Over 100 attendees at BlackBerry's First Middle East Developer Day

Research In Motion (RIM) hosted its first Middle East BlackBerry Developer Day on Wednesday 26 January, designed to help developers create successful applications for the BlackBerry smartphone and BlackBerry PlayBook platforms, and featuring in-depth technical sessions from RIM experts and industry leaders. Following a successful series in 2009, RIM hosted the first two BlackBerry Developer Days for 2011 in Atlanta followed by Dubai. These events benefit developers, content generators, as well as business partners to get the most effective and commercial results for application development. 

Attracting over 100 attendees, the sessions throughout the day saw RIM and other IT industry experts discussing themes such as how to get started developing on BlackBerry; mobilising technology and the consumerisation of IT; what tools, techniques and support are provided to BlackBerry application developers in the Middle East; in addition to new features of BlackBerry 6 operating system and an exclusive preview of the highly anticipated BlackBerry PlayBook. 

Khaled Kefel, General Manager of RIM Middle East commented, “There’s never been a better time for Middle Eastern developers to create apps for the BlackBerry platform - not only is the regional user base thriving, but developers are being provided with  tools that can foster truly powerful apps that consumers will love. With the upcoming launch of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, the event was a great opportunity for developers to learn about how to build and monetize apps for a new and exciting BlackBerry platform.” 

He added, “The range and momentum of global BlackBerry developer initiatives has certainly grown since our first developer conference in Silicon Valley two years ago. We are very pleased to be hosting the first Middle East BlackBerry Developer Day to engage with our local app developer community and provide them with the information, resources and tools required to build applications for our BlackBerry smartphone and PlayBook platforms.” 

The keynote speakers for the event included:

Sanyu Kiruluta – Team Lead for Developer Relations EMEA, RIM

Neetan Chopra – VP of IT Strategy and Architecture, Emirates Group

Jigar Budhdev – VAS Manager, EMS

David Ashford – General Manager, AppsArabia

In addition to the Developer Day seminars, app developers were also encouraged to enter the app race for the new BlackBerry PlayBook, the world’s first professional-grade tablet. Any apps that are qualified for the PlayBook and included in the BlackBerry App World storefront in time for its North American release, could win a free BlackBerry PlayBook. For further information, please visit: http://us.blackberry.com/developers/tablet/playbook_offer.jsp.