BlackBerry 10 tested on new phone, App World renamed

A new BlackBerry has been revealed -- but it's not for you. Unless you're a developer that is, because the new Qwerty-packing phone is a prototype for people to test their apps with the next-generation BlackBerry 10 software.

Unveiled by BlackBerry-builder Research in Motion at a developer event in Bangkok, the testy phone has a Qwerty keyboard and will be doled out on a points system.

1,500 devices will be handed out to developers based on criteria such as the number of apps they offer, and whether their apps were built specially for BlackBerry. Developers will then swap their testing device for a production phone at a later date. 

A previous Dev Alpha device only had a touchscreen, so now developers can see how their apps work on traditional be-keyed BlackBerry phones. When BlackBerry 10 lands in the new year, it'll make its debut on two phones, one with a clicky keyboard and one without.

BlackBerry 10 devices have no home button, because you move directly between apps instead of hopping out to the home screen all the time. 

RIM has also renamed its app store BlackBerry World. Formerly known as BlackBerry App World, the store has been renamed to reflect the fact you can also buy music, films and TV shows from the store.

BlackBerry 10 has plenty of work to do: RIM's share of the mobile phone market has gone off a cliff faster than Wile E Coyote in the last year, freezing in mid-air, blinking twice and then hurtling earthwards with a whistling sound effect. But if it's successful, RIM reckons BB10 will kill the laptop.

Do you think BlackBerry 10 will save BlackBerry or has Apple and Android got the smart phone market sewn up? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.