Scratch Instagram from the list of brand-name applications making their way over to RIM’s next-generation, potentially company-saving BlackBerry 10 platform.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":555582,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"mobile,social,","session":"C"}']Facebook may be a building a native version of the social network for the new mobile operating system, but the company has zero plans to build or release an Instagram application for BlackBerry 10, a person familiar with the matter told VentureBeat.
The snub may sound like a minor setback for RIM, which previously promised native versions of Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and LinkedIn applications for BlackBerry 10. Multiple reports also hint that BlackBerry 10 will have its own photo editor with filters.
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But for RIM, getting application makers to build for the platform is arguably the single most important factor to determining whether consumers go back to (or discover) BlackBerry, especially if task management flow is all the platform has to set it apart from iOS and Android. The need for great apps is so important that RIM is offering payouts to app makers, and it even seeded 6,000 BlackBerry 10 prototypes with developers to get the app creation process going.
And when you consider that Facebook’s photo-sharing prodigy has more than 100 million registered users, many of whom wouldn’t dream of giving up their favorite app, the app’s absence from BB10 seems more than a little disconcerting.
Then again, should BlackBerry 10 be a surprise hit, Facebook may reconsider its decision. BlackBerry fans can only hope.
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