Please join me in welcoming the BlackBerry World Vendor Portal as the newest addition to the BlackBerry ID club.

As previously mentioned, we’re working to make BlackBerry ID the only login required to access all developer sites. Developers will now be able to log in to the Vendor Portal with their BBID credentials or automatically have access to the Vendor Portal if they are already signed into Blackberry Jam Zone.

Existing BlackBerry World vendors will need to sync their legacy credentials with their BlackBerry ID, while new vendors will be able to sign in with the BlackBerry ID and request to become a BlackBerry World Vendor.

Dear Valued Vendor,

We have some exciting news to share with you!
Beginning on April 15, 2013, you will be able to conveniently sign-in to your BlackBerry® World™ vendor account using your existing BlackBerry ID! You’ll no longer need to remember and manage multiple account credentials. Access all BlackBerry applications, services and websites using just one sign on: BlackBerry ID.

How will this work?

The new BlackBerry World login page will walk you through the process. During the sign-in, you will be asked to link your vendor account to your BlackBerry ID. From there on, you will use your BlackBerry ID to sign-in to your vendor account.

Create your BlackBerry ID

If you don’t already have a BlackBerry ID or you wish to create a new one, visit https://blackberryid.blackberry.com/bbid/createaccount now and follow the onscreen instructions.

Happy Development,

BlackBerry World Team

If you have any questions, please let us know in the comments below!

Recently we posted about the upcoming rollout of our developer properties login upgrade program to using BlackBerry® ID. Today we’re announcing that we’ve launched the first phase.

As we mentioned in the previous blog post, this will affect BlackBerry® Jam Zone, as well as our friends over at BlackBerry® Beta Zone. Existing accounts tied to your Jam Zone account login, like bug tracker, Developer Support Forums, and the Rewards system, will automatically be upgraded.

If you have a BlackBerry® smartphone or BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet, you likely already have a BlackBerry ID. It’s what you use to purchase apps or set up your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Eventually, that will become your single login for all BlackBerry properties.

To reiterate from the previous blog post, as of today, when you log in to your Jam Zone account, you will be asked which login you want to use: Jam Zone (old system) or BlackBerry ID (new system).

To make the transition as smooth as possible, please review the following scenarios before attempting to log into Jam Zone:

If you are new to BlackBerry and do not yet have a BlackBerry ID or Jam Zone account…

1. Go to: https://blackberryid.blackberry.com/bbid/login/
2. Create a new account.
3. Follow the instructions to confirm the address you entered as your BlackBerry ID username is a valid email address.

If you have a BlackBerry ID account but have NOT YET confirmed it…

1. Look in your email inbox for an email from donotreply@blackberry.com. (Check your spam filter if you can’t find it.)
2. Read the email and complete the instructions to confirm the address you entered as your BlackBerry ID username is a valid email address.

If you are not sure that you have a BlackBerry ID or that it is confirmed…

1. Go to: https://blackberryid.blackberry.com/bbid/login/
2. Enter your email address and click Sign in.
a. If you see a message that the account does not exist, please follow the steps listed above for those who do not yet have a BlackBerry ID account.
b. If you see a message that the account exists but has not been verified, please follow the steps listed above for those who have an account but have not yet verified it. Attempting to sign in will automatically re-send the verification email to you.
c. If you are able to login, then you have an account and it is already verified. At this point, please logout and continue with the steps below to link your BlackBerry ID and Jam Zone accounts.

Once you’ve completed these steps, or if you already have a verified BlackBerry ID account and choose to login with it…

1. Go to: https://bdsc.webapps.blackberry.com/bdsc/login.html
2. Login with your BlackBerry ID account.
3. You will be asked if you would like to have a new Jam Zone profile created and linked automatically, or if you would like to link your BlackBerry ID to an existing Jam Zone profile.
4. If you want to link to an existing Jam Zone profile, you will need to enter those credentials after choosing this option to complete the linking.
5. You’re now logged in with BlackBerry ID and your accounts are linked. You will continue to log in with BlackBerry ID in the future.

If you have a Jam Zone account and choose to login with it…

1. Go to: https://bdsc.webapps.blackberry.com/bdsc/login.html
2. You will be asked to either create a BlackBerry ID account if you don’t already have one, or link to your BlackBerry ID account if you do have one.
3. Complete the on-screen instructions to link your JamZone account with your BlackBerry ID account.
4. You’re now logged in with BlackBerry ID. You will continue to log in with BlackBerry ID in the future.

If none of those options works for you, please have a look at this FAQ.

If you experience any issues linking your accounts, please first clear your browser cache. If you continue to encounter issues, contact us through the Developer Support Forums using your previous forum login.

You will now be able to log in to Jam Zone, the Developer Support Forums (through Jam Zone*), Issue Tracker, and Rewards using your BlackBerry ID. You will also be able to change your account’s email address, and soon, joining webcasts will be easier as well. Additional phases of the project will launch in the future to continue improving your online BlackBerry developer experience.

* Please note that if you log into the Developer Support Forums directly, and not through Jam Zone, you will still need to use your previous forum login.

One of our biggest goals over the past year has been improving our community’s developer experience. There are a lot of moving parts to that. We’ve improved code signing stability, revamped the website, seeded BlackBerry® 10 Dev Alpha testing devices, launched a rewards program and more. But we’re not slowing down; we’re continuing to look for new ways to help our community.

In the next few weeks, we’ll be launching the first phase of this project. When we launch, we’ll publish another blog post and notifications on what you need to do then. Today I wanted to let you know about the next improvement, focused on how you login to our systems. Though the BlackBerry® JamZone login has served us well over the last few years, the current design has limited our ability to build some really cool things to enhance the community’s experience. We’ve made the decision to transition the BlackBerry JamZone to use BlackBerry® ID. Our friends over at the BlackBerry® Beta Zone are moving to BlackBerry® ID also.

The first phase of this project will require transitioning your current JamZone login to a BlackBerry ID login. More specific information on that is below. Don’t panic — existing accounts tied to your JamZone account login, such as bug tracker and Lithium as well as badges, will automatically be upgraded as well. Ultimately, our goal is one login.

Again, this won’t be launching for a few weeks, and there will be another blog post and notifications when it goes live. If you already have a BlackBerry ID, you’re ahead of the game. How do you know? If you have a BlackBerry® smartphone or a BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet, you already have a BlackBerry ID. It’s what you use to purchase apps or set up your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Eventually, that will become your single login for all BlackBerry properties.

After the rollout, when you log in to your JamZone account, you will be asked which login you want to use: JamZone (old system) or BlackBerry ID (new system).

If you choose to log in with your JamZone account, you will be asked to either create a BlackBerry ID account if you don’t already have one, or link your BlackBerry ID account if you do have one. Then you will complete a quick account validation, and after that you’re logged in with BlackBerry ID. You will continue to log in with BlackBerry ID in the future. (You will no longer be able to log in with your JamZone account credentials.)

If you choose to log in with BlackBerry ID, you will complete a quick account validation, and after that you’ll be logged in with BlackBerry ID and will continue to log in that way in the future.

You will be able to log in to JamZone, the Developer Support Forums, Issue Tracker, and Rewards using your BlackBerry ID. Joining webcasts will be easier as well, and you will also be able to change your account’s email address. This is only the first phase of a bigger project to improve your online experience.

Again, this is not happening today but in a few weeks, and we will let you know when it goes live. We’re pretty excited about rolling out this new system, and we can’t wait to see what you use those brain cells for, once you no longer have so many logins to remember. The next great app idea, perhaps?

By Rob Pongsajapan (Flickr® photostream) CC-BY-2.0

As Alec mentioned in his previous blog post, we’ve added features to BlackBerry® Tablet OS 2.0.1 to help curb the piracy of BlackBerry Tablet OS applications. I’m going to explain what we’ve done and what you can do to take this protection one step further.

Backup Files Tied to a BlackBerry ID

Backup files created using BlackBerry® Desktop Manager are now tied to a BlackBerry® ID account. This prevents users from sharing backup files between devices, but still allows them to switch devices. If a user needs to move to a different BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet, they can restore their backup files to the new device after configuring their new device with their BlackBerry ID.

Backup Files are Encrypted

Starting in BlackBerry Tablet OS 2.0.1, backup files are now encrypted. This not only helps to protect a user’s data, but also your applications. The key for the backup file is also tied to a user’s BlackBerry ID account, meaning each user has a different encryption key for their backup file.

How Developers Can Protect Their Applications

You might be thinking that this is all well and good for the future, but won’t the people who pirate applications just leave their BlackBerry PlayBook tablet at version 2.0.0, which doesn’t encrypt backup files? This is a possibility, but one you can help to mitigate. History has shown us that approximately 90% of BlackBerry PlayBook tablet users upgrade their device within a month of an upgrade being released. This means that in a month from now, most of your target audience will be running version 2.0.1.

And so, the BlackBerry App World™ Vendor Portal comes to the rescue! In a month from now (or when you release the next update to your application), you can set the minimum OS version required by your product to version 2.0.1, preventing it from being downloaded on a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet running a lower version. This will help thwart those individuals who may want to try to extract your application files from a backup made using a lower version, because they won’t see it listed in the BlackBerry App World storefront catalogue on their device, therefore they won’t be able to install it.

How to Use Backup & Restore

If you are looking for instructions on how to backup or restore your BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, have a look at How to Back Up and Restore a BlackBerry PlayBook on the Inside BlackBerry Help Blog.