April 2, 2009 8:01 pm

CTIA 2009: Welcome to BlackBerry App World

In response to Apple’s enormously successful App Store for its iPhone/iPod touch platform, Research in Motion (RIM) has unleashed its long-awaited BlackBerry App World (not just a storefront, it’s planetary!) for supplying BlackBerry owners with third-party fart applications… as well as games and other useful apps (like TeleNav GPS Navigator). You’ll need to download the App World app first from BlackBerry, and it’s compatible with BlackBerry Device Software version 4.2 or higher (essentially, any BlackBerry device with a trackball–like the Curve 8900 and the Bold 9000–as well as touchscreen Storm). And you’ll have to sign up for a PayPal account, as that’s the only way to pay for apps. Pocket-Lint offers some more info on the basics, including the fact that you can only store apps within your device’s internal memory and there’s no option to download via the desktop (a la the iPhone’s connection to iTunes). Michael Oryl over at Mobile Burn provides a video walk-through of the new world:

Michael says he’ll reserve final judgement on BAW until he plays with it more, but others are already offering their snap judgements. Sascha Segan at PC Magazine found apps to be a bit more expensive (but also a bit more robust in features) than the iPhone’s App Store, but he misses the ability to discover apps on the desktop. Mobile Crunch likes the fact that you can store apps in the cloud using the App World’s My World function, which can save space in your BlackBerry’s memory, though Walt Mossberg warns that could be a pain should you not be sufficiently connected (overall, he’s pretty positive about BAW). If you’ve given BlackBerry App World a whirl, let us know what you think in the comments.

–Agen G.N. Schmitz