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BlackBerry App World store adds more firepower to mobile

The mobile industry is expected to receive yet another shot in the arm with the anticipated launch this week of Research In Motion's BlackBerry App World store at the CTIA Wireless show in Las Vegas.

The BlackBerry application store's debut will undoubtedly unleash a surge of creativity for the most popular mobile device for business users.

In fact, it is rather surprising that RIM took so many years to involve the industry in what could become a major revenue earner for the Canadian manufacturer.

There are an estimated 50 million BlackBerry mobile phones worldwide compared with 30 million Apple iPhones and iPods. These BlackBerry customers cherish their phone for its easy access to email and other business documents such as spreadsheets. They deserve more.

Apple changed the nature of its iPhone business with the launch of an app store. Since the store's debut, more than 27,000 applications have been downloaded 800 million times.

Now imagine the potential with the BlackBerry.

RIM has done the smart thing by setting the floor at a minimum $2.99 for an application download from its store. Developers thus know that they cannot turn this store into a repository of silly mobile software that has little business utility.

Yap about app
If anything, 2009 will go down as the year of the mobile application. Apple will have a lot to do with it. And so will, to some extent, Google's Android Marketplace.

In a way, applications have added yet another dimension by which consumers will make decisions regarding carrier and mobile device. Subscription price including data plan and level of subsidy for device, as well as reputation for service, were the previous yardsticks for choosing a carrier and then the phone. Not anymore.

As time passes, the mobile phone market will acquire the features of the computer category. Software and hardware will both matter.

If BlackBerry has to succeed, it must attract the kind of developer talent that is gravitating to Apple. Having a few hundred applications won't work when Apple is close to 30,000 -- some of them neat and some time-fillers. Also, scale is the name of the game.

Developers should keep in mind the BlackBerry user's mindset. They should lay their hands on studies and profiles of BlackBerry customers. Addressing pain points is key.

So, every application in the BlackBerry App World store should address this question: How can this downloadable software make the life of the BlackBerry customer simpler?

There is no reason why there cannot be a BlackBerry version of every Apple iPhone application out there. And if that happens, RIM has got a problem on its hands the way Apple already has: the applications are lost in that store.

If RIM wants to make its platform even more user-friendly -- or maybe even do a deal with Google -- it should offer search engine optimization tools for the BlackBerry App World.

For example, RIM can offer a program where application developers pay extra for a prominent position for an extended period of time.

For those looking for the progress markers in mobile, the BlackBerry App World's expected launch is a stake in the ground.