…and here’s a little Story Maker video that our own Melanie Masson put together!

One of our goals for this year’s BlackBerry Live conference is to integrate mobile technology not just in the discussions, sessions, and resources – but into the actual conference itself to help keep attendees closely plugged into all of the action.

Near Field Communication (NFC)

One of my all-time favorite technologies, Near Field Communication (NFC) will be integrated into BlackBerry Live in a big way. You’ll be able to scan into BlackBerry Live and BlackBerry Jam sessions and interact with aspects of the venue using the BlackBerry Live Conference App, but that’s just the beginning. You’ll also be able to share contact information with sponsors, scoop up links to resources and web sites, and take advantage of all that BlackBerry 10 has to offer when it comes to NFC.

BlackBerry Live Conference App

Shortly before BlackBerry Live the Mobile Conference Guide app will be available in BlackBerry World for you to download. This will be your ultimate conference guide, including a wide range of features:

• Find sessions, speaker, sponsor, and event details
• Receive event update messages
• View the conference agenda and floor plan
• Build and edit your conference schedule
• Scan into sessions using Near Field Communication (NFC)
• Complete conference and session surveys
• Share your information with conference sponsors using NFC

It’s not too late to register for BlackBerry Live!

Head over to www.blackberrylive.com to register for this year’s conference, and don’t forget that if you’ve attended a BlackBerry event in the past, you may be eligible for a $150 discount as part of the Alumni Discount!

Stay tuned for availability in BlackBerry World, and get ready for a seriously mobile conference! See you next week in Orlando.

If you’re currently developing for BlackBerry 10 or looking to get started, BlackBerry Jam Americas in Orlando, Florida is the place to be from May 14^th to May 16^th.  The session catalog and session scheduler are now live, and it’s jam packed (no pun intended) with over 60 sessions and more than 7 hands on labs.  But be sure to leave some wiggle room in your calendar, there’s still another 20 or so sessions and even more hands on labs yet to come!

Whether you develop in C/C++, HTML5, AIR, or Android, we’ve got sessions for you.  Whether you’re a newbie, a pro, a hobbyist, an enterprise developer, a game developer, a startup, or a professional development house… we’ve got sessions for you.  Whether you’ve just launched, you’re about to launch, in development, or just considering BlackBerry as a platform, we’ve got sessions for you.

A selection of what you’ll find:

• BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 Connection Service versus VPN… Fight!
• Lab: Android 201: Three Devices, One App! Developing for Tablet, All Touch and Physical Keyboard form factors
• Background Services – Event Driven Processing for your Application
• Lab: Adding a new Dimension to your BlackBerry Apps – Stereoscopic 3D (and other advanced applications for output to the HDMI display)
• Unity for BlackBerry 10
• Building for the Multi-Device Enterprise using Sencha
• The Ultimate Hybrid App, Native App Built with Web Technologies
• Demystifying NFC Payment
• Case Study: ESPN La Conexión

This year’s session catalogue offers more variety and diversity than ever.  Whether you prefer the traditional one hour session format or want to get some hands on time with the code in a 2 hour guided lab, come ready to learn, as we’ve got more content than ever before and loads of community speakers ready to share their lessons learned.  If that’s not enough for you, there will also be some bonus sessions running after hours where you can sit down face to face with our product managers and provide direct feedback on the tools and SDKs.

Check out the session catalog and plan your conference now!

The BlackBerry Live 2013 early bird registration price of $449.00 USD ends this Friday, March 22^nd. There isn’t a better opportunity this year you as a developer to make connections with mobile decision makers from around the world.

• Interested in enterprise app development? Meet Information Technology admins, execs, and developers from Fortune 500 companies
• Have an app that you know should be preloaded? Meet with wireless operators, dealers, retail partners at our Partner Showcase
• Talk up your app with internation press and financial analysts

If you’ve been to BlackBerry Jam Americas before, you know what to expect in the keynote and breakout sessions (and the tweetup too). Now that BlackBerry Jam Americas is part of BlackBerry Live, you have the added opportunity to meet with our retail, carrier, and enterprise partners – and gain added exposure for your apps.

Here’s a quick glimpse of what BlackBerry Live was like last year. Hope to see you in Orlando this May!

Check our Donny’s blogs from the launch event by clicking here.

Stay tuned for more announcements from BlackBerry Jam Europe by following the Dev Blog and @BlackBerryDev.

Here are some highlights for the 48-hour event that you won’t want to miss:

Tuesday, November 27th and Wednesday, November 28th | 9am to 6pm ICT

Training, workshops, labs, whateveryou want to call it – learn the BlackBerry 10 fundamentals before hitting the BlackBerry Jam Asia sessions! Check it out here.

Thursday, November 29th | 9:30am to 10:45am ICT

Hear from Alec Saunders, Chris Smith, Marty Mallick and Urpo Karjalainen as they bring us through the exciting BlackBerry 10 platform. No one should miss this!

Thursday, November 29th | 6:00pm ICT

Are you ready for the next app sensation? Coming hot from winning last month’s BlackBerry JamHack – a series of 10 simultaneous Asia-Pacific hackathons across ten cities – the ten winning teams go head-to-head to pitch for the fame, the glory and the grand prize of $10,000. Attendees get to vote for their favorite to win the Dev’s Choice Award! Details here.

Thursday, November 29th and Friday, November 30th | All Day

Jam Space has something for everyone! Head over to Jam Space for some activities you shouldn’t miss – Ask the Experts area, BlackBerry Booth, 10K Reasons to Believe booth, App Generator corner, Social Lounge, Coding Lounge, BlackBerry Store, Gaming stations, and more.

Also, our very own BlackBerry App World™ team is running an onsite contest – come by the BlackBerry App World booth and tell us why your app deserves a feature on BlackBerry App World. If we are convinced, you will be featured on BlackBerry App World for two weeks! Check out the BlackBerry App World booth at Jam Space for more details.

On Day Two, you can have some fun with your BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha testing device by competing in the Code Hunt. Visit the Social Lounge or the Porting Lounge in the Jam Space to download the Code Hunt app, and then start collecting pieces of code using the NFC functionality on your device.

Friday, November 30th | 4:45pm ICT

It may be the last slot of the entire conference, but the session to look out for at this conference is JAM867 – Market Insights – Perception vs Reality. The session will be invaluable for developers who want to target the right audience with the right app! Let us bring you through what are perceptions of app usage are versus the actual usage patterns, and how you can use that knowledge to shoot for the best app.

As you can see, there’ll be loads to do at BlackBerry Jam Asia – pack your bags and be prepared for the action!

Haven’t registered yet?

There’s only one week left to register online for BlackBerry Jam Asia, 29-30 November in Bangkok, Thailand. Register by November 28th to secure your spot among the game-changers of the mobile developer community.

BlackBerry® 10 launch event? Check.

BlackBerry® Jam Asia 2012? Check.

BlackBerry Jam Europe 2013?

That’s right – with all the BlackBerry 10 excitement happening, we didn’t want our European developers to feel left out. Registration is now open for BlackBerry Jam Europe 2013, which will be happening at the Amsterdam RAI Convention Centre on February 5th and 6th, 2013 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

BlackBerry Jam Europe 2013 is taking place right after our recently announced BlackBerry 10 global launch event, so in addition to the usual amazing developer content, you’ll also get to play with the BlackBerry 10 smartphones that will be unveiled on January 30th.

The session catalogue is live too! Take a look at the content that will be presented in the conference breakout sessions.

Now’s a good time to take advantage of the early bird and alumni discounts – register today!

You heard it first from Alec during BlackBerry® Jam Americas, and today, we’re super psyched to be announcing the start of registration for BlackBerry Jam Asia 2012 (previously known as DevCon Asia)! And this time, we’re bringing the show to Bangkok, Thailand!

Two weeks ago at BlackBerry Jam Americas in San Jose, CA, our CEO, Thorsten Heins shared the vision and promise of BlackBerry 10 with developers. Now you can join us as you find out how to create apps and compelling content for BlackBerry 10 and have your apps ready to launch with BlackBerry 10 in the first calendar quarter of 2013.

Taking place on 29-30 November 2012 at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, BlackBerry Jam Asia will give developers access to RIM experts, hands-on tutorials, labs and in-depth sessions to help them build on the new BlackBerry® 10 platform.

Why Jam with us?

Carrying on with our commitment to the developer community, we are excited to provide a BlackBerry® 10 Dev Alpha testing device to qualified developers who attend BlackBerry Jam Asia! Introduced in Orlando in May, the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha testing device was created exclusively for developers for the purpose of testing and debugging BlackBerry 10 apps during development.

Not that you need more reasons, but we want to convince you 110%! Developers, designers, enterprise partners and industry leaders attending the conference will gain hands-on experience with the latest application development tools for the BlackBerry 10 platform. Did I mention we are delivering a wide range of sessions? We’re pleased to launch our session catalog today too – check it out here.

Even more reasons to Jam with us:

• Learn how to take advantage of the BlackBerry platform’s key differentiators – integration at deep levels of the OS, sharing through social APIs, and integration with other third party applications for smooth and seamless interaction between apps
• Collaborate with experts on code and finding a path to port or convert without learning new languages, a key benefit of the BlackBerry 10 platform’s open ecosystem
• The unique opportunity to explore the new BlackBerry 10 tools and application capabilities. The BlackBerry 10 platform leads in open source standards and offers features that can be built into apps that drive user engagement and loyalty, enthusiasm, and the ability to share apps and app experiences
• Dive into the new APIs and features through Sessions, Hands-on labs, and Expert meet and greets

Great conference at great rates

Discounted rates are available for attendees who register early:

• Early Bird Rate $99 USD Expires 02 November 2012
• Regular Rate $199 USD Expires 30 November 2012
• Student / Faculty Rate* $99 USD Expires 30 November 2012
• Faculty Member Rate $99 USD Expires 30 November 2012

* Student status and faculty member credentials must be verified in order to register at the Student or Faculty Member Rates. Find out more about the verification requirements.

Each package allows participants with the following benefits:

• Access to the BlackBerry Jam Asia Keynote
• Access to breakout sessions, Lab sessions and Ask The Experts
• Admission to the BlackBerry Jam Appreciation Event
• Admission to the BlackBerry Jam Space during open hours
• Lunch and breaks on conference days
• Complimentary access to Conference Wi-Fi® internet in the conference center
• Access to the online portal for conference content
• Registration gift

What’s your #BB10Believe?

What are you waiting for? Register now on the BlackBerry Jam Asia 2012 website!

* Qualified developers will be determined by RIM using applicant information from the registration system. If you have already received a BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device at a previous event or from RIM, you are not eligible for this offer. Quantities are limited.