MONTREAL – A TV service for BlackBerry users could be one of the premiere software applications offered by Research In Motion (TSX:RIM) on its new online application store as it continues to compete against Apple’s iPhone and its popular App Store.

BlackBerry App World is expected to open within days, offering both paid and free programs for consumers and businesses.

The popularity of games, maps, weather forecasts and literally thousands of other software applications for smartphones are driving their growth.

Tech blogs carried reports Thursday that Waterloo, Ont.-based RIM was planning to announce a full-episode, monthly TV service for BlackBerry users as early as next Wednesday at a wireless conference in Las Vegas.

The BlackBerry app would reportedly use Wi-Fi networks to connect to the Internet, rather than rely on wireless carriers. RIM wouldn’t comment on reports of its TV app.

Analyst Nick Agostino said consumers could use this service at airports, malls or coffee shops where Wi-Fi networks are often found.

“It’s an app geared toward the consumer market,” said Agostino of Toronto-based Research Capital Corp.

However, Agostino questioned whether consumers would sit long enough at a coffee shop with a Wi-Fi hot spot to watch a full television show, but noted the TV application would benefit the “guy at the airport waiting for his next flight.”

This type of application would be suited to RIM’s touchscreen BlackBerry Storm, which isn’t Wi-Fi enabled, he said, but that could mean an opportunity to upgrade the Storm, released last fall and considered the iPhone’s direct competitor.

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