One of the best things that has happened in the mobile phone industry in the recent past is the development of application stores for cell phones. This began with the launch of the Apple App store and grew more widespread with the recent release of the first Android-based phone which is able to access the Android Market. These application storefronts allow mobile phone users to download the entertainment and productivity tools that they desire to have at their fingertips. Not to be left behind in this important area of the wireless race, BlackBerry is moving ever-closer to the launch of a new applications storefront which is expected to be available online in March.

RIM, the maker of BlackBerry, recently announced a call for developers to create applications to fill up this online application storefront. Developers will retain a large percentage of the proceeds from the sale of their applications with payment coming through PayPal. It is unclear at this time whether RIM will be limited in what they allow developers to create for the store (as has historically been the case with the Apple App Store) or more open to development creativity (as is the case with the open source Google Android Market). What is likely, however, is that applications will cater to both those professional users who have always turned to BlackBerry for the purposes of having a great business phone as well as those new users who are accepting the changes in BlackBerry handsets that make them great smartphones for all types of consumers.

With the creation of this new application store, BlackBerry puts itself back in a great place to compete with the phones that have started to gain an edge in the marketplace. In related news, Microsoft is also concerned about being left behind in this emerging aspect of the wireless industry and will be launching an application storefront of its own called SkyMarket.