Research In Motion (RIM) today announced that the company is working on a new online application storefront and a new on-device application center for managing installation, upgrades, and purchases blackberry applications.

RIM plans to launch the application storefront in March 2009 and BlackBerry application developers can begin submitting their applications and content for inclusion in the storefront in December 2008. The storefront will allow developers to set their own prices for applications and developers will retain 80 percent of the revenue generated from their applications. RIM is working with PayPal to provide consumers with a convenient and trusted way to pay for applications within the new application storefront, right from their BlackBerry smartphone.

RIM is also working with its carrier partners to provide carrier-customized, on-device application centers to help foster after-market application downloads. The BlackBerry application center will allow each carrier to offer a convenient catalog right on the device where a customer can discover and download applications.