Research In Motion (RIM) today announced Australian initiatives to promote innovation and opportunity in the mobility industry; the Australian launch of the BlackBerry® Super Apps Developer Challenge and the platinum sponsorship of mobile industry organisation Mobile Monday.
Adele Beachley, Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, RIM, said, “RIM hopes to encourage innovation in application development in the Australian mobile industry and we believe that launching the BlackBerry Super Apps Developer Challenge and sponsoring the Mobile Monday organisation are two ways for RIM to successfully contribute to our exciting local industry. The BlackBerry Super Apps Developer Challenge offers developers in the Asia Pacific an attractive prize package so we hope Australian developers are encouraged to enter and demonstrate their talent.”
The BlackBerry Super Apps Developer Challenge invites developers to showcase applications that take advantage of the BlackBerry Application Platform’s unique capabilities. The BlackBerry Application Platform allows developers to quickly and easily build applications that seamlessly share information and interact with core BlackBerry applications or other third party applications.
The Challenge will recognise BlackBerry smartphone applications on a regional basis across four global regions – Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America and Europe/Middle East/Africa. Judges will evaluate applications submitted in seven categories: Productivity, Fun & Entertainment, Knowledge, Sharing, Navigate & Explore, Multi-media and In the Know.
Developers of applications selected at each finalist level will receive unique prizes to support their development on the BlackBerry platform and to help them achieve commercial success. There are over $1.5 million dollars in prizes to be won, including application promotion services, BlackBerry smartphones, BlackBerry App World™ marketing support, an Elite membership in the BlackBerry Alliance Program and more.
Applications will be judged on quality, user experience and how effectively they have incorporated “Super App” characteristics. The Australian launch of the BlackBerry Super Apps Developer Challenge coincides with RIM’s announcement that it has signed a twelve month sponsorship deal with Mobile Monday’s Sydney and Melbourne chapters. Mobile Monday is a non-profit organisation with a mission to promote the Australian mobile industry and build networks within it.
Shane Williamson, Co-founder of Mobile Monday Sydney said, “Research In Motion is an industry leader in the mobility space and having their support will help us raise the profile of our organisation locally and the Australian mobile industry on a global scale. One of Mobile Monday’s key objectives is to promote innovation so we are very excited to help launch the BlackBerry Super Apps Developer Challenge in Australia.”
Information Links
To apply for the Super Apps Developer Challenge, visit http://bpf.wufoo.com/forms/2010-blackberry-super-apps-developer-challenge/ and complete the application form.
For more information on developing “Super Apps” on the BlackBerry Application Platform, please visit www.blackberry.com/developers/superapps.