BlackBerry 10 and the $10,000 bonus for apps

The smartphone manufacturer of BlackBerry, Research in Motion, has attempted to reverse a recent decline in sales by offering $10,000 for any developer who can devise an app which is ultimately accepted and used on its next generation of phones.

As Information Week explains developers who work for BlackBerry have been offered cash sums to encourage them to write programs for the next generation handset. The manufacturer of the devices, Research In Motion, has offered a minimum sum of $10,000 to any developer whose app is certified for the forthcoming BlackBerry 10. One of the reasons for the drive is that the new BlackBerry 10 (coded 10 Dev Alpha) will have an operating system which is incompatible with the existing software used by Blackberry devices. The prototype features a 4.2-inch touchscreen, on which users can access a virtual version of the familiar BlackBerry keyboard. The new operating system also supports app multi-tasking and is said to have a much cleaner presentation. According to the BBC, to date, only an early prototype of the BlackBerry 10 has been seen. The initial reaction has been that the device appears ‘uninspiring’. David Cockfield, managing director and portfolio manager at Northland Wealth Management, is quoted as saying: “The bulls have disappeared from the scene as far as RIM is concerned. There is no investor confidence in RIM at all. It will have to do something fairly spectacular to turn things around." Despite the announcement, as noted by the Register, the RIM shares price has fallen. RIM has struggled to compete against Google's Android and Apple's iOS. Furthermore, at the end of March BlackBerry posted a $125 million loss.