BlackBerry app developer Peter Hansen.
Chuck Howitt/Record staff
SAN JOSE, Calif. � �RIM is in startup mode again. RIM listens to developers now. I love comebacks. BlackBerry is back.�
There was the dominant theme running through messages posted on a large bulletin board at the BlackBerry Jam Americas conference in San Jose this week.
The goal of the exercise was to accumulate 10,000 reasons why software and app developers believe in the BlackBerry platform again.
The overall message from app builders seemed to be that Research In Motion is lean, hungry and on the comeback trail after years of complacency, slipping market share and marginal, -hum improvements to its aging suite of BlackBerry smartphones.
A key element of the company�s strategy involves working with developers in a much collaborative way.
�This is a totally different RIM,� John Tegen, an app developer from Virginia, said at the conference. �They bend over backwards to work with developers.�
In the old days, it actually cost money to get anyone from the company to help you, says Tegen, who runs a company called O2 Interactive. Now �you can email the vice-president of the company and he�ll actually respond to you.�
RIM has gone the extra mile in other ways to woo developers. It distributed 5,000 BlackBerry 10 prototypes to developers in May at the BlackBerry World conference, and handed out 5,000 more in San Jose this week. Devices were also freely available to play around with at the San Jose conference this week, and awards were handed out to the best developers.
�It�s unique having access to hardware so long before the launch,� says Anders Jeppsson, director of gaming category at RIM.
RIM has a certification program for applications submitted to the BlackBerry App World store and guarantees $10,000 in revenue to developers if they can bring in sales of at least $1,000 in the first year.
RIM�s �developer evangelists� were praised by Joseph Okafor, owner of a mobile apps company called Hustle & Hack, based in San Jose.
The �evangelists� are RIM employees who act as tutors and troubleshooters for suppliers building apps for the BlackBerry 10 operating system, Okafor says. �You can email them and get a response right away instead of a going through a 45-day wait.�
Tom Anderson�s job title is senior BlackBerry developer evangelist. With his shoulder-length grey hair and brightly coloured blue shirt, he certainly looks the part.
Based in Pittsburgh, his job is to go out on the road and educate developers about the BlackBerry 10 platform and help them get their apps built.
He is also in charge of another program called �BlackBerry Elite.� These are BlackBerry developers outside the company who have shown a �unique expertise� in the BlackBerry platform or have gone above and beyond the call of duty in helping other app-builders.
Nominated by BlackBerry evangelists or other people at RIM, they�re like the company�s �ambassadors in the marketplace,� Anderson says.
One of those BlackBerry Elite members is Peter Hansen. He owns a computer consulting firm in Uxbridge, Ont., called Engenuity Corp., that specializes in industrial automation. A 1991 systems design engineering grad from the University of Waterloo, Hansen spends a lot of time on BlackBerry support forums, helping developers who have any problems.
A fan of QNX Software Systems going back 15 to 20 years, he was blown away when the company was acquired by RIM in 2010. �My mind exploded,� he says. He poured his energies into working on the PlayBook tablet, the first device from RIM to use the QNX operating system.
The BlackBerry Elite program is a small group of about 60 developers who get more access to RIM people and help other developers understand where the platform is going, says Hansen, proudly wearing a BlackBerry Elite T-shirt.
�A year and a half ago, RIM would never consider doing this,� he says. There has been �a sea change� at the company, underscored by its new collaborative approach, he says.
Coupled with a new, revamped software platform, he believes RIM has �got its mojo back.�
Tegen of Virginia agrees. �I like what Apple has done in the marketplace,� he says. �But it is showing its age. The behaviour of its apps feels old.�
With the new platform, RIM has an opportunity to leverage the message that �we are different, we are new, we are fresh,� he says.
William Stofega, an industry analyst with the tech research firm IDC, likes the direction RIM is going in. It�s a good sign that RIM has decided not to satisfy its �install base� of existing customers by rushing an early version of the BlackBerry 10 phone to market, he says.
Stofega had a chance to play with the BlackBerry 10 alpha device, study the software and is convinced it doesn�t just mimic the competition. �It is a different experience,� he says.
Last edited by Dapper37; 10-02-12 at 07:34 AM.
Reason: Spelling error due to auto correct.
Great article. Does any else get a "Bizarro World" feel to the article. Like you cannot believe they are talking about RIM! Great news; RIM 2.0 is for real.
@draper : ask a mod for title change
thanks for sharing. Good vibes !
The victim of Auto correct once again
I thought changing the title, by going advanced in editing was enough, guess not
MODS could you work your magic and cure my post of its mono. In the title
The victim of Auto correct once again
I thought changing the title, by going advanced in editing was enough, guess not
MODS could you work your magic and cure my post of its mono. In the title
