RIM's new operating system is just a couple of weeks from launch, and now comes word it'll be bolstered with a huge array of apps. Tens of thousands of the blighters, if one RIM exec is to believed.
In just 36 hours last weekend, more than 15,000 apps were ported to BlackBerry 10, according to Bob El-Hawary, RIM's senior director of channel accounts. "We've been accepting BlackBerry 10 apps since 12 October," he told the official Vodafone blog, "and with more coming in every day as we close in on launch, we're confident that we'll launch with tens of thousands of apps, a record for the launch of any new mobile platform."
To put that in perspective, iOS only had 500 apps when it launched, though they were much simpler times back then.
These 15,000 last weekend were a 'Port-A-Thon' run by RIM's developer relations team, according to El-Hawary. Another was scheduled to take place yesterday. Not all the apps ported will be available on BB10, but it looks like RIM could be on target for its tens of thousands of launch apps.
El-Hawary also promises BB10 devices will be at "the leading edge of battery power", which is good news for power-sapping BlackBerry users. And for anyone who's sick of their phone dying by four o'clock in the afternoon.
This week, specs leaked for the BlackBerry Z10, which will be one of the first BB10 handsets to launch. (It was previously spotted under the working title of the BlackBerry London.) It'll have a 4.2-inch touchscreen, with a resolution of 1,280x786 pixels -- that's 355 pixels per inch, which is higher than the iPhone 5 -- so cat videos should look a real treat.
Inside is 2GB of RAM, 16GB of memory, and an 1,800mAh battery.
Are you excited about BB10? What will RIM have to do to save itself from the same fate as former high street giants? Let me know in the comments, or on Facebook.
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Comments 25
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phd8569 19 January, 2013 10:32
''tens of thousands, really? I've already been stung with the promise of 'thousands of android apps' in App World for the BB PlayBook. Still can't even get the Kindle app. Not falling for this BB marketing crap ever again.
anonymous 19 January, 2013 11:12
I'm getting a BB10 phone when I can get my hands on one. I cant stand the crappy Android overlay the carriers throw on such phones. How many apps do you really need?
anonymous 19 January, 2013 11:16
15 k in one weekend? Tens of thousand on launch?
i only use about 150, and i bet at least half of them wont be available on bb10.
Another thing is, as it is woth any ports, the apps either dont perform as well as the original, or they are buggy aa hell.
So.....tens of thousands of buggy
Damien2501 19 January, 2013 12:51
BlackBerry and RIM are an expensive joke. Later this year RIM will probably file for Chapter 11 and then be taken over by Samsung or a Chinese manufacturer.
anonymous 19 January, 2013 13:07
LOL, you mean "power sipping", not "power sapping".
anonymous 19 January, 2013 14:37
1800mAh battery is not enough, I can see BB10 owners complaining that battery life is poor! Bb10 does look promising
anonymous 19 January, 2013 19:44
1800 is fine. You can swap it out for a fresh one any time. Yes, a swapable battery. What a concept.
anonymous 19 January, 2013 23:16
That is one hell of an ugly brick, cant see anything innovative in the software, and personally i think bb have done too little too late, the market is crammed with die hard android and apple users, never really found any of bb phones that exciting, and with the new sony xperia z and galaxy s4 on the horizon bb will still have to play catch up same as apple and nokia....
anonymous 20 January, 2013 01:22
Bahahahaha I see all the little fan-droid fan boys spewing nothing but bs and fearing January 30th. The BB10 dev phone gave a beating to Sammy's galaxy s3 quad core in web browsing and opening app's and facebook ring test and the dev wasn't running the finished BB10 OS.
Android is going to get hammered by blackberry and Sammy's Tizen phones.
anonymous 20 January, 2013 01:58
Are you for real you little prick of a boy, even if bb10 is better than android they aint got no chance of catching up,too many left bb for android or apple, android is the world leader of smartphones and thats fact, whether i was a fanboy or not isnt going to change anything, youre obviously a little boy who still fantasizes over a company thats more or less dead and buried, the only competition they will be up against is the windows 8 os, bb wont even be able to surpass apple who has one of the most out of date os, so go on and play with yourself while you think of youre mother...........
Damien2501 20 January, 2013 02:04
Oh My Lord, soo many people awake at this time, insomniacs! Man you gotta understand we don't just use our 'Droids for just browsing the web, opening apps and going on Facebook, people with BB's dont know what they are missing, the list is endless.
Mobile World Congress 25 to 28 February 2013.
anonymous 20 January, 2013 02:56
Crackberry.com get educated here
anonymous 20 January, 2013 03:17
FaceFlow.com cross platform video chat coming to Blackberry 10 Jan 30 2013 and to iOS/Droid april 2013 !
Now we can all get along and stop the bickering,lol.
BB10 OS coming to Blackberry Playbook for FREE soon also, means apps too. :)
anonymous 20 January, 2013 03:18
@ 01:22...
BB10 wont even make a dent in the smartphone world, its too big and dominated by droid users and guess why, simply because android is the best out there, we'll see when this new bb is released, wont have enough of and impact and it wont save blackberry, rip
anonymous 20 January, 2013 03:21
Forget Siri.
This is how it's done.
http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/german-video-demonstrates-bb10s-voice-control-in-german-1126058
anonymous 20 January, 2013 03:25
BB10 will make a HUGE dent in the smartphone world!
Stock almost tripled in last 6 months, every analyst who has seen BB10 excited, 150 carriers excited, the list goes on. IOS is so yesterday, no innovation, BB10 is all NEW OS, not one line of code same as old OS, lets see iOS do that,lol.
anonymous 20 January, 2013 03:32
Market is full of iOS and Droid users waiting for BB10 to come back to Blackberry ! Many former Blackberry users are in the process of selling their iOS and Droid phones to buy Blackberry 10 phones. Watch the listing increase daily for used iOS and Droid phones, sell early before prices of used iOS and Droid phone flood the market and lose value. ;)
anonymous 20 January, 2013 03:49
With Blackberry 10 you won't have any need for a Droid phone, all Droid apps work on Blackberry 10, brilliant of Blackberry 10, just a matter of porting apps over to Blackberry 10.
Multitask? No problem Blackberry 10 (based on QNX) is true Real Time OS! You know the stable QNX you will find in nuclear plants, NASA etc.
Who owns QNX you ask, Blackberry of course. QNX.com
Look at the NAV/Infotainment system on your new car, most likey QNX(Blackberry)!
2013 CES winner? QNX of course!
Educate yourselfs people, ignore fanboys,read the truth.:)
anonymous 20 January, 2013 05:53
Haha you bunch of morons, if you think bb is going to come back i doubt it very much, and as for bb using android apps they only have a small fraction compared to androids 700,000+ bb have always been boring and always will be boring, take things to seriously, i want a bit of fun and freedom with my phone and they aint going to make that much of a dent, android own 75% of the market with apple 14% and the rest is shared between the rest,remember this day ladies because this time next year bb will be in the same place, nowwhere hahahahahahhahahahahahajajahahahahahahahahahahahahaha live you all mwha
anonymous 20 January, 2013 11:05
Android is not #1 because it is the best, but rather because it's free and open. The free phone on contract, especially being a smart phone, will always take it. It's actually kind of funny, most people I know with and android would be happier with an iPhone, and most people I know with an iPhone would be happier with an android. It's price vs marketing, plain and simple
anonymous 20 January, 2013 11:07
Forgot to make my point lol... BlackBerry will put out a nice phone, with a sick operating system. But it won't take off, because it's not free and android is.
vijitc 20 January, 2013 12:49
1)Are you excited about BB10? Yes I am very much. I don't care too much about 10s of thousands of apps. For me its about that I have seen re: Peek, multiple app management flow and HUB that makes me excited.
2)What will RIM have to do to save itself from the same fate as former high street giants? Its a different situation. Their business model just got outdated and irrelevant. They would have had to competely re-invent themselves into the digital world by getting there ahead of netflix or by trying to compete with amazon. Little chance of that. RIM is just re-inventing themselves in the same business. They have done very well so far and it starts from the top. They have an excellent executive team.
vijitc 20 January, 2013 12:54
in response to some of these battle comments I see. I really don't see how all phones can be all things to all people. Why do people want to trash each other? BB 10, Android, iOs, Windows all have things that will appeal to some more that others. We should respect what people like rather than try poke fun at them for liking something.
davefromwales 20 January, 2013 17:34
must say, i love how people are saying `it wont make a dent` etc, isnt that what people said about the iphone in 2007? also about android? is it just me that see`s that it was complacency that almost killed rim and did kill palm, now suddenly you have others showing the same signs.
anonymous 22 January, 2013 15:22
BB10 needs to get all the social network apps and that's it, cause it's new user interface looks really promising.