RIM Desperate For Devs!

Not sure if anyone’s seen the recent offer from RIM: port / create an app by a deadline and they’ll give you a free Playbook. They’ve just extended the deadline to March 2nd (http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/02/playbook-offer-extension/ ). Worth a look at the android app porting tools - note that registration can take some time to get your ID sorted so I’d suggest doing it ASAP (and I believe registering initially as a free app publisher may stop the ID requirements and so give an instant account - not sure if you can convert later).

Unfortunately for me this has knocked my android development on the head for the moment as my only app used native code which isn’t supported by the Playbook implementation. Have spent the last two days trying to relearn C++ and re-implement my game logic and assets using cocos2d-x …

Thanks for posting! I hadn’t seen this offer yet, but looks like it’s definitely worthwhile porting at least one of my apps to the platform. The Playbook could make a nice addition to my device array :slight_smile:

Well exactly, it doesn’t hurt. I’d love to see their sales stats vs free ones given out (I believe they did this last year as well). Maybe it’s a whole userbase of developers :slight_smile:

Registration deadline for a vendor account seems to be the 15th Feb so needs to be done ASAP, but I’m assuming that a) either you can register a free app only account so avoid the manual validation process they go through or b) given how flexible they’ve been so far, the 15th deadline is only to register, so +2 days for approval not so bad.

FYI, as I had registered to put paid apps up and was registering as an individual I had to supply gov’t issued ID. They were fine with my driving license (photo ID and counterpart) as these prove my address.

Anyhow, finished up the last bits of logic that I need to implement in my head this morning on the tube so will code them up tonight / tomorrow and feed back on the app submission process!

Well, looks like I got in on time. I just got this email from RIM:

Subject: You’ve completed the first step toward a free BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

Your app submission has been successfully received by the team at BlackBerry App World, putting you on the road to qualify for the free BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet Offer 2012. The BlackBerry App World team reviews each app based on the Vendor Guidelines and we’ll notify you as soon as we have determined if your app qualifies for the free tablet offer.

When your app is approved, you will receive an additional email notice requesting a shipping address for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

If you receive notice that your app has not been accepted, don’t give up. You can modify and resubmit that app for approval as long as the app was originally submitted during the qualifying period. We will do our best to promptly review each application submission. However, we cannot guarantee a decision within a specific timeframe.

We appreciate the time and effort you have put into developing an app for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. We’re pleased and excited to have your applications on our platform and look forward to shared success and a long relationship.

Happy coding!

The BlackBerry Developer Program team

P.S. You are welcome to submit multiple entries for consideration, but only one BlackBerry PlayBook tablet will be awarded per registered vendor in BlackBerry App World.

I was actually surprised by how easy it was to adapt an Android app to run on the PlayBook. One of my simplest apps only took about half an hour, including the time required to register for a signing key, etc.

That’s not bad at all. I’ve not been too unhappy that I’ve had to re-write mine for native as I wanted to learn & re-learn some of that anyway.

It may take a bit of time for them to get through the review backlog, but they will get there (and have ramped people up to do it). I’ve just had my PlayBook shipping mail. New toys ftw!

I also got the mail from Blackberry asking for my shipping info.
Special thanks to ‘falo’ via whom I got to know about the offer.

I got a Blackberry Playbook for my first ever app :wink:
But more importantly the offer helped me in breaking the inertia that was holding me from creating my first app. The learning curve was proving to be too steep for me.

I’m still waiting on the test house. Submitted the app on Feb 13th, and I’m hoping to hear back soon.

The conversion process was very smooth, and I’ll definitely be using it again - an extra market has to be a good thing, right?

Can’t hurt! It’s just a shame that Handster have spammed the App World so heavily. Surprised you haven’t heard from the test house yet tbh. I submitted mine after that (native sdk admittedly, but still) and have now gone through the process. Just waiting on the actual PlayBook. Keeping my fingers crossed it’ll arrive tomorrow as I’m travelling to Dublin on Friday, although that might risk me breaking it while over Guinnessed …

If you’ve had no updates since the 13th I’d suggest giving @BlackBerryDev or Alec Saunders a nudge on Twitter.

That is not bad at all. I have not been too unhappy that I have had to re- write mine for native as I wanted to learn and re learn some of that anyway.

Hi,

If you need a good platform to create RIM apps easily from your Android apps, with no strings attached, feel free to try us out (GingeeGames | Home).
A new website will be up shortly, but the platform itself is easy to use and, most important - free.

I totally agree about developing to RIM and other less popular platforms. monetization opportunities can be very good there.