Day One Highlights Of BlackBerry Jam Asia 2012

Day one has passed for BlackBerry Jam Asia 2012 and a lot has happened so far. One thing that we can't look past, is that these events are focused around getting more devs on board with BlackBerry, while giving them the necessary tools they need to made a great application for BlackBerry World. These BlackBerry Jam events are a huge success for RIM as they bring on new developers, and existing developers from competitors like iPhone and Android. Check out the full recap below, and be sure to check out the highlight video above as well:

Tools

• The BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha program is expanding to include the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha C testing device for developers who want to test applications on a BlackBerry 10 device with a QWERTY keyboard.
• The BlackBerry 10 SDKs have received their latest update, incorporating feedback from the developer community. The gold release of the tools is still on track for December 11, 2012.
• The BlackBerry App Generator tool has launched and can turn online content (RSS, Facebook brand/fan pages, blogs, online galleries, etc.) into great looking native BlackBerry 10 apps within minutes.

Incentives

• Developers currently testing their applications on BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha test devices can now apply to be eligible for a limited edition BlackBerry 10 device.
• RIM and Appcelerator have teamed up, offering the first 1,000 Appcelerator developers a BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha test device once their applications have been submitted for review. Up to 10,000 developers will be eligible to receive one year of free Appcelerator Cloud Services and Analytics.

In addition to tool and incentive updates, RIM also announced a re-branding of BlackBerry App World, which will now be referred to as BlackBerry World.

RIM recently commissioned an independent survey intended to track developer sentiment, intent and conversations around writing apps for various mobile platforms, including BlackBerry 10. The results show positive momentum:

• Developer attitude towards RIM has improved broadly and significantly
  
  • 42% would definitely recommend RIM as a development platform, a 25% increase
  
  
• Global developers have shifted their focus away from Apple to other platforms including RIM
  
  • 18% of developers surveyed say they are now developing apps for RIM, a 4% increase
  • 8% now consider RIM to be their main (primary) development platform, a 5% increase
  
  
• Buzz and excitement is growing for BlackBerry 10 development
  
  • 12% of developers heard positive buzz regarding BlackBerry 10 from other developers, a 7% increase