Recently we introduced a new family of BlackBerry smartphones running the new BlackBerry 7 OS. To coincide, the BlackBerry 7 SDK went gold to support these new product launches. We’ve seen strong adoption of the new tools for BlackBerry 7 smartphones. We have also seen many existing applications ported over to these new BlackBerry 7 devices.

To enable developers to start testing and optimizing their BlackBerry applications for two upcoming smartphones, we are now releasing a beta of the new BlackBerry simulators, and encourage you to check out BlackBerry® Developer Zone for more information. In addition, we have opened up BlackBerry App World to enable vendors to start posting their applications for sale in time to be included for consideration in launch activities for both of these upcoming devices. To be fully prepared for launch, it is important for BlackBerry developers to note the following two key items and how you can get ready for launch:

1. Re-Posting Your Apps in BlackBerry App World for BlackBerry 7: BlackBerry App World vendors are encouraged to test their applications as soon as possible using the new BlackBerry 7 SDK, and then return to the BlackBerry App World vendor portal to post their applications for sale for the new BlackBerry smartphones.

2. Preparing Now for New Screen Sizes and Resolutions Supported by BlackBerry 7: BlackBerry 7 is designed to retain binary compatibility with our BlackBerry® 6 OS platform, and is also designed to support a variety of new screen resolutions and screen sizes that may require some developers to update and re-compile their existing applications. These new smartphones will also support new screen sizes and resolutions so we have posted new information on what screen characteristics will be supported by BlackBerry 7 along with these new smartphone simulators to emulate each of these different configurations.

Read more at the Inside BlackBerry Developer’s Blog »

As you’ve been following the Inside BlackBerry® Developer’s Blog over the past few months, you’ve probably noticed that the BlackBerry® Java® SDK v7.0 is available for download in BlackBerry Developer Zone, as well as BlackBerry smartphone simulators for the recently announced BlackBerry® Torch™ 9810 smartphone, BlackBerry® Torch™ 9850 smartphone, and the BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900 smartphone, all running BlackBerry® 7 OS. Along with the tools, there’s also supporting documentation guiding you through the work of migrating an existing BlackBerry Java app to BlackBerry 7.

While BlackBerry smartphone simulators do provide a very accurate representation of what the experience will be like on a live device, there’s just no substitute for the real thing. Or is there?

Perfecto Mobile, a global provider of cloud-based testing, automation and monitoring solutions for mobile applications, is starting a special limited-time offer to test your applications on BlackBerry 7 OS smartphones, using Perfecto Mobile’s cloud-based mobile application testing solution. The exclusive promotion offers you a free 2 hour testing trial period on Perfecto’s MobileCloud™ for BlackBerry 7 OS smartphones and additional testing hours can be purchased at a discounted rate of $4 USD plus tax per hour beyond the initial 2 hour period.*

How does it work? Perfecto Mobile essentially hosts live BlackBerry smartphones and provides you remote access to them, allowing you to install and test your app on real devices, on real carrier networks.

To get started with this free trial and see how your applications run on the new BlackBerry 7 OS, check out Perfecto’s MobileCloud for BlackBerry 7 Smartphones. Once you’ve tested your app, submit it to the BlackBerry App World™ storefront! Also, make sure you check out the MobileCloud for BlackBerry webpage for updates on more supported smartphones coming up, including the newly announced BlackBerry® Curve™ 9350, 9360 and 9370 smartphones.

*Exclusive promotional offer available for a limited time only. Regular price of additional testing hours can be found at Perfecto’s website.

The release of the BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) Social Platform opens a gigantic world of possibilities to application developers. While some are obvious, such as allowing your users to chat with each other, others may be a little more subtle. This post is the first in a series that will talk about how to easily add social features to your application using the BBM Social Platform. And there’s no better time to update your app! The 2011 BlackBerry Developer Challenge is on, and submissions for the Most Addictive social app using the BBM™ Social Platform category will open later this summer.

One of the greatest benefits of the BBM Social Platform is enabling application developers to access the enormous social graph of their users. Friends often place a much greater level of trust in each other’s suggestions when compared to anonymous reviews and advertisements. With the BBM Social Platform, leveraging this ability to help expand your reach and increase your user base is so simple that I will demonstrate it here.

Read more at the Inside BlackBerry Developer’s Blog »

(YouTube link for easy mobile viewing)

If you’ve been reading up on the BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900 and BlackBerry® Bold™ 9930 smartphones, then you’ll know they feature a built-in compass (magnetometer) designed to support location-based services and augmented reality. With BlackBerry® 7, new APIs will allow you to take advantage of this new functionality within your applications.

At the BlackBerry World™ conference, we featured a new application created by Mobilizy: Wikitude. The above Wikitude demo video showcases the power of BlackBerry 7 and the exciting opportunity augmented reality can bring to your apps. You can learn more and get started with BlackBerry 7 today.

Have you been thinking about augmented reality? Leave us a comment and let us know what you’re working on!

Now that BlackBerry® Java® SDK v7.0 is available in BlackBerry® Developer Zone, it’s time to start getting your apps ready for BlackBerry® 7 in order to ensure that you’re ready to support the new BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900 and BlackBerry® Bold™ 9930 smartphones at launch. To help you out, I’ve prepared a little step-by-step guide for getting your app BlackBerry 7 ready.

But before we get into things, it’s important to note the following: If you are currently distributing your apps through the BlackBerry App World™ storefront, you will need to log into the vendor portal and select the apps that you would like to have posted as “For Sale” for those smartphones running BlackBerry 7, because your apps will not automatically be available for these new smartphones. So, now’s the time to start testing, updating, and posting your apps for BlackBerry 7 to be ready for launch.

With all that said, on to the step-by-step guide!

Read more at the Inside BlackBerry Developer’s Blog »

Following the announcement of BlackBerry® 7 at the BlackBerry® World™ conference, I’m pleased to announce that the BlackBerry® Java® SDK v7.0 is now available in beta!

This new version of the SDK also comes with simulators for the new BlackBerry® Bold™ 9900 series of smartphones, allowing you to test your applications against the latest and greatest. With the new BlackBerry Bold 9900 smartphone and BlackBerry® Bold™ 9930 smartphone on their way, you will have the tools you need to make sure your apps are running on these smartphones at launch. What’s more, the BlackBerry App World™ storefront is also accepting app submissions for these new devices! You now have the chance to be among the first to have your application submitted and ready for these exciting new products.

The BlackBerry Java Plug-in for Eclipse™ and the BlackBerry Java Development Environment have also both been updated to support the new OS version, featuring an abundance of new APIs. They’re all listed out in great detail in the “New in this Release” section of the Release Notes.

For more information on what developers need to know about BlackBerry 7 and to download the BlackBerry Java SDK v7.0 beta, check out the BlackBerry 7 landing page on BlackBerry Developer Zone.

At BlackBerry® DEVCON 2010, Research In Motion® (RIM®) announced the BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) Social Platform. Today, the BBM Social Platform officially moves into public beta. BlackBerry platform developers can now start adding social Super App features to their applications, leveraging all the power that the BBM Social Platform has to offer!

With this beta release, developers have the ability to accomplish the following:

Read more at the BlackBerry Developer’s Blog »