New Year’s greetings all. Eleven days into what promises to be a great year, I believe we have our development hats on and the holiday ones off 
.
Exciting times are here once again with yet another port-a-thon by you-know-who! Yes folks, the same guyz who perhaps coined the term port-a-thon are at it again! RIM, makers of the BlackBerry will be commencing a dual 36 hours port-a-thon today. The events start at 6pm local time, today (January 11) and runs through Saturday January 12 to 6pm Sunday, January 13.
Having partaken in the last port-a-thon, I find that a bit of recap is a good way to start. In brief, the last event which ran from December 14 to 16, 2012 had an average of 113 app submissions per hour from about 63 countries over the 36 hours period. This is according to a report sent to me by RIM.
This one though is a double combo in that RIM plans to run two port-a-thons simultaneously.
- One is the Android Port-a-thon (
http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/12/the-android-port-a-thon-for-blackberry-10-is-here/?RMID=B2B_20130108_Portathon_Invite&RRID=ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP1234567890123456
) and it’s targeted at Android developers with existing Android apps.
- The other is the Community Port-a-thon (
http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/12/blackberry-10-community-port-a-thon/?RMID=B2B_20130108_Portathon_Invite&RRID=ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP1234567890123456
) and it’s targeted at developers with apps built using different platforms like appcelerator, AIR, QT, Sencha, PhoneGap, Marmalade, JQuery etc.
As with previous port-a-thons, RIM’s technical gurus will be on hand to guide you throughout the event in case you run into any difficulties.
Below, I share my thoughts on why I think every app developer should attempt to partake in the port-a-thon.
Much as has been said about the market potential for RIM in Nigeria, it is not enough to be consumers of both hardware and software. Rather, we should play in a space that’s more practically possible for us vis-à-vis contents/apps creation. It is widely acknowledged that none knows our market more than we do hence, local contents that best meet the needs of our market can be better developed by us.
What more, there are incentives for every app submitted and approved. But beyond the incentives, I think developers ought to explore this option to get their great apps into the hands of those who matter; the end users. The benefits are obvious depending on your objectives. At Genii Games, it’s one that surely serves our pilot objectives and the result is one that is itself proving useful given the feedback already trickling in from approved apps. Case in point, it serves our interest in the grand scheme of what our apps are meant for. Even if your app was built to prove a personal feat, it still serves a good point to get the views of its end users. Even more, getting approved clearly justifies your app as one that meets something close to a global standard given the scrutiny that RIM does before approving of any app. I touched on the latter in my last post (http://bbdevsng.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/app-stores-contrasts-features-and-comparisons-i/).
Another reason is for us as a community to demonstrate our competence to RIM itself thus, giving voice to future demands like payment issues which they can better champion for us before the powers that be (Telcos).
I have heard arguments across different quarters ranging from RIM’s market struggles amongst its competitors to the absence of guarantees for the OS10′s success. In my view and wearing the hat of a nerd, these should not concern us at least primarily. Here’s one reason. I know my apps are mine without any exclusivity to any platform. Two, my objectives in this case are better served by porting my app to as many platforms as support them hence, I have nothing to lose. Besides, while mainstream media about RIM provides us with uncertainty, it also provides us with adventure and excitement. So dudes, you never know.
For all the excuses not to be a part of this exciting event, I find RIM’s energy unbelievably inspiring. I mean if a seemingly troubled company can be this excited about its forthcoming release enough to rally developers with different skill set and across different boundaries then I want to be a part of that organization in my own way.
To cap things up, we are a few weeks from the official release of the OS 10 and these events spell good forms of proactive approach towards launching our apps out with the release come January 30.
So folks, there you have it. Check the links provided above, register and get porting. See you on the other side
Adebayo Adegbembo
t| @technobayo
e| bayo@geniigames.com
w| http://www.geniigames.com
Great stuff, thanks for putting this together and the tips!