BlackBerry Gets In On the App-tion

The next round in the smartphone slugfest will be fought with software.

Research In Motion (RIMM) now sells entertainment, news and travel applications to its BlackBerry users through an online store.

The bet: A user who buys extra software applications for an existing smartphone will be less likely to switch to a competitor. That could reduce the “churn” among subscribers and cut marketing costs while increasing revenue.

That’s a smart move, especially as BlackBerry attempts to expand beyond professionals and into the consumer market.

The tactic is also used by Apple (AAPL) for the iPhone. Microsoft (MSFT) is also active in mobile-phone software, and has signed deals with Pandora, a web music service, Electronic Arts (ERTS), a game developer, and Facebook, a social networking website.

Research In Motion comes to the game later than its rivals, and hopes to goose software developers by offering them 80% of the revenue generated from each new application. That’s bound to attract interest, especially when Apple offers developers 70%.

Nokia (NOK), the world’s largest manufacturer of cell phones, says many software developers have signed up to sell content on Ovi, an online store scheduled to open in early May. Nokia also plans to offer 70% of application revenue to the software developers.

The rush to applications is part of the answer to basic questions: How do smartphone providers differentiate themselves in the marketplace, grab new customers and retain current ones?

Sorry, Karl, this isn’t planned obsolescence - it’s a wild charge into uncharted territory. Somewhere along the line, someone will develop the next killer app. Here’s betting it comes from a small company that few now know.