BlackBerry 10 Apps: RIM Promises Flourishing Enterprise App Market, Takes on iOS and Android

When the BlackBerry 10 launches on January 30, 2013, Research In Motion (RIM) hopes to deliver a fully formed app ecosystem for enterprise consumers, reports CRN.

In an effort to familiarize developers with the new platform, RIM set out on the BlackBerry Jam World Tour Enterprise Edition. Chief Strategy Officer of the software development firm ISEC7 Michael Brandt explains, "The hands-on sessions are great to show the developers and engineers how easy it is to set up the environment and get started."

He adds, "We started four months ago, with development for the BlackBerry 10 platform. We have a couple of enterprise apps where our customers expect us to have these ready for the launch of BlackBerry 10."

RIM will hold a press event on January 30 where the company will debut the first two smartphones branded under the BlackBerry 10 logo. Google's Android and Apple's iOS operating systems have the advantage of an established, flourishing app store, but BlackBerry looks to wrestle market share back from the industry giants.

In an interview with CRN, RIM Senior Director of Enterprise Developer Partnerships Gregg Ostrowski states, "Our enterprise developers have a very specific set of needs that they need assistance with, and us having these events, - it's been overwhelmingly positive. The attendees are just thrilled that RIM is focusing on what the enterprise developer needs, versus the guy who is building games and social networking stuff, and things that are for public consumption."

Ostrowski notes that a focus on enterprise consumers is part of BlackBerry's "legacy." He continues, "When we went down the path of developer relations and developer events, a lot of that started out focused on consumers because of the trends of the market. Now we are shifting back and doing a parallel approach where we need...to focus on consumer applications to make our devices more desirable, yet , on my side, we need to make sure the enterprise is taken care of, as well."