Research in Motion may have been first in the smartphone business but it’s playing catch-up to Apple when it comes to app stores for those phones. Apple jumped out to a huge lead with the App Store and RIM is chasing after it. With the new 2.0 version of App World, the app store for BlackBerry owners, RIM seems to have corrected some shortcomings, and now, Enterprise Mobile Today reports that a beta version of the store is open for testing.
Research in Motion and AT&T have a big event planned for Aug. 3 in New York City, where the smartphone maker is expected to introduce its new BlackBerry Bold 9800 and BlackBerry OS 6.0. Now it looks like a re-launch of the BlackBerry app store, called App World, is also in the works.
RIM (NASDAQ: RIMM) has begun opening access to a beta version of BlackBerry App World 2.0 to developers on a waiting list. RIM first launched the service in April 2009, but it was criticized for limitations on finding mobile apps and for payment options.