We’re getting a lot of indications that BlackBerry App World is due for an update to 3.0 soon, and now we have another screenshot of the device-side app portal to go with the first one we saw a few months ago. As you can see, Apps, Games and Themes will be at the top of the the category tree, with a search bar ready and waiting at the top of the screen. The carrousel layout is sticking around, but it looks like they’re implementing a cool background blurring effect. Of course Bing is front and centre since it’s the official search engine for BlackBerry now. In terms of actual features, we’re still not entirely sure what will be new, but there may be a dedicated enterprise-grade section, and no doubt the BBM Social SDK will offer some app suggestion mechanisms hooked into App World somewhere.
Developer interest may be waning in BlackBerry, but RIM is doing their damnedest to release fresh, updated tools available to make the experience better than it has been historically. Although above-average App World prices might sting end-users, it does mean developer revenues on a per-app basis are higher than average. This all, of course, hinges on whether or not RIM’s breed of upcoming devices are popular enough to get people to buy them in the first place. NFC, augmented reality, and a faster processor definitely open up new doors for developers, but they need some assurance that they’ll make money on what they submit to App World. On the flip side, if there’s no real killer apps available, consumers will be less inclined to pick up a BlackBerry in the future.
In any case, App World is looking pretty slick, and hopefully it will be ready to roll on the first set of OS 7 devices.
[via BBnews]