RIM Gets 15,000 App Submissions For Its New BlackBerry Phone In One Weekend

Steve Kovach, Business InsiderAn early version of BlackBerry 10.RIM held a "portathon" over the weekend where it offered a $100 prize to any developer who could port his or her app to BlackBerry 10 and get it approved.

There were 15,000 submissions, according to a tweet from Alex Saunders, RIM's president of developer relations.

Not bad, although it's still unclear how many of those submissions will be accepted.

One of the biggest problems facing RIM's new BB10 operating system is the lack of apps compared to Google's Android and Apple's iPhone. RIM is going out of its way to court developers, even offering a guarantee that they'll make at least $10,000.

Remember: BB10 will launch with zero users. Developers prefer to make apps where the users are, which is why smaller app platforms like Windows Phone still have trouble getting some top-tier developers on board.

Even with all the incentives, it's going to be really tough for RIM to convince developers to make the latest and greatest apps for BB10 at the same time as Android and iOS.

Click here for hands-on photos with the new BB10 operating system >