued by Lodsys is Yissachar Radcliffe of Rotten Ogre for his Lonely Turret BlackBerry PlayBook game that sells for $0.99.

The crazy part is that Lonely Turret does not even have in app payments. It simply has a link to App World where users can purchase the game upgrade. In other words Lodsys thinks even linking to a payment method from your app is infringement. Here is what Radcliffee said to The Globe and Mail which broke the story:

“I never thought they were interpreting the patent so broadly,” Mr. Radcliffe said, adding that the free version of Lonely Turret simply contains a link to a BlackBerry app marketplace, where users can buy the premium version of the game. “It’s just a link … The two apps are entirely separate.”

Radcliffe has contacted RIM about the issue but RIM has yet to respond. I am hoping RIM sets their many lawyers on Lodsys to defend their developers ASAP like both Apple and Google have. If anything they should repurpose all of the lawyers RIM has sending DMCA notices to help protect their developers since one man shops like Rotten Ogre cannot defend themselves for using App World. Radcliffe points out that even 2 hours of a lawyers time would wipe out all his profit from the game.

Check out the full story at the Globe and Mail and if you know anybody at RIM make sure to forward this article to them. Thanks Derek for pointing it out.

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BlackBerry App World now available to BlackBerry users in Vietnam

 

RIM's Alex Kinsella, Product Manager for BlackBerry App World, announced on Twitter that BlackBerry App World has finally opened its doors to BlackBerry users in Vietnam. A relatively new, but potential market for RIM, Vietnam is home to an evolving BlackBerry community with specific needs. To address these needs, RIM introduced a localized BlackBerry Bold 9780 smartphone in cooperation with telecoms operator Brightstar back in July. The localization occurred in the form of a Vietnamese keyboard on the BlackBerry Bold as well as a translated user interface, both very important properties to appeal to the Vietnamese market. But RIM's commitment doesn't end there, which can be seen from today's announcement that BlackBerry users in Vietnam finally have access to BlackBerry App World.

The video above comes from a Vietnamese BlackBerry community, which recently discovered that BlackBerry App World is accessible in Vietnam on the new BlackBerry Bold 9900. The group has also discovered that Wikitude, among other features of BlackBerry 7, fully work in the country, giving Vietnamese BlackBerry users a small glimpse into the future. The future is now however, when it comes to BlackBerry App World, so tell me CrackBerry readers from Vietnam, how are you enjoying this new feat?

App World v3.0.0.71 Released in the BlackBerry Beta Zone

 

RIM sent out an email to all the participants of the BlackBerry App World 3.0 Beta Zone program about an update. This new update brings us to v3.0.0.71 and includes a few improvements. You can check out the change log below:

• Fixed bug where apps were not appearing in "My World"
• Further improvements to speed and screen transitions
• Various bug fixes

If you are not part of the App World 3.0 program you can join here or you can head directly to the download link for the new version.

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