BlackBerry App World gets a name change

IT World Canada Staff

11 years ago

As it prepares for the launch of its new smart phone BlackBerry 10, Research in Motion has rebranded its mobile app store to reflect the company’s change in strategy.

“Hey #teamBlackBerry, if you were up at the wee hours of the morning today, you may have noticed a change to the BlackBerry App World Web store,” read a post on the Inside BlackBerry, the official BlackBerry blog site. “It is now simply called BlackBerry World.”

RIM said the new name signals a shift in the type of products that can be purchased in the company’s Web-based application store.

“BlackBerry World is going to be the one-stop-shop for all your mobile entertainment needs,” the post said. “It will now be home to videos and music as well.”

App World launched in March 2009 as a showcase of software which BlackBerry users can purchase and download online. It was also the Canadian smart phone manufacturer’s answer to rival Apple Inc.’s very popular iTunes App Store.

RIM is pinning its hopes on the January 30 release of its much-awaited BlackBerry 10 device to lift the company’s profits and regain market share lost to iPhone and Android-based devices.

The strategy, however, relies heavily on how well developers will receive the new device. App-hungry consumer and enterprise users are not likely to dump their iOS and Android smart phones unless the BB 10 offers an attractive lineup of applications, according to industry analysts.