RIM was showing off App World 2.0 at an event they had in NYC and its nice to see the progress they have made. While I was there they did not make a formal announcement but told us more or less what the features would be. The update is coming in the next few months but they add some nice functionality. In a total klutz moment I did not take pictures of App World 2.0 but thankfully Al Sacco did not suffer from the same memory lapse and managed to snag some great shots.
The big new feature they are touting is adding carrier billing and credit card billing in quite a few countries. This means you are no longer limited to PayPal. Personally I actually thought the biggest new feature was BlackBerry ID which from now on will become the main identity and login you will have throughout all of RIM’s properties. I have been begging them to do this for years and it looks like they are delivering. Hopefully they will convert BIS accounts next! When BBID launches with App World 2.0 it will let you easily transfer your purchases between devices. I asked if they would let devs tie into this system in the future instead of serial codes for registration and they said it is on the roadmap!
The other cool new things they added are:
- They have split themes out from App World and put them in their own category with their own top 25 listings and everything.
- You can now also swipe left and right in the top apps listing to scroll between categories and the app will remember where you were last time you were on that screen.
The one feature they left out that I am hoping is coming soon is in app payments. This is huge on other platforms and allows developers to offer extra content and charge for it. Or provide a way inside the app to upgrade from a free version or trial to the full version. Hopefully in app payments will be coming shortly after 2.0.
So what do you think? Is RIM moving in the right direction with App World? Are they moving fast enough?
