We’ll be continuing this video series leading up to BlackBerry Live 2013 in order to give some more background surrounding the topics that we’ll be discussing in detail during the conference.

This particular video will give you some information surrounding the upcoming roadmap items that we’re looking at our Android Runtime.  We’re joined by Matthew Whiteman to talk to us about cookies and sweet, sweet candy!

With the upcoming (and much anticipated) release of the BlackBerry Q10, Android developers can now target the first qwerty-keyboard device to be released on the BlackBerry 10 mobile computing platform. The even better news for developers is that they can also port their existing BlackBerry 10 Android apps running on the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to also include support for the BlackBerry Q10 within the same release build.

While the BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps has a built-in screen manager which will scale the application to the screen size of the device, it’s always best to build your app specific to the device you are targeting to ensure it looks presentable to end-users.

BlackBerry Z10

For developers, the key difference between the BlackBerry PlayBook, BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 would be in regard to screen sizes. The all-touch BlackBerry Z10 features a resolution of 1280 x 768 (15:9) on a 4.2-inch, 356 PPI screen. Android resources are pulled in from the res/drawable-xhdpi project folder.

BlackBerry Z10 screenshot: 1280×768 background image from res/drawable-xhdpi/device.png

BlackBerry Q10

The BlackBerry Q10 boasts a 330 PPI screen but with a resolution of 720 x 720 on a 3.1” screen (1:1 aspect ratio). When targeting the BlackBerry Q10, Android developers can leverage the res/drawable-small-square project folder.

BlackBerry Q10 screenshot: 720×720 background image from res/drawable-small-square/device.png

BlackBerry PlayBook

In addition to the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 models above, the BlackBerry PlayBook also supports Android apps. With a 7” screen resolution of 1024 x 600, this qualifies the BlackBerry PlayBook as an mdpi device pulling in resources from the res/drawable-mdpi project folder.

BlackBerry PlayBook screenshot: 1024 x 600 background image from res/drawable-mdpi/device.png

ADT Project Structure

Both the BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10 support icons with a size of 114 x 114 pixels (BlackBerry PlayBook: 86 x 86 pixels) which should be placed within their respective res/drawable project folders as well. Within the same Android project you can target both of the BlackBerry 10 form factors within the same release build by following these standard Android best practices.

Single Android project structure for BlackBerry Z10, BlackBerry Q10 & BlackBerry PlayBook

You can repackage your Android APK to the BlackBerry BAR file format using the new v1.5.2 SDK, and test/debug using device simulators for the BlackBerry Z10 (BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha B), BlackBerry Q10 (BlackBerry Dev Alpha C) and BlackBerry PlayBook  tablet available within our Android tooling page. Other pages which you should find useful would be our documentation page for the BlackBerry Plug-in for ADT and the Android API Support page.

BlackBerry World Submission

After testing your Android application and repackaging it into the BAR file format, you can submit your app to the BlackBerry World storefront via the following steps:

1. Log into the vendor portal
2. Select Manage products
3. Add a new release
4. Set ‘supported devices’ appropriately based on BlackBerry Q10, BlackBerry Z10 and/or BlackBerry PlayBook support for your app. If the app supports more than one device you can choose to select multiple devices for the same release build (BAR file). On the contrary, you can also upload specific file bundles (BARs) for each BlackBerry 10 device.

Supported BlackBerry 10 devices within the BlackBerry World vendor portal

Image from http://failblog.cheezburger.com/

On our developer website, we provide a seamless solution consisting of replacing the Google Maps library for Android with a web view integrating the web version of Google Maps. More information can be found by following this link.

That said, a fellow Italian developer (the maker of Prezzi Benzina), just sent me detailed information on how they easily replaced Google Maps with Open Street Maps, a free worldwide map providing open data under the ODBL (Open Data Commons Open Database License).

The result? Outstanding! And since it is a very common issue faced by many Android developers making use of Google Maps in their Android applications, we wanted to share in this blog how they did it.

Download

First of all, you must download the Open Street Maps library from the following link: https://code.google.com/p/osmdroid/

You can either download the jar ready to use osmdroid-android-3.0.8.jar or download the source code and compile it (recommended).

Step 1: Layout Change

Pretty easy. You code goes from

<com.google.android.maps.MapView
        android:id="@+id/mapview"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="fill_parent"
        android:apiKey="@+string/mapviewkey"
        android:clickable="true" />

to

<org.osmdroid.views.MapView
        android:id="@+id/mapview"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="fill_parent" />

Unlike Google Maps, no key is needed for OSM.

Step 2: Modify Import

Most class names remain the same, so it’s very straight forward..

Your code goes from:

import com.google.android.maps.GeoPoint;
import com.google.android.maps.MapController;
import com.google.android.maps.MapView;

to

import org.osmdroid.util.GeoPoint;
import org.osmdroid.views.MapController;
import org.osmdroid.views.MapView;

In addition, you might want to add the following:

import org.osmdroid.views.overlay.ItemizedIconOverlay;
import org.osmdroid.views.overlay.ItemizedIconOverlay.OnItemGestureListener;
import org.osmdroid.views.overlay.OverlayItem;
import org.osmdroid.views.overlay.OverlayManager;
import org.osmdroid.views.overlay.mylocation.GpsMyLocationProvider;
import org.osmdroid.views.overlay.mylocation.MyLocationNewOverlay;

WARNING: resources

The default class for resources is: DefaultResourceProxyImpl. It handles English only, so you probably have to create your own with the proper translations.

    ResourceProxyImpl resProxyImp = new ResourceProxyImpl(this);

Step 3: Map Customization

From

mapView = (MapView) findViewById(R.id.mapview);
mapView.setBuiltInZoomControls(true);
mMyLocationOverlay = new MyLocationOverlay(this, mapView);
mapView.getOverlays().add(mMyLocationOverlay);

to

mapView = (MapView) findViewById(R.id.mapview);
mapView.setUseSafeCanvas(false);
//enable zoom controls
mapView.setBuiltInZoomControls(true);

//enable multitouch
mapView.setMultiTouchControls(true);
//GpsMyLocationProvider can be replaced by your own class. It provides the position information through GPS or Cell towers.
GpsMyLocationProvider imlp = new GpsMyLocationProvider(this.getBaseContext());
//minimum distance for update
imlp.setLocationUpdateMinDistance(1000);
//minimum time for update
imlp.setLocationUpdateMinTime(60000);       
mMyLocationOverlay = new MyLocationNewOverlay(this.getBaseContext(),imlp , mapView, resProxyImp);
mMyLocationOverlay.setUseSafeCanvas(false);
mMyLocationOverlay.setDrawAccuracyEnabled(true);

mapView.getOverlays().add(mMyLocationOverlay);

Step 4: Add Marker

In OSMDroid there are some classes ready to use. The best is ItemizedIconOverlay.

Create an overlay and add it to the map:

ItemizedIconOverlay markersOverlay = new ItemizedIconOverlay(new LinkedList(), myMarker, null, resProxyImp);
mapView.getOverlays().add(markersOverlay);
Add markers
OverlayItem ovm = new OverlayItem("titolo", "descrizione", new GeoPoint(s.LatitudeE6(), s.LongitudeE6()));
ovm.setMarker(myMarker);
markersOverlay.addItem(ovm);

Of course, this is just the basic part of the story. There is much more available on OSMDroid – feel free to explore and bring your Android app to BlackBerry 10 easily!

Developers set a new record for last weekend’s port-a-thons, and devs from APAC definitely contributed in great leaps: More than half of the apps submitted globally were coming out of Asia! We saw great submissions from India, China and the rest of this region.

On Saturday January 12th, hundreds of developers attended the offline Technical Support sessions in eight Asian countries. The sessions included coding, porting, discussions, eating and lots of fun. But most of all, they were about providing technical support to our developers.

In Indonesia, the local Android Community showed great interest for the Android Port-A-Thon, and we can’t wait to see more apps ported after the official launch of BlackBerry 10.

The registration to the Manila offline event went so well that PinoyBBDev community had to host sessions in two different venues. The PinoyBBDev event was such a cool gathering that the developers didn’t want to leave. Photos below from the PinoyBBDev event show that activities were very well-organized with lots of great food and music!

In Beijing, our China evangelist Mike Zhou didn’t sleep the night of January 11th because there were hundreds of questions asked on Weibo (the Chinese equivalent of Twitter) till morning. iiberry, a BlackBerry Developer community based in Beijing, helped to organize the session and provided great technical support by answering questions from developers online.

At the Shanghai session, CNBB Dev Group leader Jonah Lin (CEO of MMMOOO) provided technical support onsite, and Chinese game company finger2finger submitted 260 games! After their big submissions for the last Port-A-Thon, the China Flash Dev Community also managed to contribute a huge number of apps.

The below picture is one of the strategic games submitted last weekend:

MMMOOO’s Weibo tweets on the Port-A-Thon generated more than 5000 retweets and 4000 comments.

Photos below are from Shanghai Port-A-Thon event (courtesy of CNBBDev):

In India, there were also two separate offline Port-A-Thon tech support sessions held – one at Rubus Labs @ Start-up Village, and the other at SV University. Each session had very keen and enthusiastic developers who were really focused on the one goal for the day – to port all their apps onto the BlackBerry 10 platform!

This photo shows students busy coding in the India Port-a-thon Tech Support Session:

The Port-A-Thon series not only helped developers to start building for the BlackBerry 10 platform, but also got the attention of many regional mobile application companies. Mingdge Technology, a mobile app company, said on Weibo this week: “There was never a platform as generous to developers as BlackBerry 10 and helps startup developer make money. Looks like I will eventually give up on iOS, specialize on BlackBerry 10, RIM rock on!”

Special thanks goes to the awesome APAC BlackBerry Dev Groups for their support on the offline Port-A-Thon Technical Sessions: BBDevID, ID-Android Dev CNBBGroup, Rubus @ StartupVillage, iiberry, BBIndia,  BBVietnamand Pinoybbdev!

Look out for more from the developers here at the Last Chance Port-a-Thon this weekend!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it now – you ask, we listen. We’ve heard your concerns over the status of the Built for BlackBerry program and I want to address your questions and tell you what we’re going to do to make sure building for BlackBerry is an amazing experience.

The first thing we did when we set out to rebuild the BlackBerry Developer ecosystem for BlackBerry 10 was to ask our dedicated BlackBerry developers what they needed. First, they asked for actual hardware – and we delivered that with the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha program. Next, they asked for support for promotion, marketing and revenue. That was the spark that led us to create the Built for BlackBerry and $10k Developer Commitment programs.

An app or game certified as Built for BlackBerry means it not just adheres to our BlackBerry 10 UI Guidelines, but it delivers a customer experience that is highly engaging, high caliber and demonstrates the beautiful, social, integrated essence of BlackBerry 10.

I’ve been told that the Built for BlackBerry criteria are pretty strict – and that’s true. They should be. When RIM approves a title as Built for BlackBerry it means we’re putting the full weight of our brand behind that app or game. These are the titles we will be looking at promoting and holding up as examples and we have an expectation about those apps. Apps and games for BlackBerry must:

• Focus on delivering intended content, keeping the screen as uncluttered of controls as possible.
• Implement gesture and flow techniques, such as peek gestures, for fluid user interaction.
• Provide effective processor, memory, and power management.

To be as transparent as possible, there have been many apps submitted that do meet these criteria. We’ve had over 900 Android apps submitted to the Built for BlackBerry program – and Android apps do not qualify for the program in any way. Neither do web launchers, simple apps that mobilize content with RSS feeds, flashlight apps, et cetera. The expectation is that apps certified as Built for BlackBerry have been designed, developed, and polished to provide an amazing experience for our BlackBerry 10 customers. I say “our” because BlackBerry 10 customers are your customers too.

We’ve also heard requests to add more detail to the Built for BlackBerry emails so that you can make changes necessary to achieve the Built for BlackBerry certification. Our team is working now to update what details we provide and you’ll start seeing those changes this week.

You might be wondering in a more literal way what we are looking for in Built for BlackBerry apps. We have now started to notify the first group of approved Built for BlackBerry apps and I can show you what we mean.

Yay! FancyTran just passed the Built for BlackBerry certification! Best apps are coming to you with #BB10—
FancyApps Limited (@FancyApps4BB) January 17, 2013

FancyTran from FancyApps Limited is a good example. FancyTran brings their highly rated app to a new level with FancyTran on BlackBerry 10. The entire app can be navigated with just your thumb – allowing you to quickly dictate and translate from 14 languages to over 60 languages. FancyTran also leverages our BlackBerry Payment Service to easily allow customers to purchase the full version of the app once it’s downloaded from BlackBerry World.

It is simple, easy to use, high-performing, built in a native BlackBerry environment (no Android folks) and integrated. It leverages BlackBerry platform services and syncs to native voice features seamlessly.

The mark of quality is important to us, as it is to you. We know that quality applications will make the difference in a crowded marketplace and we want you to continue to tweak and build your apps to be part of this program with us. Stay tuned for further evolutions of the Built for BlackBerry program and new incentives.

Last call for porting apps starts Jan 18th – Register now for the Last Chance Port-A-Thon!

After staying up for 37.5 hours and working with some amazing developers to submit 15,060 apps, how do I reward myself? Obviously, by planning another port-a-thon this weekend! We’ve also doubled the reward opportunity for developers as we look for some new and exciting apps to add to BlackBerry World.

That’s right: this weekend we will have $2,000,000 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.

What apps are eligible, you ask? 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 also eligible. (Note: you need to own the blog content to be eligible)

All apps that are submitted will be reviewed and approved apps will be notified with rewards. You can find answers to any logistical questions here.

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. We’re committed to our Built For BlackBerry initiative and our 10k developer commitment.

Get on board – now’s your chance to get your app ready for the BlackBerry 10 launch.

Two of my twenty #BB10portathon apps appeared in app world in less than 24 hours! Just when I couldn't #bb10believe any more…—
Ross Cheriton (@RossCheriton) January 12, 2013

We submitted 2 apps yesterdays for this weekend's #BB10Portathon are you ready for BlackBerry 10 yet? 16 days till launch!—
techfruits.com (@techfruitscom) January 13, 2013

The #bb10portathon events have been great. I've released one or two apps/games at each one. I've learned skills, and released apps!—
Dale Wick (@hardhatpsp) January 14, 2013

I hope you can join us for the BlackBerry Last Chance Port-A-Thon, as it’s a great experience where you can to meet our team, other developers, learn more about developing for BlackBerry, and get rewarded.

Go forth and port!

Winner – Best App
Awarded to: Team C&N

Although computer science undergraduates Alexandre Cisneiros de Albuquerque Filho and Joselito Francisco do Nascimento Júnior share a background in web development, neither member of Team C&N had ever developed and released a mobile application. The team’s first try, ‘Teach Better’, allows teachers to integrate and automate their busy schedules, including grading, classes and appointments. Their app was awarded “Best App” at the BlackBerry Jam Session Hackathon in Recife, Brazil!

On developing with HTML5/BlackBerry WebWorks SDK…

“We’ve both been web developers since childhood and had used the same technologies, frameworks and techniques to develop applications. We immediately chose HTML5/BlackBerry WebWorks SDK because we thought it would make our learning curve developing a mobile app much shorter. Designing the user interface, interactions and the functionality of the app was a straightforward experience. This allowed us to focus on our ideas for the app, and not on coding patterns. The BlackBerry WebWorks SDK was also crucial in building a framework that would create an integrated user experience.”

On working with the Research In Motion (RIM) team and receiving feedback…

“The RIM developer team was more than helpful – they were essential. Although there is great documentation available on the web, nothing can substitute for having experts right by your side, coaching you along the way. We were able to ask questions, test ideas and solutions on the spot, and receive timely feedback. The entire development experience was totally worth it! We really appreciated the compliments received from the RIM team, and also the ideas for changes that helped put us on the right track to continue developing our ideas.”

On sending a lasting message to other app developers…

“The BlackBerry Jam Session Hackathon was a turning point in our lives. We left the event motivated to bring our ideas to life. It was an amazing experience and speaks to the bond RIM has with its developer community. Developing for the BlackBerry 10 platform is a rewarding experience, which allows you to work with technologies that you are comfortable with. When you combine these elements, it keeps everyone very motivated to continue developing!”

Winner – Best E-Commerce App
Awarded to: Team Steam

As a team with prior experience developing on the Android platform but only limited exposure to BlackBerry smartphone development, Team Steam wanted to take part in the BlackBerry Jam Session Hackathon in Recife, Brazil to learn about how to port their Android applications. After a few hours, Team Steam – made up of two developers and one designer – walked away with the prize for Best E-Commerce App!

On the ‘Search My Car’ application…

“The application leverages GPS functionality to locate your car and then trace a route to you. It also allows you to locate nearby gas stations.”

On deciding to participate at the BlackBerry Jam Session Hackathon…

“We didn’t have a deep level of experience developing for the BlackBerry platform, since most of our background was in Android development. When we found out the Hackathon event was coming to Recife, we saw it as an excellent opportunity to develop our app idea on the BlackBerry platform. It was an amazing experience for all of us. We want to develop for the BlackBerry 10 platform because we see it as a new market opportunity, and because it’s a unique chance to be a pioneer in the development of applications for an exciting new platform.”

On using the BlackBerryRuntime for Android tool to port their application…

“With our collective backgrounds in web development, the BlackBerry Runtime for Android apps was a good way to overcome our lack of experience with the BlackBerry platform and take advantage of the opportunity to develop an application on it. We were able to leverage the Google Maps API in the application.”

The past twelve months have been an absolute whirlwind for the team behind the BlackBerry Runtime for Android apps. While work on this endeavor began long before this year, 2012 marked the year that Android developers were able to bring their offerings over to the BlackBerry platform in a quick and simple fashion.

It’s hard to believe how far the Android story on BlackBerry has come over the last year, which makes me even more excited for what we’ll have to offer our developers in 2013. Below are my top-five 2012 milestones for the BlackBerry Runtime for Android apps team.

February 21^st – PlayBook 2.0 Release

The BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 OS update not only added native PIM support, but the launch of the BlackBerry Runtime for Android apps. Android developers now had the opportunity to target a whole new platform with their pre-existing apps, by simply repackaging and signing them.

May 3^rd – BlackBerry 10 Beta SDK Launch

At our BlackBerry World conference in Orlando, we released BlackBerry 10 into its official developer beta program. This allowed us to keep rolling out updates to our tooling to include additional API support as we added them to the runtime itself. We openly shared our progress throughout the beta program via our flight-arrival board for the Android Runtime roadmap.

October 3^rd – PlayBook 2.1 OS Update

In October we were able to release an update of the BlackBerry Runtime for Android apps which coincided with the much anticipated PlayBook 2.1 OS update. This update allowed us to offer our Android developers the opportunity to utilize in-app billing, access to both the front and rear-facing cameras, and an improved end-user experience with each Android app running within its own window.

October 4^th – Developer Experience Day

Probably our most fun day this year was getting members from each spectrum of our Android team into the same room to do a complete top-to-bottom review of our developer experience. The tooling, runtime, documentation, relations and management teams were all well represented along with developers who were brand new to the offering. We were able to collaborate on how we can make the process even easier and accessible for developers to port their Android offerings to BlackBerry 10. Most of these improvements have already been made today, with certain long-term goals being planned for a 2013 release.

December 11^th – BlackBerry 10 Gold SDK

The culmination of all the hard work our team has put in this past year was evident when the BlackBerry 10 SDKs reached their Gold release. As nice as it was to have reached this particular milestone, work is well underway for our next update to the BlackBerry Runtime for Android apps.

Thanks for swinging by our blog this last year and giving us the feedback we value. Your success as a developer is our own success as a platform, so we certainly value your input. Be sure to keep referencing the blog in 2013 for all of your Android-related information for BlackBerry 10, and of course, have a great holiday season!

Update – Brian Scheirer pointed out that there have been some awesome community samples too! -Ed.

For me, 2012 has definitely been a year of helping developers learn about our native and Cascades development tools. If you’re like me, you’re probably spending the holiday nights doing some coding – so I’ve put together this list of “The Best of Native Development for 2012″.

Cascades Webcasts
Thousands of developers from across the globe joined us for four webcasts to learn beginner to advanced Cascades concepts.  We were able to interact with developers directly, answer questions, and get immediate feedback as samples and code were displayed.  The format proved so successful that we’ve hosted many more webcasts on topics such as the BBM social platform, augmented reality apps, and OpenGL integration.

The live web casts were recorded and are available for viewing here.

Porting Guides
If you have existing content for another platform, we are making it easy to bring that content to the BlackBerry 10 platform.  Being able to re-use code across platforms reduces development and maintenance costs.  Distributing your application to multiple platforms opens you up to whole new market segments and increases your potential user base.  There a number of informative porting guides available to help you build for BlackBerry 10.

• iOS to BlackBerry 10 - http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/12/porting-ios-apps-to-blackberry-10/
• Android to BlackBerry 10 - http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/11/porting-android-game-to-blackberry-10/
• Qt to BlackBerry 10 - http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/11/porting-qt-apps-to-blackberry-10/

Samples
The best and easiest way to learn to program is to look at sample code.  For every feature that BlackBerry 10 offers there is a sample project showing you how to put it into action.  Whether it’s integrating with BBM, using the Invocation Framework, getting sensor information, or communicating via Bluetooth, we’ve got you covered.

There are samples built right into the Momentics development environment, on the Cascades and Native microsites, and hosted on our github repo.  And if you find a feature that we missed, or an API without a clear example then let us know on Twitter @BlackBerryDev or in our developer forums and we’ll add what you need to get started!

• Cascades Samples - https://github.com/blackberry/Cascades-Samples
• Native SDK Samples - https://github.com/blackberry/NDK-Samples
• Cascades Microsite - https://developer.blackberry.com/cascades/sampleapps/

Stump the BlackBerry Devs
In August we launched a challenge to the BlackBerry Developer community to come up with a UI that would be difficult to implement in the Cascades UI framework.  The Cascades tools development team would try to implement the submissions in a flexible manner that could handle multiple screen resolutions and form factors.  They implemented three of the challenges and presented the solutions during the Unconference Day at BlackBerry Jam Americas.  We were able to show that Cascades is robust framework that is able to create stunning interfaces even when faced with challenging design requirements.  All the solutions are hosted on ourgithub repo.

If you have any Cascades or native dev questions – check out our forums and connect with me on Twitter.

The Android Port-A-Thon for BlackBerry 10 will start at noon ET on January 11, 2013 and run for 36 hours.  It is a virtual event, so you will be able to log in from the comfort of your home, your desk at work or even set up a porting party with your friends. As with the first events, the more apps you port the greater the reward for you.

Get Rewarded

The more you port and build the greater your rewards*:

• Port one or more approved apps –and get $100 per eligible app to a maximum of 20 paid applications per Vendor
• Additionally; submit five (5) or more apps and be eligible for a random draw for one (1) of one hundred (100) BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha Devices. Receive one (1) additional entry for every eligible app that you submit over 5.

Porting Android apps to BlackBerry 10

Since more apps mean more rewards, you should take advantage of the tips below and get ready before you join the event.

Here’s what you need to get prepared ahead of time.

1. Register as a Vendor at BlackBerry World if you haven’t already.
2. Request signature keys. Make sure that you select for BlackBerry® PlayBook™ OS and BlackBerry 10 and higher. Downloading in advance is strongly recommended as the time involved to do so could prevent you from earning rewards.
3. Load up your laptop BlackBerry tools and plug-ins. Make sure you have your full source code file readily available too.
4. Make sure you have your images and icons ready to go.

We also have porting guides and tools you can use to get a head start.

Guides:

BlackBerry Runtime for Android apps Overview

Port your Android app from BlackBerry PlayBook OS to BlackBerry 10 OS

Tools:

ADT Plug-in Repackaging Tool

BlackBerry Packager for Android Apps

Join us

Submit your apps into BlackBerry World before BlackBerry 10 launches. Register for the Android Port-A-Thon for BlackBerry 10 today!

Have questions? See our FAQ.

* A total of $500,000USD is available for distribution. Eligible vendors who submit a minimum of five (5) eligible apps will be entered into a random draw for a BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha Device. One hundred (100) Devices are available to be won. There is a limit of one (1) BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device per Vendor. To qualify for a Reward, you must register on the website at http://developer.blackberry.com/offers/androidportathon and submit your App into the BlackBerry World Vendor Portal between 12:00:01 pm on January 11, 2013 and 11:59:59pm ET on January 12, 2013. Any apps submitted outside this time frame are not eligible for this Reward program. Only those apps that have been approved through BlackBerry World and RIM will be considered towards a Reward. No purchase necessary to be eligible for the draw.  The odds of winning the draw depend on the number of eligible Vendors entered.  Skill-testing question applies to Canadian residents.  Cash rewards limited to 20 per Vendor.  See the Official Terms and Conditions for complete details