Amazon is now part of the smartphone world with the announcement of the Fire Phone, the company's first smartphone device and probably the most innovative mobile handset this year. BlackBerry, on the other hand, plans to take advantage of this by signing a deal with Amazon, one that would allow BlackBerry owners to download apps from the Amazon App Store.
BlackBerry users haven't had much to talk about when it comes down to apps, so this move is quite welcoming and should allow users of the Z30 and Q10 to hold on to their devices a little longer.
When BlackBerry version 10.3 launches later this fall, users will have the ability to access over 200,000 apps in the Amazon App store, and this might even include new apps that will be created for the Fire Phone. Users should have little problem finding apps like Netflix and Minecraft, along with other big name apps.
The reason why current BlackBerry phones have the ability to play nice with Android apps is because this feature is supported by with the BlackBerry 10 operating system. Interestingly enough, both Amazon and BlackBerry are working together to move all 130,000 apps in the BlackBerry app store over to Amazon's app store.
It appears both companies are joining together to combat a common enemy in the form of Google and Apple.
While the Amazon app store has over 200,000 apps at its disposal, it is not yet certain how many of these apps BlackBerry users would have access to. If it is the full catalog, then the BlackBerry platform would have a new lease on life, but probably not for very long.
This move makes perfect sense for BlackBerry since the company is finding it difficult to get developers on a large scale to support the platform.
"We're excited to be working with Amazon to deliver the apps and content that you've been looking for. It's an exciting new day for BlackBerry 10 device owners. We look forward to hearing from you about what apps you are looking forward to downloading," says BlackBerry in a statement.
Chances are, this won't help improve BlackBerry 10 smartphone sales, but it should keep current users interested for a little while longer.
