Mobility Watch

Blackberry App World

The iPhone guys have access to the App Store. The T-Mobile G1 crew can get their fix through the Android Market. What about all the RIM enthusiasts of the world? We’ve been told that BlackBerry App World is right around the corner and now that statement may finally be coming to fruition.

This could be falsified rumor, a sick April Fool’s Day joke, or a certified leak, but BusinessWeek is reporting that the BlackBerry App World will be ready for primetime on April 1st. For those of you keeping score at home, that’s next Wednesday. It also happens to be April Fool’s Day.

Despite that strange coincidence, the timing may be just right. BlackBerry App World’s launch will then come ahead of the official release of iPhone 3.0, being able to ride that positive press for at least a couple of months before its thunder is stolen again. Further still, that’s the same day that CTIA Wireless opens its doors.

Could this be one of the major announcements from Research in Motion at CTIA? It very well could be, even if the pricing structure has received some negative attention. This is a good step forward for RIM and it’ll make it easier for all the BlackBerry enthusiasts of the world to expand on what their Berries can do.

According to the BlackBerry App World developer FAQ, RIM will institute significantly tighter pricing restrictions than rival app portals–while the service will offer both free and premium applications, developers must charge a minimum of $2.99 for paid apps. While Apple’s App Store enables contributors to price their iPhone and iPod touch apps for as little as 99 cents, the policy has come under fire from some programmers for effectively discouraging development of more sophisticated and higher-priced downloads. Of course, the new BlackBerry App World pricing restriction potentially discourages the creation of some cheaper, simpler applications and utilities.

In addition, Research In Motion will expressly forbid downloading or running apps from the BlackBerry device’s microSD card slot. Electronista notes that such a restriction ostensibly cripples piracy but also limits the quantity and size of apps–no BlackBerry device offers more internal storage than the Bold, which boasts 1GB of flash memory. The rule also restricts the ability to transfer apps to multiple devices.