Research In Motion, makers of the BlackBerry, recently held a workshop/press event entitled “Convert Your Website & Blog to a BlackBerry 10 App” (inhale) at The Peninsula. It was presented by David Patterson of Alliance Operations (AsiaPac) and John Bibal II, group co-manager of pinoyBBdev.
The workshop is a part of the initiatives to encourage developers to develop for the BB10 platform, which they have been doing since August last year, which included two Hackathons (pinoyBBdev Hackathon and BlackBerry Jam Hack), a Port-A-Thon and an academic program.
BlackBerry App Generator: Your Website or Blog in 10 Minutes
John demoed how you can make your website into a BlackBerry application. Assuming that you have your resources ready (icons and graphics and a decent internet connection), you can create your application in as fast as 10 minutes. The process seems really simple and straightforward: enter your site’s address or an RSS feed, choose an app layout, customise the colours, and place your logo and app icon and set the price of your app. Upon submission, you will be prompted create a membership account or enter your existing account credentials. It will then be submitted for review, which they say could take up to 2 weeks.
Once approved, your application becomes available for download in BlackBerry World. You can manage your apps by logging back in and also be able to get some statistics, like how many times your app has been downloaded and other information.
All these are being done in preparation for the global launch of BlackBerry 10 this January 30. RIM will be debuting two new devices by then, which they claim is unlike any smartphone in the market today.
You can try the app generator yourself at http://blackberryappgenerator.com.