[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbkO4pGSB_4&w=560&h=349]

The BlackBerry isn't the darling of the mobile world anymore. RIM used to own the smartphone space. The device used to be "sexy." To have one was really cool. Now -- not so much. But are lack of coolness and limited press reasons to avoid developing for the BlackBerry? No, says Alec Saunders, Vice President of Developer Relations at RIM. There's an untold story. Saunders says that, according to the Yankee Group, the BlackBerry app store is the second most financially successful mobile app outlet behind Apple's. That means developers who target the BlackBerry platform make more money than those who target Android. Saunders believes the reason the Android market isn't as successful is the deluge of free apps for the platform. Another little known developer story is RIM's WebWorks SDK, the best implementation of HTML5 with the highest benchmark scores, Saunders says. With WebWorks you can create a native downloadable HTML5 version of your app that will work on the handset, playbook, and future handsets. To learn more, RIM is holding BlackBerry DevCon, Oct. 18 - 20 in San Francisco. Show up and you'll get a free PlayBook.