2011 BlackBerry Developers Challenge – ‘Most Addictive Social App Using the BBM Social Platform’ Now Open For Submissions!

(Originally posted on the Inside BlackBerry Developer’s Blog)

With the BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) v6.0 client now officially launched, we’re excited to announce that the BlackBerry® Partners Fund’s 2011 BlackBerry® Developers Challenge has just opened submissions for the ‘Most Addictive Social App Using the BBM Social Platform’ competition*! You can now test the apps you’ve been creating with the BlackBerry® Messenger SDK against the gold release of the BBM v6.0 client and submit them to the competition. If you haven’t created an app yet that integrates BBM features, you still have time to get to work. Submissions for the BBM competition close September 23rd and we’ve compiled a list of resources to help you get started:

Three-part webcast series: ‘Integrating with the BBM Social Platform, One Step at a Time’

• Step 1: Viral Distribution and the BBM Contact List
• Step 2: User Profile and Custom Profile Box
• Step 3: BBM Chat and Embedding Chat within your App

Blog posts:

• BBM Social Platform – Help Your App Go Viral!

Tools and Resources:

• Visit the BlackBerry Messenger Social platform landing page to download the latest BBM™ SDK and documentation. You can find the BBM v6.0 gold client in the BlackBerry App World™ storefront.
• Twitterview with Research In Motion® (RIM®) development experts on @BlackBerryDev – Tuesday August 2nd at 2:30pm EDT. Bring your BBM questions!

We look forward to seeing your creative ideas come to life through your apps! Submit your app to the ‘Most Addictive Social App Using the BBM Social Platform’ competition today and be among the first to be considered for an incentive prize package (see the terms and conditions). For more information on this year’s BlackBerry Developer Challenge, see http://www.blackberry.com/developers/challenge.

BlackBerry Developer Challenge Adds BBM Social Platform Category

Along with the release of BlackBerry Messenger 6.0 comes a new category for developers to compete in the annual BlackBerry Partners Fund Developer Challenge. The new competition is for social apps in the “Most Addictive Social apps using BBM Social Platform” category. This new category is now open for submissions until September 23rd, 2011.

You can get more info at www.blackberrypartnersfund.com/challenge.

This is on top of the already heated BBM Apps Hackathon in NYC, August 11-12, 2011, and its two day BBM social platform coding marathon. You should be able to see the winners who are competing in the Hackathon at this link.

via: bbreview

Guardly Personal Safety App Coming to BlackBerry Next Week

Guardly CEO Josh Sookman demos the app for iPhone.Guardly will be launching its mobile personal safety app for BlackBerry next week. The app turns a BlackBerry into a next-generation mobile personal safety service and has been available for iPhone since April. The app is geared towards students, young professionals, travelers, seniors living alone, or anyone who frequently walks alone at night, and people who may find themselves in abusive relationships or faced with medical conditions. Friends and family can also use Guardly to watch over each other during natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, fires, floods and tornadoes.

The app provides 1-tap connection to a trusted safety network via conference call, email, text message, the web and real-time location tracking. Guardly can even auto-dial 911, campus security or other first responders as part of the alert. The app includes a free basic alerting service and a premium version that includes powerful collaboration features.

Interestingly, the founder and CEO, Josh Sookman, is ex-BlackBerry Partners Fund so he clearly knows how to raise money for the startup.

Stay tuned to guardly.com for the app announcement.

via: bbcool

BlackBerry Partners Fund Announces 4th Annual Developer Challenge

The BlackBerry Partners Fund has launched its 4th annual Developer Challenge which includes a series of competitions to win USD $3 million in prizes. This year’s Developer Challenge features three categories:

1) Best Adobe Flash/AIR app
2) Most Innovative BlackBerry WebWorks app on the BlackBerry PlayBook and BlackBerry 6
3) Most Addictive social app using the BBM Social Platform.

Winners of the Developer Challenge will be selected across North America, Latin America, Europe/Middle East/Africa and Asia Pacific. For those who don’t win, the Partners Fund will also be honoring applications in six categories to receive a Recognition Award.

More details in the press release after the break.

2011 BlackBerry Developers Challenge announced

The BlackBerry Partners Fund has officially announced this years BlackBerry Developer Challenge. Although the event doesn’t take place until the 2011 BlackBerry Developer Conference gets under way in October, in San Francisco the prizes and timelines have all been outlined.

This year’s Challenge includes the following three competitions:

• Best Adobe Flash®/AIR app
• Most Innovative BlackBerry WebWorks™ app on the BlackBerry PlayBook and BlackBerry 6
• Most Addictive social app using the  BBM™ Social Platform

This year, both BlackBerry smartphone and BlackBerry PlayBook developers can enter their applications for a chance to win US$3 million in prizes. As always, winners will be chosen across four global regions – North America, Latin America, Europe/Middle East/Africa and Asia Pacific. If you’re a developer and looking to learn more about the prize packs and how to enter, you can check out the BlackBerry Partners Fund website for the full details.

More info available at the BlackBerry Partners Fund website

via:cb

Highlights of the 3rd Annual BlackBerry Partners Fund Super Apps Developer Challenge

[ Mobile? Click Here for Video ]

 

Looking to find some awesome BlackBerry apps? Then you’ll want to see the winning applications from the 3rd Annual  BlackBerry Partners Fund Super Apps Developer Challenge. The Super Apps  Challenge started with an open call to the BlackBerry developer  community to tell us how they had used the Super App  characteristics to deliver an application that users can’t live  without. Now that the Challenge has wrapped up, see the highlights  some of the winners and finalists (see the above video of BlackBerry application Poynt, the North American winner).

Selected from nearly 400 applications for BlackBerry smartphones  across four regions-North America, Latin America, Middle East &  Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America – these apps range across nine  categories: Maps & Navigation, Reference & eBooks, Photo &  Video, Business, News, Shopping, Utilities, Sports & Recreation, and  IM & Social Networking.
Discover the kinds of Super Apps that people love and use every day:

Press Release: Research In Motion Makes Lead Commitment to Second BlackBerry Partners Fund

Press Release

Research In Motion Makes Lead Commitment to Second BlackBerry Partners Fund

WATERLOO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Feb. 14, 2011) – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) and the BlackBerry® Partners Fund today announced that RIM is making a lead commitment to BlackBerry Partners Fund II, a new US$150 million independent venture capital fund focused exclusively on mobile computing. BlackBerry Partners Fund II is expected to launch in June 2011 and will have a broader international mandate than the first Fund.

“We are very pleased with the positive impact of the first Fund on our mobile ecosystem and we look forward to BlackBerry Partners Fund II bringing additional resources and support to mobile innovators in a broader range of international markets,” said Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at Research In Motion.

“We are very fortunate to have RIM as an anchor investor and partner in our Fund and greatly anticipate expanding our reach and the geographical scope of Fund II,” said John Albright, Co-Managing Partner of BlackBerry Partners Fund.

The first BlackBerry Partners Fund was established in 2008 in collaboration with Research In Motion, Thomson Reuters, Royal Bank of Canada and a roster of high profile investors. The Fund has made 13 investments to-date in mobile start-ups in Canada, the United States, Israel and Ireland. The Fund brings capital, resources and domain expertise to the partnerships it forms with exceptional entrepreneurs around the world who are shaping the future of the mobile eco-system.

BlackBerry Partners Fund announces regional selections in the “Super Apps” developer challenge

The BlackBerry Partners Fund has selected the regional winners of the 2010 BlackBerry Super Apps Challenge. This years challenge brought forth hundreds of applications and has now been broken down for everyone to view.

“The response we received in this year’s Challenge has been tremendous, and demonstrates the high level of interest by the developer community in the BlackBerry platform,” said Kevin Talbot, Co-Managing Partner, BlackBerry Partners Fund. “We were also very impressed with how well the applications that were submitted incorporate ‘Super App’ characteristics, or the ability to seamlessly share information and interact with both native BlackBerry and third party applications.”

With all the applications that have been submitted, the list is rather large and certainly worth a look through. A lot of great applications are highlighted there and some of which, you may never heard of. Be sure to check out the full list and press release via the BlackBerry Partners Fund website.

• Click Here To View The Full List Of Apps And Press Release>>

Via: CB

Get Inside BlackBerry 6 – Developers invited to free webcast; Reminder: Super Apps Challenge Deadline Approaching!

Research In Motion is holding another great, free webcast for BlackBerry Developers. This one, concentrates on BlackBerry 6 and how to best make use of the tools available. From creating stunning UI’s right down to how best manage Universal Search options this is a webcast you’ll not want to miss if you need to learn more about BlackBerry 6. The webcast will take place on Thursday, August 26th at 2:00PM EST and will be presented by Brian Zubert, Team Lead, Developer Relations. Event details below and be sure to click here to get registered if you plan on attending:

Don’t miss this deep technical review. It will spark your imagination and prepare you to take advantage of everything BlackBerry 6.

• Create stunning UI using the new BlackBerry 6 UI APIs
• Master new Super App capabilities like Universal Search
• Hear about our new Platform Services
• Learn about the groundbreaking BlackBerry® 6 Browser and how you can start building rich web apps with easy new tools
• See what you can do now with BlackBerry® Widgets