BlackBerry  announce licensing agreement for the Amazon Appstore

BlackBerry To Expand Application Ecosystem By Making Amazon Appstore Available on BlackBerry 10 Smartphones

Strategic Move Will Give BlackBerry Users Access to the Vast Selection of Android Apps in the Amazon Appstore, While Enabling BlackBerry to Focus on Enterprise Application Development

BlackBerry  have announced a licensing agreement for the Amazon Appstore to bring more than 240,000 Android apps to BlackBerry when the BlackBerry 10.3 operating system launches in October.

The strategic move also enables BlackBerry to align its developer program with its renewed focus on delivering the most secure, end-to-end mobile enterprise solutions, by placing more emphasis on the development of vital enterprise and productivity applications.

“Making the Amazon Appstore available on BlackBerry 10 devices will help BlackBerry continue to meet two essential needs: greater app availability for our smartphone users and enhanced productivity solutions for enterprises,” said BlackBerry Executive Chairman and CEO John Chen.

“We’ve listened to our customers and have taken this important step to deliver on their needs, while executing on our strategy.”

BlackBerry and Amazon will be working with the BlackBerry application developer community to help them migrate their apps to the Amazon Appstore in preparation for the 10.3 launch, where they will benefit from the store’s powerful promotional tools that enable maximum discoverability and profitability.

This will include Appstore Developer Select, which provides enhanced merchandising, as well as Amazon Coins incentives, the Developer Promotions Console, which enables real-time pricing adjustments and specials, and the popular Free App of the Day program.

BlackBerry will unveil a new enterprise application partner program for corporate developers, ISVs and systems integrators, designed to expand the number of enterprise applications that leverage BlackBerry 10 to deliver business-class functionality and enhance users’ productivity, communication and collaboration.

BlackBerry will continue to offer BlackBerry World, where you can access applications that leverage the powerful features of the BlackBerry 10 operating system.

While BlackBerry World will continue to offer music and video services via third party applications, they will be closing the music and video sections of their store on July 21st.

Previously downloaded content will be available after that date through MyWorld.

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