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Along with the BlackBerry PlayBook WebWorks SDK, RIM announced the opening beta of their Payment service, which won’t only allow in-app purchases, but also content unlocking, and subscription services.
This program has been in the works for over a year now, so it’s good to see it’s finally coming to the public. Correct me if I’m wrong, but as far as I know, there aren’t any other official app portals that yet support subscription-required apps within the catalog itself. Sure, once you go to a separate web page on a desktop computer and submit your credit card information directly to app vendors, you can get subscription apps like Slacker working on your mobile, but that whole set-up isn’t well-represented in any app market. They’re usually listed as free, but once downloaded, end-users shockingly discover that they need a verified premium account to log into the app. Sadly, I don’t think we’ll see subscriptions in App World until it gets out of 2.1 beta.
BlackBerry’s a little late to the game when it comes to in-app purchases, though; hopefully the extra flexibility and revenue stream for developers will tear them away from their Android and iPhone apps for a bit and help out with the App World’s volume.
If you’re a developer and want to give the BlackBerry Payment Service a shot, hit up RIM’s landing page.
[via RIM]
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
