BlackBerry Targets App Developers With $10,000 Bounty

The makers of the once popular BlackBerry smart phone are so confident that its BlackBerry 10 operating system will be a money-maker that Research in Motion is promising app developers will make at least $10,000 within one year.

Speaking at the BlackBerry Jam developer event Tuesday, RIM's developer Alec Saunders announced that RIM would make up the difference for any worthy app that didn't make $10,000 in its first year on the new operating system.

The guarantee of course comes with several conditions. First the app must become an officially certified BlackBerry 10 app, which RIM says it will reveal how developers can do that later in the year.

Second the app must make at least $1,000 on its own before qualifying for the $10,000 guarantee.

The conditions are a natural caveat to discourage the development of lackluster apps simply looking to get paid.

The promise is also a necessary one as RIM struggles to gain back its market share from the likes of Apple and Google, who have taken over the once Canadian-friendly mobile market with the advent of iOS and Android-powered phones and tablets.

A large component to taking a second bite at the market share pie, RIM must get developers interested in building apps for its devices. Something the company has failed to do so far with the likes of Netflix refusing to make BlackBerry apps.

RIM also teased the future of its smartphones Tuesday with a BlackBerry 10-powered phone that eliminates the keyboard, focuses on a touchscreen operating system has gestures everywhere and promises to have a smarter camera than year's past.

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