Close on the heels of Optus’ November move of opening a mobile app store for non-Apple devices, BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) has announced the availability of its BlackBerry App World online platform of mobile applications its Australia and New Zealand customers.

The extension of the BlackBerry App World in these two countries will give the Blackberry owners an easy accessibility to RIM’s online mobile apps service via Wi-Fi or mobile networks. As such, the users will be able to access a wide array of applications across diverse categories including entertainment, news, weather, productivity, and IM and social networking.

With the RIM App World boasting several features, like top downloads, reviews, recommend apps, search/filter, application archiving, and applications storage, some specific applications that will become accessible in the two countries include BlackBerry Messenger, Facebook, Flickr, Bloomberg Mobile, Tune Wiki, UberTwitter, and The Weather Channel.

Meanwhile, Optus, via its Optus Application Store, allows its customers to download as well as purchase applications on 2G and 3G enabled Symbian, Blackberry, Windows, Android, and Java devices.

In a statement pertaining to the launch of the BlackBerry App World in Australia and New Zealand, Adele Beachley, RIM’s managing director A/NZ region, said that the move spells “a fantastic new resource and enhanced experience for customers and an equally exciting business opportunity for RIM’s partners.”