Friday, March 27th, 2009
BlackBerry App World Set to Launch
So it looks like BlackBerry has finally set a Launch Date for App World… Next Week. BlackBerry is expected to jump into the App game on April 1st, making them another mobile retailer attempting to jump on the app bandwagon in an effort to compete with the Apple iTunes App Store. So far Google has been the only other to hop on the App Store train, and their concept has been interesting, but less than ‘exciting’ as there’s so much clutter in there, with no regulations as to what can/can’t be posted. Its not completely clear how BlackBerry will be handling their store quite yet, but my guess is it will be somewhere between Apple and Google (if they’re smart, that is). There’s something to be said about evaluating apps to actually make sure they’re complete and work properly, but at the same time, the current wait in the iTunes queue is SO long, making the Google App Store seem like a wonderful place, with no wait times and you can post anything you want. Well, as an Android owner, I can tell you that’s not really all so great either. There’s so much garbage in the store, and so many of the apps are just developers testing things “This is a test app experimenting with the blah, blah blah… Email me with feedback and I’ll launch a revised test.” HEY, guess what, I’m not interested in your tests, I want functioning applications that actually DO something for me, and I think I’m not alone in this, especially as the novelty of downloadable apps wears off and people are beginning to expect more from their overall mobile experience.
So, although I’ll probably never own a BlackBerry, I DO hope they find a great solution to hop into this crazy new realm of App Stores, because as with anything, competition drives the market. I want to see someone truly give Apple a run for their money so they blow my mind again. We’ll see.
keith on April 2nd, 2009 at 9:25 am
so far so good, i’m happy with it. and i expect it to grow of course.