SA's BlackBerry App Master for new tablet crowned
A developer from Pretoria has been given the title of BlackBerry App Master after creating an app for the BlackBerry PlayBook that will soon be released nationwide.
Joe Diedericks won the award for his application entitled ‘Salon Queen’. Built with a hairdressing salon in mind, the app uses the idea of allowing customer interaction with a business to help grow the enterprise and retain a customer base.
Diedericks says he was inspired by the release of Research In Motion’s (RIM’s) tablet device and it was his first attempt at building an app from scratch.
"I was toying around with apps and I've never written a complete one, because in the app world, everything I've needed was already developed," he said.
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"Now that this PlayBook came around, it created this whole new range of opportunities, and it's the first time I've got involved with BlackBerry process of starting with an app and building it to the end.
"There's a big future for tablets because it's such a new technology. The PlayBook is a bit easier for me. BlackBerry has made it a bit easier for developers with the tools they provide; they've really opened it up wide," added Diedericks.
The app enables customers to view an image history of their hairstyles, and also those that the salon had created for others for reference.
Diedericks said that the app could easily be transferrable to other industries and users could share images on Facebook and Twitter.
In winning the award, Diedericks has been given a new BlackBerry Playbook and a trip to the BlackBerry Developer Conference in San Francisco this October.
