BlackBerry Jam Europe has drawn to a close and what a super event it was. This was my first time at a developer event of this scale and I must say that BlackBerry did an amazing job from start to finish. The venue for the Jam was organized to perfection. All the staff, both BlackBerry and outside agencies, were extremely efficient and as far as I could see there were no glitches over the two day festivities.
In terms of the news that we got -- it wasn't massive, but I didn't expect it to be due to the nature of the event. The new API's now available to developers will be super handy in allowing them to get their apps ready for the BlackBerry Q10 that is due for release in the not too distant future. To go along with the API's we saw for the first time the Dev Alpha C, sporting a hardware QWERTY keyboard. Clearly it isn't a glorious as the Q10 but it wouldn't be. It's rather tasty though and devs that qualify for the handset will be well on their way to churning out some great apps for us.
I suppose the Limited Edition BlackBerry Z10 stole the show for me. Although there is not much difference between it and the black and white versions it does look wonderful in that Ferrari red. The Elite devs who managed to get one at the Jam all had big smiles on their faces as they proudly displayed their new prized possessions.
As you would have seen from the above video there was one thing that came across very clear from us taking to developers - and that is the love and support that BlackBerry are giving the developer community. This isn't something new but as the number of BlackBerry devs should now grow, due to BlackBerry 10, there will be a lot more love to go around. BlackBerry values its developers immensely and the feeling is two way. Holding events like the Jam will cost BlackBerry a lot of money but they clearly feel it is worth it to show their appreciation to the community.
Nice job BlackBerry. Jam Europe is another success story in the bag. Roll on the next one.
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