Adobe AIR Development

[MSohm]

From the BlackBerry Developer Blog

Community developers we have you covered! We want you to be part of all of the BlackBerry 10 excitement and bring us your applications.  After the success of our previous Port-A-Thons we are bringing you our BlackBerry 10 Community Port-A-Thon.  Do you have a mobile app created using Appcelerator, Maramalade, Sencha, jQuery, PhoneGap, Qt or other platforms?  If the app hasn’t already been submitted to BlackBerry World for BlackBerry 10, this Port-A-Thon is for you!  Android apps are not eligible but you can check out our Android portathon here.

The BlackBerry 10 Community Port-A-Thon will start on noon ET January 11, 2013 and run for 36 hours.  This is also going to be a virtual event, so it is up to you to decide where you would like to join us from.

Get Rewarded

The more you port and build the greater your rewards*:

• Port  one (1) – five (5) approved apps – $100 per eligible app –to  a maximum of 20 paid applications per Vendor
• Port five (5) – ten (10) approved apps – THE FIRST TWO HUNDRED (200) QUALIFIED PARTICIPANTS receive one (1) BlackBerry Dev Alpha Device plus $100
• Port ten (10) or more approved apps -  THE FIRST TEN (10) QUALIFIED PARTICIPANTS one (1) paid trip to BlackBerry Jam Europe to celebrate  the launch of BlackBerry 10 with us plus a Dev Alpha Device as well as $100!!!
• Additionally for those that did not receive a BlackBerry Dev Alpha, or Trip to BlackBerry Jam Europe, we will be conducting a random draw for one hundred (100) BlackBerry 10 Dev Alphas and ten (10) trips to BlackBerry Jam Europe.  All those who meet the criteria for a Dev Alpha  Device or the Trip but were not one of the firs 200 or 10 , respectively, to qualify, are eligible for the respective draws.

Get Ready to Port

Take advantage of the tips below to get a head start before you join the event.

Here’s what you need to get prepared ahead of time.

1. Register as a Vendor at BlackBerry World if you haven’t already.
2. Request signature keys. Make sure that you select for BlackBerry® PlayBook™ OS and BlackBerry 10 and higher. Downloading in advance is strongly recommended as the time involved to do so could prevent you from earning rewards.
3. Load up your laptop BlackBerry tools and plug-ins. Make sure you have your full source code file readily available too.
4. Make sure you have your images and icons ready to go.

Register

Submit your apps into BlackBerry World before BlackBerry 10 launches. Register for the Community Port-A-Thon for BlackBerry 10 today!

Have Questions? See our FAQ.

* A total of $500,000USD is available for distribution. To qualify for a Reward, you must register on the website at http://developer.blackberry.com/offers/communityportathon and submit your App into the BlackBerry World Vendor Portal between 12:00:01 pm on January 11, 2013 and 11:59:59pm ET on January 12, 2013. Any apps submitted outside this time frame are not eligible for this Reward program. Only those apps that have been approved through BlackBerry World and RIM will be considered towards a Reward. No purchase necessary to be eligible for the draw.  The odds of winning the draw depend on the number of eligible Vendors entered.  Skill-testing question applies to Canadian residents.  Limit one (1) Dev Alpha Device and one (1) Trip per person. Cash rewards limited to 20 per Vendor regardless of reward category.    See the Official Terms and Conditions for complete details.

[dmalik]

Julian Dolce (Team Lead of the AIR SDK) and I will be there to help answer any questions you may have during most of the day and into the night (eastern standard time).

[UberschallSamsara]

Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, but can you set up your product drafts ahead of the start time of the portathon and then just do your bar file uploads once the clock starts on the official portathon hours?

[MSohm]

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UberschallSamsara wrote:

Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, but can you set up your product drafts ahead of the start time of the portathon and then just do your bar file uploads once the clock starts on the official portathon hours?

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No.  We need a new app created and submitted or a new release created and submitted and it has to target BlackBerry 10 All Touch.

[UberschallSamsara]

Ok so no screenshots, descriptions or other metadata can be uploaded for a new app prior to the official start of the portathon hours - is that right?  It doesn't count as a new app unless the SKU did not exist in the vendor portal prior to the portathon start?

[MSohm]

Correct.  It has to be a new product or release created during the contest.

You can re-use the same SKU of an existing application (if you have an existing app you are adding BlackBerry 10 support to).

[FunctionCaller]

Do the porting of the app have to be 100% completed withing these 36 hours (images and binaries must be uploaded and pending approval by you guys), or is it enough to just create the SKU within these 36 hours and then finish the port and upload it a few days later?

The reason I'm asking is because I just registered as a developer for this port-a-thon and have never done anything on Blackberry before, I'm just unsure I will make the deadline since I don't quite get everything (especially with the bar-descriptor.xml file, expect a thread to pop up with me asking about it).

[MSohm]

The BAR file has to be submitted during the port-a-thon, but you can start work ahead of time.

Start a new thread here in the forums on any development related questions you have.

[FunctionCaller]

Cheers

I signed up on:

http://developer.blackberry.com/offers/communityportathon

...which redirected me to...

http://www.blackberrydeveloperevents.com/events/webcast/registration/register.html?scoid=<number>

Used my first/last name + same email I used for my BlackBerry App World Vendor Account + selected no to get mail from third parties. Then I clicked submit (ENTER key didn't work).

What I'm wondering is if the registration actually worked? I didn't get any confirmation message. I just got redirected to:

http://www.blackberrydeveloperevents.com/events/home.html

...which seems to be a calendar showing upcoming events. Showing both the "BlackBerry 10 Community Port-a-thon" and the "BlackBerry 10 Android Port-a-thon", since I didn't sign up for the Android one I can't take this as a sign of me being signed up for neither of those.

1) Am I registered? Don't want to be a bother but the form wasn't very clear and I don't want to submit my app on the 11:th just to find out I wasn't registered after all.

2) By the way, how can I tell that the Port-A-Thon has officially started? Will you post in this thread announcing that "Now you can create your SKU for this port-a-thon"? Since I live a different timezone ouside of US I don't want to risk accidentally creating my SKU too early before the thing has begun and then being disqualified.

[UberschallSamsara]

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FunctionCaller wrote:

2) By the way, how can I tell that the Port-A-Thon has officially started? Will you post in this thread announcing that "Now you can create your SKU for this port-a-thon"? Since I live a different timezone ouside of US I don't want to risk accidentally creating my SKU too early before the thing has begun and then being disqualified.

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From:  http://devblog.blackberry.com/2012/12/blackberry-10-community-port-a-thon/

"The BlackBerry 10 Community Port-A-Thon will start on noon ET January 11, 2013 and run for 36 hours."