1. eblade's Avatar
    It might be because very little on the PlayBook seems to actually work right, and parts that do work right break ridiculously easy. My first impression of the PlayBook was that it was far better than Android, at least, however, as the ratio of android apps over apps that are built for it marches rapidly toward the entire market being android, it's becoming nothing more than an Android program launcher that doesn't run Android very well.
    04-05-12 06:15 PM
  2. Canuck671's Avatar
    Getting exposure in Apple’s (AAPL) iOS App Store and Google’s (GOOG) Google Play market can be daunting at best. Developers must compete for exposure with hundreds of thousands of other apps, and viral success or a big marketing budget is almost a requirement at this point if an app is to see any real success. Research In Motion (RIMM) on Tuesday presented another option, however: Develop for BlackBerry.

    In a post on RIM’s official blog, Milena Hewitt details the success found by mobile developer Pinelake Communications, which recently decided to see how hard it would be to port its Android game “Cubifice”over to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and RIM’s BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device. According to Pinelake Creative Director Bill Larocque and developer Dave Wagler, the process took just one hour.

    That’s good news for RIM of course, because encouraging developers to bring apps over from other platforms is crucial to the company’s success with its next-generation BlackBerry 10 platform. Ensuring that this process is quick and relatively simple certainly won’t hurt RIM’s odds.

    Beyond the process of porting apps, however, Pinelake notes that it has seen much more interest from users with its PlayBook app than it ever saw on Android.

    “The BlackBerry user community is very engaged, and there is far greater visibility of your application on the BlackBerry App World storefront than on other platforms,” Larocque told RIM in an interview.”BlackBerry App World has a clear layout and does not suffer from the over-saturation that you find somewhere like Google Play, where your app quickly feels lost in a huge sea of similar applications.”

    He continued, “With this application, not only do we have 25 times more downloads on BlackBerry App World than on Google Play, but we’ve also been able to maintain that high number and visibility. This visibility translates into a far better return on investment once the app becomes monetized because we will have to spend far less on marketing the application to users.”

    A quick quote from yahoo news. Its nice to be right ahead of the curve.


    08-08-12 01:40 AM
  3. kretch's Avatar
    It is GREAT that RIM and the Playbook still have fans that want to build up the end user experiance.

    What I also like about this post is this " I welcome any productive comments. Trolls need not bother".

    I don't know about you but I'm getting sick of seeing negative people dragging down our great experiances and dragging down RIM so we may not see future greatness from the GREATEST devices ever made.... Go Blackberry?

    A thank you to Canuck_67 for being a productive outstanding person that wants us all to have a better experiance with future RIM products.

    With that I'm going to join Canuck_67 in his efforts to make our Crackberry community experiances better and say...... Negative undermining comments are not welcome.


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    Canuck671 likes this.
    08-08-12 11:12 AM
  4. jtokarchuk's Avatar
    Speaking from experience, both from assisting RIM with open source development (bbui.js), and developing my own software; I am perfectly happy with publishing exclusively to appworld.

    The support experience is amazing. I actually feel like a contributor who means something to them, and not a casino player (which is what I equate apple App Store to. very few big winners.)

    Time and time again, it baffles me how RIM can get tarred and feathered by the general populous for having "no apps", but the festering pool of garbage (mostly) that is Google Play gets by scot free.

    I prefer quality over quantity, and I will remain committed to this platform, as it will bloom.
    08-08-12 11:27 AM
  5. ignites's Avatar
    Right.
    RIM said 13% of their devs made over 100k in a year. I'm far on the end of the 87%, but seriously, more than 1/10 BlackBerry devs are made at least a hundred grand...
    That, my friends, is not something to at.
    Lets be honest, most of that 1 in 10 are developers that are not 1-man shows that RIM seems to try to convince us it is. It is usually that 'bird' game and all the big gaming companies etc... I would want to see how many of those 13% actually are individuals and after all the costs/splits is done how many individuals are actually making 100 k + a year. That is the true question. The only 'small teams' that I know for sure are making 100+ k is Daniel Bigham (iTunes Sync) and Kisai Labs (Blaq). And if SCrid2000 whos on the Top Paid list every week (if not even more frequently) is not making more than 'a couple hundred' a month as he just said then the development outlook is not really as 'great' as RIM claims it to be.

    Id be interested in how others look at it. For the record I'm still in the 87% bracket after easyDial which was also in Top Paid list and featured in CrackBerry / N4BB /BlackBerryOS.com and others and there are a LOT more Bold users out there than PlayBooks...
    08-08-12 12:04 PM
  6. jtokarchuk's Avatar
    That is a shame, as I use your app and enjoy it.

    What I found, is that I have essentially been pushed into the 99c bracket to make sales. This is not RIM's fault however. Everybody seems to expect a Mona Lisa for almost nothing.

    My biggest selling app right now is probably PlayChess, and that's cause it's a multiplayer game. It's nowhere near the top list though.

    I have made what I deem to be quality apps, but it sometimes seems that no matter what App provider you go with, you almost have to have a marketing department behind you to create that "cult following."
    08-08-12 12:24 PM
  7. Darlaten's Avatar
    What I found, is that I have essentially been pushed into the 99c bracket to make sales. This is not RIM's fault however. Everybody seems to expect a Mona Lisa for almost nothing.
    My comments are not directed to you specifically but rather more of a general comment in terms of pricing. Personally, I have no problem paying money for apps - not because I won the lottery although I wish I had - but because I recognize the work and effort that has gone into making the applications.

    Forums such as this have been eye-opening in terms of seeing what developers go through. They have also been eye-opening in terms of the amount of "flack" that developers receive from ignorant and ungrateful consumers. I'm amazed that some of you developers still develop for various platforms given the attacks that you perceive.

    In any event, my only suggestion for developers, particularly if you beyond the 99 cent price range is, to offer a place to which better, larger high quality images of your product can be seen. I know that I have avoided paying for certain apps in the $10-15 range simply because I was unable to see what the app actually looked like due to the small/poor images that are provided in App World. I regularly go look at a developers website to see if I can see better material there before I make a purchase.

    I don't know if this would help you increase your sales, but I honestly think that it's the presentation style (limits?) of App World that may be contributing to low sales.
    08-08-12 01:43 PM
  8. eblade's Avatar
    Ican only speak for the playbook app world, but the app world is such bad software itself that I'd rather not even have it, and default to a different way of distributing, but rim won't allow that anymore.
    08-09-12 11:41 PM
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