Unlike Apple's App Store, US$2.99 is the min. price per app on BlackBerry's App World. However, developers get a higher rev share on apps sold but pay more on annual subscription.

CORP TALK: BlackBerry smart phone users now have an app store to call their own as Waterloo, Ontario-based Research in Motion (RIM) has just launched its much-awaited online store today. The App World store will include programs from popular networks like The New York Times, Facebook, MySpace, Bloomberg and so on. Unlike the iPhone with its popular 99 cents apps, the minimum price for App World is US$2.99 per app.

According to an InformationWeek.com report, developers will get to retain 80% of the revenue from any sold app, 10% more than what they would get from Apple’s App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch. However, they also have to pay US$200 a year to put up to 10 apps in the store, which is slightly more than what they would pay for Apple or Microsoft (its Marketplace for Mobile, slated for a year-end launch).

Of course, 3rd-party programs have long been available for BlackBerrys from various sources but with the launch of its App World, RIM is now officially following in the footsteps of Apple with its centralized store. It’s definitely going to be a trend as we see Microsoft (ie. Marketplace for Mobile), Nokia (who owns Symbian) and Google (for its Android platform) doing the same for their smart phone platforms.

The BlackBerry App World is free to download from their website here, and for a start, it’ll have 1,000 apps. To pay for these apps, users need to use an eBay PayPal payment service. RIM has plans to work out deals with different telecom providers to have these purchases charged to their monthly phone bills instead of a PayPal account instead. This would also mean a revenue-sharing model between RIM and the telcos.