RIM’s mobile application download store for its range of Blackberry devices, BlackBerry App World, will go live in 11 new countries in Europe including Ireland, France, Germany, Italy and Spain on 31 July.
Right now Blackberry’s App World is only available in the UK, US and Canada. From the end of this month it will no longer be English language only but will also be available in French, Italian, Spanish and German whereby users will be able to search for apps specifically in their own language.
App World is direct-download to your BlackBerry device and works with BlackBerry Device Software version 4.2 or higher, and handsets with the trackball or SurePress touch interface.
Some third party developer apps for App World currently include Windows Live Messenger, Pandora, Yahoo Messenger and MySpace.
Ahead of the launch of BlackBerry App World (ver1.1.) RIM is encouraging third party developers to submit applications starting from 26 July to the end of September with a US$100,000 prize for the most innovative.
Each month, before the BlackBerry Developer Conference (9-12 November in San Francisco), four applications will be shortlisted to be showcased in the BlackBerry App World carousel for a week each, as well at the BlackBerry Developer Conference.
Details on how to submit an application can be found here and your app will potentially reach a market of over 28.5 million BlackBerry smartphone subscribers worldwide.
