RIM Talks BlackBerry Messenger Growth Numbers

Every so often RIM shares with us how BlackBerry Messenger is doing. At the BBM Hackathon at NYC Tyler Lessard, VP of BlackBerry Alliances & Developer Relations, share the latest numbers. They are pretty impressive and I think it is the first time RIM has shared how many BBM groups there are.

• 45 Million active users worldwide
• Over 5.2 million BBM groups created
• Growing by over 2 million new users monthly
• 70% use it daily to communicate with friends
• Billions of messages sent each day
• BBM is the largest mobile social network for BlackBerry users

Let us know if there are any other stats you want us to ask them about!

via:bbreview

RIM Offers BlackBerry Developers An Update On Code Signing Servers, Says They’re Operating Normally

 

If you’re a BlackBerry developer who’s constantly developing, you’ll most likely have been upset with the fact that you could not get your apps signed over the weekend. According to Tyler Lessard, head of Developer Relations at RIM, they recently had some issues with the stability of their code signing servers and a diagnostic activity that was acting abnormally is to blame:

Earlier this week, BlackBerry® developers were not able to sign their applications during periods of downtime of the code signing service. The issues that we experienced have now been resolved and I’d like to apologize to the community for this situation. We realize this can be a disruption to your business and we take issues like this very seriously.

As soon as the issue was identified, it was escalated for root cause analysis and resolution. Through that investigation, we identified a diagnostic activity that was acting abnormally during the signing process. Upon resolving the issue with this diagnostic process, operations were restored to a level of service that we would expect.

The signing servers are now operating normally and developers can continue with code signing. We are continuing to monitor the service closely and are actively evaluating new solutions that we can implement to improve the reliability of the service overall. As always, thank you for your support and for bearing with us through this exercise.

Now that the code signing servers are back up and running let’s see some awesome BlackBerry app releases and updates!

via BB Dev’s Blog

Perfecto Mobile gives free access to its MobileCloud to BlackBerry developers

 

OK full disclosure – I’m not a developer; I have not written a line of code since 1988.  Now with that out of the way, Perfecto Mobile has extended access to its MobileCloud platform to BlackBerry developers for free.  If you’re unfamiliar with Perfecto’s MobileCloud, it’s a development platform that gives you access to devices without the need to install the simulator on your computer.

As my disclaimer says I’m not a developer but this sounds like a pretty handy tool to have access to.  With the multiple types of devices a developer has to accommodate for when developing an application not needing to have multiple simulators running on your computer would be a real asset.

The MobileCloud platform also allows you to test your application across multiple networks in various geographic regions.  Currently their devices are located in Canada, USA, UK, France, India and Israel.  I can see the many benefits of this ability.

More information on the Perfecto MobileCloud

Press Release: EA's Need for Speed and Tetris Coming to BlackBerry PlayBook at Launch

Update: We reached out to RIM and it does look like these will both be full versions. Tetris will be pre-installed and a “lite” version of Need For Speed will be installed with the full version downloading when you have Wifi coverage.

I was wondering what games we would see come preloaded on the BlackBerry PlayBook at launch. While I was sort of hoping for a souped up version of BrickBreaker, it looks like RIM is going a different route. They are really trying to put the play in PlayBook… coming preloaded on the BlackBerry PlayBook at launch is going to be EA’s Need for Speed Undercover and Tetris.  And based on the press release, we’re not talking demo versions of the games here, but the full thing (at least that better be the case!). Keep reading for the full press release. RIM will be demoing the games next week in Barcelona at MWC, so we’ll soon see the action for realz. Does this make you even more excited to get your PlayBook? Do you think we’ll still see BrickBreaker in some form (I sure hope so!). Sound off in the comments!

Press Release

RIM exec talks PlayBook, App World, QNX on phones, etc

While we wait for the BlackBerry PlayBook to released in its WiFi – and WiMAX-equipped forms over the next few months, RIM’s taking every opportunity it can to talk about the platform – and the latest comes from an interview between FierceDeveloper and the company’s veep of developer relations, Tyler Lessard, who played a prominent role at BlackBerry DevCon ’10 a while back where the PlayBook was first announced. When asked about RIM’s decision to partner up with Sprint and deliver a WiMAX version first before looking at bigger carriers with more broadly-used technologies, Lessard says,

“were really excited about was Sprint’s interest and excitement in coming to the table and working with us on a product like that” — which we take as code for either “they paid us the most” or “no one else bit.”

Either way, interesting comments to say the least – though he does say that there are other versions in the pipe. On App World, Lessard notes that BlackBerry’s third-party app platform has taken in some 5,000 apps in the last couple months alone – not a big number, necessarily, until you consider that they’re only up to 17,000 total, so they’re definitely seeing some nice growth percentages there. This is mostly likely due to the release of BlackBerry OS 6.

via:Engadget

BlackBerry 6.1 Application Platform Announced at DevCon Asia!

At the General Session Keynote on the opening day of BlackBerry DevCon Asia, Tyler Lessard, VP of Global Alliances and Developer Relations for RIM, announced the coming of the new BlackBerry 6.1 Application Platform for BlackBerry Smartphones. 6.1 will build upon BlackBerry 6 and for developers will introduce some new features they can take advantage of. The image above tells the story. New tools/APIs include:

• Magnetometer / Digital compass APIs
• Open GL-ES 2.0
• Window API (overlay native app surfaces)
• Event-based geo-fencing location APIs
• Enhancement to barcode API’s for additional formats and custom decoding
• and MUCH MORE

Tyler went on to say that BlackBerry Developer Tools 6.1 will be available soon for download as they want developers working with the new tools leading up to the release of BlackBerry 6.1 in the next quarter or two. Reading between the lines, I think this announcement really says a lot. It shows us that despite a ton of effort going into the BlackBerry Tablet OS used on the PlayBook, RIM is continuing to develop the traditional BlackBerry OS. I think it’s also safe to assume that we’ll be seeing a BlackBerry 6.1 update coming to current in-market BlackBerry 6 Smartphones. Finally, it gives us a clue as to what OS is going to ship on the next generation of BlackBerry Smartphone hardware. RIM’s Founder and Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis has already gone on record saying that we will see BlackBerry Smartphones (aka super phones) that will make use of the QNX-based operating system found in the PlayBook, but that it might not be tomorrow as the hardware needs to get there (need a phone battery than can last a day powering dual core processors). Now officially knowing that BlackBerry 6.1 is on the way, to me it’s looking like we can expect the next wave of new BlackBerry Smartphones to rock 6.1 (maybe a generation after that will hit the phones). It’s clear that the BlackBerry Tablet OS is still very young and will take some time for RIM to evolve it to be ready for the phones, so in the meantime BB6.1 will get the job done. That’s not official of course, but logically it’s making sense. I’m sure we’ll learn more in the weeks and months ahead!

BlackBerry App World now accepting apps for BlackBerry PlayBook

It was announced today that BlackBerry App World will now be accepting applications designed for the upcoming BlackBerry PlayBook. RIM has opened the vendor portal for developers to start submitting their PlayBook applications. As a bit of incentive, any developer who submits an approved app will be eligible to receive a free BlackBerry PlayBook upon its North American release.

RIM to host Blackberry Developer Conference in Asia on 13 – 14 January 2011

The conference, announced by RIM is slated for January 13th and 14th, 2011 in Bali, Indonesia.

Attendees of the conference will have the opportunity to join over 40 keynote, breakout and hands-on sessions showcasing how developers can use various tools and services to create innovative and commercially successful applications for the BlackBerry platform. Attendees will also get a chance to hear from many RIM technical experts as well as a variety of developers who are already creating apps for BlackBerry® smartphones.

Tyler Lessard, Global Alliances and Developer Relations VP said “The range and momentum of BlackBerry developer initiatives has certainly grown around the world since our first developer conference in Silicon Valley two years ago. We are very pleased to be hosting the first pan-Asian BlackBerry DevCon and continuing to increase the amount of local information, tools and resources available for our developers in Asia.”

prwire