storefronts

Docstoc opens up a shop for publishers

Online document host Docstoc on Wednesday is opening up an online store for publishers to sell their wares. The company is acting both as the host and the payment platform, as well as providing the viewing technology for the documents.

As part of the deal, publishers get "a majority" of the revenue, although actual figures are based on a sliding scale and depend on who they are and how Docstoc is promoting them.

In order to avoid serving up two versions of a paid document, such as a preview and full version, Docstoc has updated its Adobe Flash-based … Read more

Inside the BlackBerry app store

ZDNet UK caught up with Mike Kirkup, RIM's head of developer relations, to discuss the upcoming launch of the BlackBerry Application Storefront and what it means for mobile developers.

On Monday, Research in Motion opened up the submission process for its Application Storefront, through which third-party software for the BlackBerry can be sold to the public by its developers--the handset maker's answer to the iPhone App Store and Google's Android Market. The online Application Storefront is planned to go live in March, and an on-device Application Center is also in the works.

ZDNet UK caught up with … Read more

RIM store will turn away some BlackBerry apps

Research In Motion will not be as tough a gatekeeper as Apple in admitting applications to its storefront, but it will reject BlackBerry apps it thinks use too much network bandwidth, the company's developer relations chief has told ZDNet UK.

Mike Kirkup said on Thursday that the Canadian handset manufacturer will welcome third-party software that replicates the functionality of native BlackBerry applications onto the BlackBerry Application Storefront--a strategy that is not followed by Apple with its iPhone App Store. However, certain types of applications, such as those offering streaming video, might be turned down.

"If somebody builds … Read more

BlackBerry app store open for submissions

Research In Motion has begun soliciting applications for the BlackBerry Application Storefront, which is due to go live in March.

Submissions for applications opened on Monday. RIM announced in October that it would be launching an app store in March of this year, a move that will bring it in line with rivals such as Apple, Google, and Palm, each of whom has or is about to launch their own on-device app stores.

The vendor guidelines listed on RIM's Web site make it explicit that the Canadian handset manufacturer "reserves the right to accept, deny, or remove any … Read more

More BlackBerry app store details emerge

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--Mike Lazaridis, Research In Motion's co-founder and co-CEO, has just given the 700 registered developers at the first-ever BlackBerry Developer Conference sound but strange advice. The key to successful BlackBerry development isn't just good programming, Lazaridis told the room, it's physics.

Very specific physics, it turns out. Lazaridis pointed to an image of a box with the words Bandwidth, Capacity, Performance, and Battery Life, written in each corner. These are the four principles of BlackBerry's "physics," he said. If developers push too hard to achieve high broadband speeds, for instance, capacity drops. On individual devices, there is a trade-off between battery life and performance.

"This is one box that it's wise not to think outside," Lazaridis joked.

Lazaridis' insight is one reason that scores of developers have gathered at the Silicon Valley conference. Another is meeting with technical experts for hands-on advice to ready their applications for the sleek BlackBerry Bold and touch-screen BlackBerry Storm--slated to hit stores within the next few weeks--and for the BlackBerry application store--anticipated to debut in March 2009.

The on-device BlackBerry Application Center and online BlackBerry Application Storefront will make it easier for the 20 million BlackBerry users on all platforms to find and download add-on applications for their specific phone models.… Read more