RIM's Port-A-Thon Has Hours to Go

by Holly Shoemaker

Developers looking to make a little cash from Research In Motion (RIM), have a few hours left today. In anticipation of its BlackBerry 10 launch on Wednesday, January 30, 2013, RIM is conducting another Port-A-Thon, a 36-hour marathon that began at noon on Friday, January 18, 2013. In that 36-hour span, RIM will pay Android developers $100 for every approved app that gets ported over to BlackBerry 10. There is a a limit of 20 paid apps per developer.

Port-A Thon Rules

RIM has allocated $500,000 toward distribution, and to qualify developers must register and submit their apps into the BlackBerry World Vendor Portal by 11:59:59 PM EST on Saturday, January 19, 2013. Any app submitted outside that timeframe, will not count, and BlackBerry must approve all apps.

Valuable Sessions?

RIM sees value in these sessions, and the Port-A-Thon held on January 11, 2013 brought in over 15,000 apps. RIM ultimately needs to gain back consumer satisfaction and apps provide a way to do that. However, the company needs to hope that top apps get transported over and meet the needs of all stakeholders involved.