BlackBerry apps to get advertising, purchasing, geolocation, and gaming tools

Research In Motion has announced a new set of tools and services that should allow developers to monetize and create more compelling third-party applications and games for BlackBerry smartphones.

The company has created an in-app advertising platform, partnering with leading advertising networks to easily integrate ads into applications and embed innovative ad functionality, like initiating calls, adding calendar and contact entries, and more. In-app purchases will allow developers to charge for premium content, subscriptions, and upgrades. The company is also launching a push notification service that will allow for time-sensitive alerts, much like iPhone's notification service.

Location-based services will also be available for use by developers. The features will provide cell tower triangulation geolocation, reverse geocoding for address linking, and travel time functionality to estimate distance and time between locations. RIM is also launching stronger gaming support with OpenGL and Java tools that will allow for 3D graphics and easier interface development.

The new features will rollout throughout 2010. In-app advertising, push notifications, and the new location-based services will be available in the first half of the year while in-app purchases will launch mid-year.

In related news, RIM and Adobe announced that developers will be able to use Adobe Flash and Adobe Creative Suite to help create applications for BlackBerry devices with integrated collaboration between Adobe's content creation applications and BlackBerry development tools.