Almost two years to the day after it went live in the US, BlackBerry's App World is finally available in the UAE.
Although the service, which lets users add a wide range of functions to the popular smartphones, has not yet been officially launched, a fully functional "beta" version is available.
It is being tested by engineers at Research In Motion, the Canadian firm that makes the BlackBerry, and a full launch is expected within days.
Describing the beta testing as "very limited", RIM refused to offer further information ahead of its official launch.
"Research In Motion is currently conducting very limited beta testing on BlackBerry App World, it has not yet launched. We will provide an update as soon as more information is available," the company said in a statement.
The long delay in the appearance of the service, which launched in the US on April 1, 2009, is understood to have been due to the time taken to complete regulatory procedures.
Until now it has been possible to download App World to handsets, but frustrated BlackBerry fans then found they could not launch it. Yesterday, however, users in the UAE were able to run the latest version of App World.
Hundreds of apps are already on offer, in categories including education, entertainment, games, music and news. Many are free, while others are priced from 99 cents. Titles in the sport section include English Premier League 2010-11, Free Golf GPS Range Finder and Formula1.com 2011.
The National was able to download and run apps from the beta service. For example, Ghost Camera, a free app that places the figure of a ghost in photographs taken with a BlackBerry's camera, worked perfectly.
The service, RIM's answer to Apple's successful iPhone App Store, enables users to search, download and update applications produced by third-party developers.
Before its launch, apps were scattered all over the internet, but App World makes them easily accessible by bringing them together in one place.
