RIM extends BlackBerry App World across Europe

RIM is updating its BlackBerry App World store on 31 July

Research In Motion (RIM) is opening up access to its BlackBerry App World online application store to cover more European countries from the end of July. The move will coincide with an update to the service, according to the firm.

The company said that an updated BlackBerry App World v1.1 will be available in 11 new territories from 31 July, namely France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Austria, Luxembourg, Republic of Ireland, Belgium, Portugal, the Netherlands and the Channel Islands.

A spokesperson for RIM said that the updated store would feature some differences from the current version, unveiled at the beginning of April, but declined to go into details before the launch.

In the meantime, RIM said that a new submission portal for developers to submit applications will open a few days earlier on 26 July.

The new portal will enable developers to upload multiple versions of their applications in different languages and for different devices, enter localised descriptions, select country and carrier availability, and report results on a country-by-country basis, according to RIM.