“India is aggressively growing in the App Development space”

How many App developers in India are working under BB currently?

Application development for mobile devices is catching up as the next big trend as developers are increasingly coming up with sophisticated and intuitive app ideas which have a ready market through the app stores. Individuals as well as organizations are increasingly becoming a part of this niche business segment as the investment is low and there are a lot of innovative ways to monetize it. At Research In Motion, we have worked towards strengthening our developer base in India both in numbers and technology capabilities. Over the years we have worked towards expanding our app developer base and today, Rim has a strong base of over 36,000 developers alone as against 4000 two years back.

The company did a pilot in Tamil Nadu where it trained few engineers? Brief us about such initiatives done by Blackberry in enhancing the app developer community in India.

Emerging markets such as India is aggressively growing in the app development space. While the segment is still niche, Indian app developers are very well equipped and skilled to create mobile apps powered by the latest technology.
Infact, at RIM, the growth of developer base is one among the fastest in the Indian market. As the market has a huge pool of professional and amateur app developers, we have designed focused initiatives to not only train but also keep the developers well-informed with the latest in the app space. We have recently concluded the BASE (BlackBerry Apps by Student Entrepreneurs) in Tamil Nadu, an initiative that involves summits, workshops and training sessions for students in the 3rd and 4th years of their engineering degree. All students are expected to develop and submit applications to the BlackBerry App World at the end of the programme and the best ones win prizes.

To further expand our developer base and educate the community we also organize initiatives such as:BlackBerry Hackathon, BlackBerry 10 Jam World Tour,Developer Challenge,BlackBerry DevCon

BlackBerry showed key interest in launching tele- medicine apps and public safety apps. Brief us about this new strategy?

Smartphones today are a way of life for users across all categories, a smartphone helps one integrate their leisure and work oriented functions in a seamless manner as a result of which today, the apps we use plays a vital role in our day-to-day functions. Riding upon the technologically cutting edge expertise embedded in RIM's product and service offerings, we have devised solutions in form of applications that can be used by medical professionals to not only be connected on the move but also help patients have access to immediate medical advice.
Some of these applications are deployed by hospitals and medical institutions to facilitate prompt medical facilities in case of emergency and also helps to build an extensive database for easy future reference.. For example, Max Healthcare has rolled out a unique solution to help its doctors provide expertise, with just one click on their BlackBerry phones. Developed by Gurgaon-based MphRx, the cloud-based solution 'MphRx Connect' securely connects an archive of radiology images, lab reports and other patient information with smartphones and laptops that clinicians can access wherever they are through BlackBerry smartphones
Another such example of deployments for public administration is Traff-i-cop. Traff-i-cop is an application developed by Pune based Omni Bridge developers to facilitate Traffic police in their day to day activities. BlackBerry devices with the application downloaded were given to the traffic police in Pune which was linked to the database provided by RTO. Equipped with the BlackBerry smartphones the police could refer to all the traffic offense history of a given registered vehicle no. in order to collect the fine. The use of these applications also inculcated a sense of alarm among the residents of Pune to be vigilant and also maintain traffic rules. Due to the popularity of this application and its functions, the ministry of urban development has presented an award to this application. A similar application has also recently been deployed for Bangalore police

When can we expect NFC enabled apps in BB models in India?
Select BlackBerry 7.1 devices have NFC capabilities embedded on the device and NFC enabled apps and features can be used seamlessly on these devices.
Currently BlackBerry has a function called BlackBerry Tag which uses NFC technology to seamlessly transfer data from one device to another. BlackBerry Tag is used in several ways, such as adding a new contact on BBM, sharing files, music, images etc.
BlackBerry apps which have the functionality of being integrated with social apps are already up to speed with NFC to enhance experience, such as FourSquare, Zomato etc. Cashless loyalty and CRM applications are starting to change the way small retailers can leverage technology.

 

What can new can we expect from BB10 apps?
The BlackBerry 10 platform is a beautiful amalgamation of the legendary qualities of BlackBerry coupled with intuitiveness and speed of QNX platform. BlackBerry smartphones powered by Blackberry 10 OS would definitely redefine mobility and communication experience for users. It is a new and truly open ecosystem that is easy to develop for. It calls to developers to bring your skills and your apps and port them easily. You don't have to learn a new platform; you don't have to learn a new language. BlackBerry 10 platform and apps will enable people to collaborate, share and succeed in a unique seamless user experience for consumers and business, called the BlackBerry Flow
At RIM, we are heavily investing in populating the app space for the BlackBerry 10 platform, with the series of initiatives undertaken, to educate and support the developers in making the best apps. At the recent BlackBerry 10 Jam session hosted in America we have announced that BlackBerry which would provide in one place great top-tier apps, movies, music, TV shows and more. Hundreds of applications built by recipients of the Dev Alpha devices have already been submitted to BlackBerry App World. In a recent survey, 99% of recipients told us they had begun building for BlackBerry 10. The fact that some partners have already submitted apps to App World is a testament to their commitment to the platform and we're excited about the developer response we're seeing.