RIM Launches BlackBerry App World

Research In Motion on Wednesday launched the much-anticipated BlackBerry App World, an on-device application store for BlackBerry smartphones. RIM is hoping its platform will see the success that Apple has enjoyed with its App Store, with about 800 million applications downloaded since last summer.

BlackBerry App World is available to BlackBerry smartphone users in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. RIM said it's planning more country launches, but didn't offer a time frame. The BlackBerry store offers a blend of personal and business applications, both free and paid.

"The BlackBerry platform provides a truly unparalleled mobile experience for millions of people and we are thrilled today to enhance that experience with a new app store that helps connect consumers with developers and carriers," said Mike Lazaridis, president and co-CEO. "BlackBerry App World aggregates a wide variety of personal and business apps in a way that makes it very easy for consumers to discover and download the apps that suit them while preserving the appropriate IT architecture and controls required by our enterprise customers."

An App World Tour

Here's a sneak peak at the BlackBerry App World experience. Users can access the store over both Wi-Fi and cellular networks and will be presented with a catalog of applications available for a user's specific BlackBerry model.

RIM has also created what the company is calling a "front page carousel" that showcases several applications and lets users browse through featured applications. Those featured applications will vary from week to week, encouraging users to discover new applications.

BlackBerry users will also find a Top Downloads area that lists the applications most downloaded, along with a variety of application categories. Those categories include Entertainment, Games, Maps and Navigation, Music and Video, News and Weather, Personal Finance and Banking, Personal Health and Wellness, Productivity and Utilities, Professional and Business,...