Waterloo, ON – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) will host BlackBerry® DevCon Americas (www.blackberrydevcon.com/americas) from October 18 to 20, 2011 in San Francisco, California. New and existing BlackBerry® application developers will get an opportunity to interact and learn from RIM and community experts about the latest development technologies for the BlackBerry® platform.
BlackBerry DevCon Americas provides an excellent opportunity for mobile developers to interact with BlackBerry platform experts and gain insight into trends in mobile development, the future of the BlackBerry platform and helpful tips for building with BlackBerry tools. Attendees will discover the opportunity that exists on the BlackBerry platform and learn about the potential to build differentiated apps that appeal to a growing audience of BlackBerry smartphone and tablet users.
Sessions
BlackBerry DevCon Americas will feature over 100 sessions and offer attendees a variety of industry and BlackBerry platform related content. Birds of a Feather sessions, the Ask the Experts area and collaborative roundtables will offer attendees the chance to connect with BlackBerry platform experts one-on-one.
Attendees will also be able to take advantage of the interactive instructor-led sessions that are designed to help them get hands-on experience with the latest technology including: WebKit and BlackBerry® HTML5 WebWorks™ Platform Development for both smartphones and tablet; Java® Development for BlackBerry® 7 OS; BlackBerry® PlayBook™ Tablet OS Development – Native SDK, Adobe® AIR®, Adobe® Flash® and BlackBerry tools for Android; BlackBerry Platform Services; BBM™ Social Platform and more.
View the Session Catalog at www.blackberrydevcon.com/americas/session-catalog:
New this year at BlackBerry DevCon is a series of sessions focused on helping Latin American developers be successful and learn more about developing for the BlackBerry platform. There are 14 sessions that will be available in Spanish and attendees will also have the opportunity to hear directly from companies active in the Latin American developer community. In the Ask the Experts area, RIM experts dedicated to the Latin America region will also be on hand.
Find out more about the available Spanish Sessions at: www.blackberrydevcon.com/americas/event-info/latam-developers:
Community Speakers
Some of the best community developers, key partners and industry experts will gather to lead sessions at BlackBerry DevCon Americas. Technical experts and innovators from Adobe®, Xtreme Labs, Penrillian, Magmic (a game-developer dynamo responsible for Rubik’s® Cube, The New York Times® Crosswords, THKLive and Ka-Glom), Universal Mind, Assanka, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and many more will be on hand to share their mobile app development experiences and insights.
BlackBerry DevCon Americas attendees will also have the opportunity to hear from visionary game designer and futurist, Jane McGonigal on Wednesday October 19 at 11:30am PT for her presentation on how epic missions, wins and collaborative problem-solving in gaming can be used to find solutions in the real world. Inspired attendees will be able to apply this new way of thinking to ultimately improve their applications. Also, as part of her second session on Wednesday October 19 at 1:30pm PT, Ms. McGonigal will hear pitches from pre-selected application developers and give immediate feedback into how to improve their apps.
Find out more about the Developer Community Speakers at www.blackberrydevcon.com/americas/content/speakers/community
App Express
Android and web developers will be able to visit the App Express area at BlackBerry DevCon Americas. Here they will have the opportunity to either quickly port their existing Android app to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, or transform an existing web application into a full-fledged app for both the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and BlackBerry smartphones. Once done, the app can be submitted to BlackBerry App World™. Experts from RIM’s development team and BlackBerry App World team will be available at the App Express area to provide assistance. App Express opens on Monday, October 17 and runs through Thursday, October 20.
Find out more about the App Express area at www.blackberrydevcon.com/americas/content/app-express
Community Events
Through a series of community events at BlackBerry DevCon Americas, attendees will be able to connect and collaborate with the best of the BlackBerry development community:
- Developer Hackathons where developers attending BlackBerry DevCon are invited to show off their skills during two three-hour marathon hack events on Wednesday October 19, 2011, starting at 7pm. Find out more at: www.blackberrydevcon.com/americas/collaboration-events/hackathon
- Developer Roundtables where attendees will participate in a series of interactive roundtable discussions that focus on the latest BlackBerry technologies – BlackBerry 7 OS, BlackBerry HTML5 WebWorks Platform, Adobe AIR, and many of today’s platform services. These sessions are for idea and knowledge sharing, and are great opportunities to network and work with the developer community. Find out more at: www.blackberrydevcon.com/americas/collaboration-events/roundtables
- Birds of a Feather Sessions where attendees will have the opportunity to speak with industry experts regarding any questions or concerns they may have. Find out more at: www.blackberrydevcon.com/americas/collaboration-events/bof-sessions
- BlackBerry® Partners Fund Developer Challenge is a global competition, and this year includes the categories: Most Innovative WebWorks App, Best Adobe Flash/AIR app and Most Addictive social app using the BBM Social Platform. All winners will be recognized at BlackBerry DevCon Americas. More information on the BlackBerry Partners Fund Developer Challenge, including complete rules, guidelines, competitions, awards and prize packages, is available at www.blackberrypartnersfund.com/challenge.
Attendee Giveaway
Registered attendees at BlackBerry DevCon Americas will receive a 16GB BlackBerry PlayBook tablet at the conference to help kick start the development of their next app.
Quick Links
- For the latest news and information about BlackBerry DevCon Americas, and to register, please visitwww.blackberrydevcon.com/americas
- Visit the BlackBerry Developer Zone at www.blackberry.com/developers for the latest news, information and updates for BlackBerry developers leading up to the conference and throughout the year.
- To stay up-to-date on the latest BlackBerry Devcon Americas 2011 developments, follow our social media channels:
- @ BlackBerryDev Twitter® account: http://twitter.com/#!/BlackBerryDev
- Inside BlackBerry Developer’s Blog: http://devblog.blackberry.com/
- BlackBerry Developer’s Facebook® Account www.facebook.com/BlackBerryDeveloperCommunity
BlackBerry DevCon Asia and Europe
BlackBerry DevCon Americas is the first BlackBerry DevCon event in a three event series:
- BlackBerry DevCon Asia is scheduled to take place in Bangkok, Thailand, December 7-8, 2011. Find out more about this event at www.blackberrydevcon.com/asia.
- BlackBerry DevCon Europe is a new addition to the BlackBerry DevCon series and is scheduled to take place in Amsterdam, February 7-8, 2012. Find out more about this event at www.blackberrydevcon.com/europe.
About Research In Motion
Research In Motion (RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, revolutionized the mobile industry with the introduction of the BlackBerry® solution in 1999. Today, BlackBerry products and services are used by millions of customers around the world to stay connected to the people and content that matter most throughout their day. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. RIM is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.