[The Big Picture]

As you read it guys.

BlackBerry, Amazon Licensing Agreement to Bring Thousands of New Apps | Inside BlackBerry

Amazing how some of us here saw it coming!

Starting from 10.3 we'll have a majority of the big name apps officially!

But still some questions remains, did they really eliminate 2000 employees from the native app development dept?

What about native apps now?

Signature - Google wants your info. What are you gonna do about it?

[shahyaz]

As you read it guys.

BlackBerry, Amazon Licensing Agreement to Bring Thousands of New Apps | Inside BlackBerry

Amazing how some of us here saw it coming!

Starting from 10.3 we'll have a majority of the big name apps officially!

But still some questions remains, did they really eliminate 2000 employees from the native app development dept?

What about native apps now?

Signature - Google wants your info. What are you gonna do about it?

Wow! That's fantastic! I know there will be complaints that the Android apps aren't native, blah blah blah... But this is what BlackBerry needs to further their ecosystem.

[conite]

This is not just for apps, but other content like music and movies.

Z30STA100-5/10.3.0.296

[Playbook007]

I do see BlackBerry also coming to an agreement with Google at some level. BB10, sand boxing Google and apps for the consumer. Enterprise, and those requiring BES10/12 will be on a totally different security level. It will happen within the next year.....that is why BlackBerry World is not the focus any longer.

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[The Big Picture]

Glad that things are moving along, sadly this might mean native apps will take a back seat.

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[ALToronto]

This is great news, and not at all surprising. Since I read the letter from Amazon in reply to a BlackBerry user who wrote to them asking if it would be ok to use their store, I knew that Amazon would be thrilled with new business from us.

Amazon's reply a few months ago was very welcoming, as they don't have the same "stay out of my sandbox" hangups that Google has. And now we're all better off.

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[The Big Picture]

I do see BlackBerry also coming to an agreement with Google at some level. BB10, sand boxing Google and apps for the consumer. Enterprise, and those requiring BES10/12 will be on a totally different security level. It will happen within the next year.....that is why BlackBerry World is not the focus any longer.

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Im not too sure about this mate. If amazon didnt get google services how would BlackBerry?

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[dustmalik]

Well, I was hoping for a Google play store partnership, that way we would have Google play services and all, but I guess that isn't going to happen.

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[ubizmo]

It's a good move, and shows some real business sense.

As for native app development, I think in the long run this will be good for it. At the moment, native BB10 app development is just about at a standstill anyway. You can't get much worse than that. Don't get me wrong, there are some excellent native apps in BB World but the overall pace of development is glacial, and that's just not good enough to enable BB10 to survive.

We've had so many threads about this, but the reality is that BB10 is so far a failure as a commercially viable app platform. That's the fact that we have to accept. Amazon's app store isn't as successful as Google Play, of course, but it's miles ahead of BB World. Moreover, it has name recognition. Consumers can readily understand the premise that they can use the Amazon app store. It's a legitimate selling point, in a way that sideloading and Snap can never be.

In short, this partnership ought to help to make BlackBerry more attractive in the consumer market. Notice I said "more attractive" and not "unbeatable" or anything like that. But "more attractive" could be enough to enable them to reverse their decline and start to build a user base, albeit slowly. And if that happens, at some point developers will take an interest in native BB10. If there's a significant user base to attract, they'll see that native BB10 apps will have a competitive edge. But that's not going to happen until that user base is there.

It's iffy, but iffy is better than nothing. The devices still have to be appealing and reasonably priced, of course. The Amazon app store isn't going to solve all problems. Still, I regard this partnership as the best news to come from BlackBerry in a while.

How does Amazon benefit? Simple: Amazon's core business is selling content: books, music, video. This partnership attracts more customers to their content sales, and that's good for Amazon.

[Thud Hardsmack]

Well, I was hoping for a Google play store partnership, that way we would have Google play services and all, but I guess that isn't going to happen.

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Not with the Open Handset Alliance, why would Google play favorites with BlackBerry?

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[flyingsolid]

This is fantastic news. I think this is the right App Store for Android that needed more momentum to get developers to publish to it. Now with Google Play Store as not the only major option there will be less dependence on Google Play Services maybe. Hopefully it is not wishful thinking.

[celalagrili]

Very good. I think Mr. Chen choose right direction

[Playbook007]

Also will lead to a massive endorsement of BB10 by Amazon. This is huge news for BlackBerry users and BlackBerry itself. Chen is on the right path.

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[The Big Picture]

So BlackBerry 10.3 will be preloaded with amazon app store. That alone will help sales tremendously.

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[anon(2729369)]

Hopefully, they'll give access to content to more countries, unless BlackBerry was as bad.




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[dbmalloy]

Interesting timing on the announcement... just before the quarterly reporting tomorrow... either really good news... or a bad omen for stock holders... should be interesting.... overall great move for BB.... best oif both worlds.. great apps albiet non native... and security and greatest OS out ther IMHO....

[chevpower394]

I don't think native app development will suffer really, native apps will only increase in demand if and when users increase in numbers. I think this is good.

Check out the official IWIK BBM channel C002FA57C posted via Q10SQN100-1/10.2.1.3175

[The Big Picture]

Interesting timing on the announcement... just before the quarterly reporting tomorrow... either really good news... or a bad omen for stock holders... should be interesting.... overall great move for BB.... best oif both worlds.. great apps albiet non native... and security and greatest OS out ther IMHO....

I think the announcement tmr will be quite neutral, neither too bad or good.

I dont see BB10 device sales suddenly jumping considering there hasnt been a global launch of any devices since 2 quarters ago.

But the cash bleed would have most likely been stopped or at least slown down.

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[rthonpm]

Interesting timing on the announcement... just before the quarterly reporting tomorrow... .

Not to mention the fact that Amazon was supposed to be making a big announcement today that most people think is their own smartphone, so how does this deal play into that? If nothing else, this also allows BlackBerry to really have a media store on par with, or better than, Apple and Google which could also help drive adoption.

My big concerns will hopefully be announced tomorrow at the shareholders' meeting, primarily what this means for native application development long term, unless Amazon is planning to move towards BB10, or some kind of QNX back end for its own devices. Let the speculation begin!

[dustmalik]

Right now as it is, you can't download apps from Amazon in some regions, hopefully they do something about that. Also, how about apps and games compatibility? I wonder how they are going to deal with that.

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[moegh]

So what about apps need Google play service?

CB10 - Q5 -10.3.0.296/441 (radio)

[SunshineStateFlyer]

Very good step I think. It is vitally important that the consumer gets the opportunity to download apps right from the device.

There are still a few concerns that I have about this. At the first place this will definitely keep developers from delivering native apps to the platform, which is sad.

What I hope is that there will be enough testing to ensure that all the apps offered do actually run, and that they run on specific devices like the Q10 too, if a certain app is offered for it.

[MmmHmm]

VERY good news. For the first time in a while, I'm optimistic that BB10 can get some traction in the consumer market.

[webber27]

Glad that things are moving along, sadly this might mean native apps will take a back seat.

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Let's be real though, WHAT native apps? Native app development on any serious level stopped a looong time ago.

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[dustmalik]

So what about apps need Google play service?

CB10 - Q5 -10.3.0.296/441 (radio)

Apps submitted to Amazon store are stripped off of Google play services requirement.

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