Research In Motion (RIM) today announced two important dates for BlackBerry app developers. First off, the BlackBerry 10 SDK is getting an update before the end of the month, on November 29, and more importantly, the Gold SDK is being released before the end of the year, on December 11. That’s two weeks, and less than four weeks, of wait time, respectively.
Here are the dates RIM wants you to mark in your calendar:
- November 29 – BlackBerry 10 SDK update.
- November 29-30 – BlackBerry Jam Asia (in Bangkok, Thailand).
- December 11 – BlackBerry 10 Gold SDK launch.
- January 21 – Deadline to have apps submitted to the BlackBerry App World storefront for the 10k Developer Commitment where we guarantee $10,000 USD revenue in the first year.
- January 30 – BlackBerry 10 launch events.
- February 5-6 – BlackBerry Jam Europe (in Amsterdam).
This doesn’t give developers too much wiggle room to leverage the final SDK before submitting their app in time for the BlackBerry 10 launch on January 30, 2013. Devices will likely start shipping in early February, meaning developers will have some two months to use the latest features.
This is of course plenty of time for those who are dedicated to BlackBerry 10, but it won’t be too much for those who are currently already developing apps for Android, iOS, and maybe even Windows Phone. In fact, that’s RIM’s biggest challenge here: wooing developers away from Microsoft’s platform as the two duel for third place.
Yet Microsoft has a distinct advantage with Windows Phone 8: it’s called Windows 8. The company has a reputation of treating its developers well, while RIM has the exactly opposite status. Of course it’s too early to count out the Canadian team, as RIM is always full of surprises.
See also – RIM announces free BlackBerry 10 app submissions, guarantees you’ll earn $10k if you make $1k and RIM officially opens BlackBerry 10 app submissions ahead of Q1 2013 launch
Image credit: Alfonso Diaz
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