BlackBerry App Center photos leaked
Research In Motion is launching a competitor to the iPhone App Store, according to reports. It's about time.
It seems like the marketing team at RIM has figured out a way to compete with Apple's marketing prowess...leaks, leaks, leaks.
Fortunately, the items they are leaking are actually pretty cool. Via CrackBerry.com and BoyGeniusReport.com, we have the BlackBerry Storm user guide and pics of the upcoming BlackBerry Application Center--something long missing for BlackBerry users, especially amid the iPhone App Store hype.
Details remain sketchy, but Gizmodo thinks the BlackBerry App Center has some rough edges:
RIM's take on an app store is much less ambitious than Apple's for one fatal reason: the store will be run on the carrier's side, which will give your mobile provider the chance to veto an app even after it's been approved by RIM. The apps--and this is pretty weird--are actually downloaded through the device's browser, as the App Center is only able to search, monitor and delete programs from the device. Yeah, that's right: the App Center program can't directly install apps.
I still have a week to go on my iPhone test-drive. And while I have come to like the device and its functionality, I still struggle with AT&T. The ease of use and integration with the Mac desktop and the ability to get new applications are hard to fight. It would be a huge boon for BlackBerry users to have as good of a user experience.