Research In Motion (RIM), makers of blackberry, will be launching its own appstore to compete against its rival apple’s iphone appstore.
On Apr. 1, Mike Lazaridis, co-CEO of Research in Motion (RIMM), is expected to take the stage at the wireless industry’s annual trade show in Las Vegas and open the virtual doors to a much anticipated new online store. BlackBerry App World will be chock-full of software programs created by outside developers that visitors will be able to download to their RIM phones.
It’s the first of several major assaults by rivals on Apple (AAPL)’s fast-growing iPhone business. Apple has stoked demand for the device by offering thousands of software applications from independent developers through its App Store. Now, Nokia (NOK), Microsoft (MSFT), and Palm (PALM) plan to follow RIM with virtual software stores of their own this year. “There’s going to be a significant counter-challenge to Apple,” says Mike McGuire, analyst with researcher Gartner (IT).
There are also rumors that RIM will be offering mobile TV service on blackberry.
We’ve heard from multiple sources that RIM is planning to announce a full-episode television service for BlackBerry users as early as next week at CTIA.
Better late than never. RIM is joining the party a bit late but they have a huge install base, so it is worth watching.