BlackBerry App World: Show Me the Relevant Apps

In addition, whereas the Apple App Store can be viewed from a PC or Mac via iTunes—presenting wider views of available applications and more cleanly presented reviews and descriptions—App World browsers must instead view single application presentations or truncated lists due to the dimensions of the device screen. 

The only view into App World that users can get from a PC is a list of Featured BlackBerry apps on the BlackBerry Website. (These apps are different from those in the Featured Items panel.) Users can check select-boxes for multiple applications on-screen, then e-mail direct links to their devices. When the e-mail is received, users click the links and choose to launch App World instead of a browser. 

Interestingly, when AppWorld launched on April 1, RIM executives claimed there were about 800 applications in the store, with a total of 1,000 expected in the store by the end of that week. But at the time I wrote this story, more than two weeks after the launch, the categorical display showed only 741 applications available in the store. 

Most applications I sampled were available for free, but App World has a number of pricing tiers for paid applications. Most of those available now cost less than $10, but I saw several in the $50 to $70 range, and one as expensive as $200.

To purchase for-pay applications, users must have a PayPal account—no credit cards permitted (except when used through PayPal). When purchasing an application, users enter their PayPal user name and password, both of which get proxied over to PayPal for authentication and payment validation. Before confirming the purchase, users can read the extensive terms of sale for the application. Once payment is processed, the application will be downloaded and installed.

MyWorld adds additional functionality here as well—as a sort of online storage locker that allows users to move purchased applications to another BlackBerry device. When the user logs into PayPal, a MyWorld locker is created under the PayPal user name, and it tracks what applications have been bought under this user name/PayPal account. (It does not track free applications.) Therefore, if the user logs into MyWorld from another BlackBerry device, MyWorld automatically synchronizes purchased applications to the new device.

Senior Analyst Andrew Garcia can be reached at agarcia@eweek.com.