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MySpace's BlackBerry app breaks download records
MySpace's new BlackBerry app has hit 400,000 downloads in its first week, breaking records for both MySpace and Research In Motion (RIM). Users of the app have already sent or received more than 15m messages via Mobile MySpace and have updated their status more than 2m times, RIM says.
The success of the app, launched November 13, will help RIM dispel the myth that the BlackBerry is primarily a corporate tool used by anyone who wears a tie and carries a briefcase. As RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie says: "This rapid adoption is a reflection of an evolving consumer lifestyle."
The app is designed to help BlackBerry users to stay connected to the MySpace social network and includes many of the features available on the site. These include: a messaging interface, status updates, camera integration and photo services. As part of the deal, RIM created a community page on the MySpace website where users can access news and content that is specifically relevant for the Blackberry smartphone.
RIM already has a deal with Facebook, MySpace's closest rival on the social networking field. The handset maker says the Facebook app has been downloaded 2.5m times since its 2007 launch.
This year, RIM has made a concerted drive to compete with the Apple iPhone by releasing handsets that are geared at both the corporate and the consumer market. The firm's new Pearl Flip, Curve and Storm handsets are geared towards mainstream audiences and RIM has is set to launch 'lifestyle' apps through deals with TiVo and Ticketmaster.
According to research group NPD, the RIM BlackBerry Curve was the third most popular handset in the US in Q3 2008, after the iPhone and Motorola's RAZR. Apple claims it sold 6.9m iPhones during the quarter, compared to sales of between 5.4m and 6.1m of the BlackBerry.
