Following the success of its previous efforts, Research In Motion (RIM) is hosting a Last Chance Port-a-thon this weekend in order to encourage developers to port their apps to the BlackBerry 10 platform.
The Port-a-thon held last weekend saw more than 15 000 app submissions. A Port-a-thon is a virtual event during which developers are given technical assistance from RIM to help port their existing apps to the BlackBerry 10 platform. As incentive, RIM has been offering $100 to any developer who can port his or her app to BlackBerry 10 and get it approved.
In a post on its developer blog, RIM says the last Port-a-thon will begin tomorrow and the reward opportunity has been doubled.
"This weekend we will have $2 million [about R17.6 million] available in rewards to developers for submitting their apps. Our last few Port-a-thons have been so successful that we're confident this weekend will yield some amazing apps for BlackBerry 10," says RIM.
"These Port-a-thons are just part of our dedication to our developers and apps for our new BlackBerry 10 platform. We're dedicated to building a healthy ecosystem for BlackBerry 10."
RIM adds: "You can build/port apps using any one of the development languages that supports BlackBerry 10. Port from Android, use HTML5, Native C/C++, AIR, jQuery, Marmalade, Qt, PhoneGap, Appcelerator, Sencha and more. Additionally, apps created using BlackBerry App Generator are eligible. (Note: you need to own the blog content to be eligible)."
BlackBerry 10 will be officially launched at events around the world on 30 January, including an event in Johannesburg. The BlackBerry 10 App World is expected to launch with over 70 000 apps.
RIM has been keeping its cards close to its chest in terms of revealing details about the actual handsets that will be unveiled at launch, saying only there will be an all-touch and a traditional qwerty keyboard model.
Reports of leaked specifications have recently emerged and even some hands-on videos of what is said to be the flagship BlackBerry Z10 all touch handset. TechRadar claims to have seen one of RIM's training documents for BlackBerry 10, which is said to have listed the specifications of the flagship device. These include a 4.2-inch display, 1 280x768 HD display, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, 1 800mAH battery, 8MP rear camera, 2MP front camera, NFC and LTE support.
In response to the supposed leaks, RIM has only said: "We understand that there is a lot of excitement for BlackBerry 10. We will launch the platform on 30 January and until then we won't comment on speculation."
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