RIM’s BlackBerry World expo started today in Orlando, Florida, and has plenty of space available for new attendees, according to Bloomberg. RIM has offered prototype BlackBerry 10 devices to developers in an effort to increase enthusiasm for the upcoming operating system, whose first phone is set to release this coming October according to some reports.
Truphone’s own Adam Linford, head of Tru Labs, even made an appearance in the article, citing the need for BlackBerry 10 to “win over” a section of the market in order to make development for RIM’s new operating system more attractive to developers.
A survey this year by Appcelerator and IDC found that 89 percent of developers were “very interested” in writing software for Apple’s iPhone, and 79 percent for Google’s Android OS. Only 16 percent of developers said saw benefit in developing for BlackBerry.
According to Mr. Linford, “Improved software and developer tools [for BB10] will make it easier to build apps. Even so, RIM’s declining sales make the proposition less attractive to developers, especially for those who already do well off of Android and the iPhone.”
RIM is building the BlackBerry 10 OS from scratch and hopes that it will increase demand for BlackBerry devices in the U.S., where their sales have plummeted 57 percent. It goes without saying that the company has a lot of work to do.