PDAStreet: News: What Can BlackBerry Do for You … Next?

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PDAStreet.com > News > What Can BlackBerry Do for You … Next?

What Can BlackBerry Do for You … Next?

By Amy Mayer
October 29, 2008

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Wondering how the BlackBerry platform will continue to expand, and what it will do to retain and attract new customers in an increasingly competitive smartphone marketplace? BlackBerry Partners Fund has announced the winners in its Developer Challenge, and they may offer some hint of what's to come. To summarize: more fun.

The three winners are:

Poynt: a free local search tool that includes target site browsing, interactive maps, driving directions, GPS compatibility, show times, movie trailers, and ticket purchase.

Strands Social Player: a music player that shows cover art, provides artist and song recommendations from over 6 million songs featuring free previews, and fully integrates with a social network of music enthusiasts so you can discover and share new music.

Nobex Radio Companion: a tool that shows you what song is playing on any of 2700 radio stations; when you hear a song you like it lets you click "Get It!" and sends you an email with a link to buy the song.

More on BlackBerry Partners Fund
Like Google for Android and Apple for the iPhone, RIM is offering up a good chuck of change to advance the mobile experience. It partnered with RBC and Thomson Reuters to create the BlackBerry Partners Fund, a $150 million venture capital fund designed to drive the development of mobile applications and services, back in May.

Unlike Google and Apple, RIM isn't limiting funding to its own mobile-device platform, however. It says the BlackBerry Partners Fund is designed to advance the industry as a whole, by fostering development and driving the entrepreneurial spirit.

In the words of RIM co-Ceo Jim Balsillie, the aim is "to help fuel innovation and activity in the mobile ecosystem.”

This includes the advancement of mobile commerce (payments, advertising, retailing and banking), vertical and horizontal enterprise applications, communications, social networking, location-based applications and services (navigation and mapping), media and entertainment, and lifestyle and personal productivity applications.