Canadian smartphone and tablet maker Research In Motion (RIM) has announced the availability of BlackBerry App World 3.0 for BlackBerry smartphone users. The BlackBerry App World 3.0 storefront makes finding and downloading apps easier than before, starting right on the home screen, where rotating spotlight banners show off all that’s new.

New features include:

• New channels - Apps, Games, and Themes now have their own channels, enabling users to get to what they want even faster.
• Introduction of My Account - My Account makes managing BBID (BlackBerry ID) and payment options simple, with direct access to all account information from the home screen.  
• New My World Features - My World gives users a streamlined view of their apps and status, and now at a glance, in addition to seeing which apps are installed and uninstalled, users can manage subscription content and services. When new updates or subscription renewals are available for apps, users will be notified using push technology.
• App social sharing – when a user finds an app they can’t live without, they can share it directly from the app details screen through BBM, Facebook, Twitter, email and SMS.
• Evolved app details screen - Users can get a quick summary, check out reviews and star ratings, and take a look at screen shots of apps.
• More search options - Quickly find apps with a Search Bar now appearing on the storefront home screen and search results are presented across Channels as well as My World. Search Bars are also within each Channel and users have the ability to filter by App Name, Price, Rating, Newest, Best Match, or Popular.

RIM stated that BlackBerry smartphone users, whose devices operate on BlackBerry OS 5.0 or later, will see on-device upgrade notifications appear within the coming days.

In related news, RIM also recently revealed that BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is now also available to local SME’s and large corporations via Telkom Business Mobile (TBM).