Yesterday, it was officially announced that Unity Technologies, developers of the Unity gaming engine, will be extending an open beta for their cross platform development tools to the BlackBerry 10 OS. As a matter of fact, BlackBerry 10 developers will get first access to this open beta. This is groundbreaking news, since BlackBerry has been under the microscope lately with arguments stemming from the operating system’s lack of applications.
Unity Technologies, makers of huge blockbuster games on iOS and Android platforms, will be emphasizing how developers can easily generate an application for iOS and end up selling the game on BB10. The way they are doign it is by creatign an add-on that allows developers to use the same exact tools they use for developing on Android or iOS, for BlackBerry 10. The strategy behind this move has to show Wall Street that BlackBerry is no longer taking things lying down. The launch of the beta cross platform development add on will most likely coincide with the debut of the Q10 in May.
“Be it BlackBerry’s own Android toolset or Unity’s new offering, it would appear that BlackBerry 10 is seeking developers from widely successful environments left and right.” Hooking this “big fish” and growing their exposure to more and more developers and to me can only speak volumes to all the work Thorsten and his team are accomplishing behind closed doors.
Some of you might not realize it. Myself, as a loyal BlackBerry owner and follower since 2005, can really tell you there is a huge difference between the BlackBerry “Then” and “Now”. I started with BlackBerry around the time they really broke out in the US and global markets as the #1 smartphone on the planet. Back then, if you had a BlackBerry, you were ahead of the curve. Unfortunately, they grew complacent – almost content to have what they had, innovating at a rate that was acceptable in a market that was placated by flip phones and Nokias. Then a firm that touted the name “Research” In Motion, was out researched by the, at the time, silent competition. Now they are trying to regain all that they had lost.
What we continually fail to realize is how fast we have grown in such a short amount of time. Think about it; in 8 years the smartphone market has grown exponentially. In an interview with Prem Watsa, one of BlackBerry’s largest shareholders, he bluntly stated, “The turnaround story won’t happen overnight, and it’s only just getting started.” This is true! But in the past 4 months of 2013, BlackBerry has made more moves than the entire company had made between 2008 – 2012.
The difference between Research In Motion and Blackberry is just that – it can very well happen overnight! Changes, updates, corporate partnerships, communication with the outside world, and more meaningful than ever, a backbone! This new team at BlackBerry is really making waves and holding themselves accountable for both, their mistakes and their glories. That is the difference between the co-CEO structure, and the singular CEO – the muscle behind the turnaround.
That is what this partnership means…
Shares of BlackBerry (NASDAQ: BBRY) are trading up at $14.31 (+0.31 /2.22%) at the time this article was published.