Here's the press release:
RIM Expands Application Ecosystem for BlackBerry PlayBook
BlackBerry PlayBook to support BlackBerry Java and Android apps
Native C/C++ development support added, in addition to HTML5, Flash and AIR support
Support from leading game engines: Ideaworks Labs (AirPlay) and Unity Technologies (Unity 3)
BlackBerry PlayBook becomes a new market opportunity for all the developers who have already created over 25,000 BlackBerry Java apps and more than 200,000 Android apps
Waterloo, ON - Developers wanting to bring their new and existing apps to the highly anticipated BlackBerry PlayBook™ tablet will soon have additional tools and options to enhance and expand their commercial opportunities. Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today announced plans to greatly expand the application ecosystem for the BlackBerry PlayBook. The BlackBerry PlayBook is scheduled to launch in the U.S. and Canada on April 19.
RIM will launch two optional “app players” that provide an application run-time environment for BlackBerry Java apps and Android v2.3 apps. These new app players will allow users to download BlackBerry Java apps and Android apps from BlackBerry App World and run them on their BlackBerry PlayBook.
In addition, RIM will shortly release the native SDK for the BlackBerry PlayBook enabling C/C++ application development on the BlackBerry Tablet OS. For game-specific developers, RIM is also announcing that it has gained support from two leading game development tooling companies, allowing developers to use the cross-platform game engines from Ideaworks Labs and Unity Technologies to bring their games to the BlackBerry PlayBook.
Support for BlackBerry Java and Android Apps
“The BlackBerry PlayBook is an amazing tablet. The power that we have embedded creates one of the most compelling app experiences available in a mobile computing device today,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion. “The upcoming addition of BlackBerry Java and Android apps for the BlackBerry PlayBook on BlackBerry App World will provide our users with an even greater choice of apps and will also showcase the versatility of the platform.”
Developers currently building for the BlackBerry or Android platforms will be able to quickly and easily port their apps to run on the BlackBerry Tablet OS thanks to a high degree of API compatibility. The new optional app players will be available for download from BlackBerry App World and will be placed in a secure “sandbox” on the BlackBerry PlayBook where the BlackBerry Java or Android apps can be run.
Developers will simply repackage, code sign and submit their BlackBerry Java and Android apps to BlackBerry App World. Once approved, the apps will be distributed through BlackBerry App World, providing a new opportunity for many developers to reach BlackBerry PlayBook users. Users will be able to download both the app players and the BlackBerry Java and Android apps from BlackBerry App World.
The BlackBerry PlayBook and BlackBerry Tablet OS are built on the QNX Neutrino microkernel architecture with a 1GHz dual core processor and a leading OpenGL solution, which allows RIM to make this incredibly broad platform support possible.
BlackBerry PlayBook users and developers who are interested in seeing the new app players for BlackBerry Java and Android apps can see demos at BlackBerry World in Orlando, Florida (May 3 to 5, 2011) (www.blackberryworld.com).
BlackBerry Tablet OS Development Tools
The BlackBerry Tablet OS already supports an incredibly robust platform with support for Web development standard HTML5, through the BlackBerry WebWorks™ SDK for Tablet OS, and Adobe AIR, through the BlackBerry Tablet OS SDK for Adobe AIR. The BlackBerry Tablet OS is built from the ground up to run WebKit and Adobe Flash as well, giving developers a fast and true Web experience to leverage.
RIM is also announcing today that the BlackBerry Tablet OS Native Development Kit (NDK), which is currently in limited alpha release, will go into open Beta by this summer and be demonstrated at BlackBerry World. The BlackBerry Tablet OS NDK will allow developers to build high-performance, multi-threaded, native C/C++ applications with industry standard GNU toolchains. Developers can create advanced 2D and 3D applications and special effects by leveraging programmable shaders available in hardware-accelerated OpenGL ES 2.0.
Other features of the BlackBerry Tablet OS NDK will allow developers to:
Take advantage of the QNX POSIX library support and C/C++ compliance for quick and easy application porting and for creating native extensions for both BlackBerry and Android applications
Easily integrate device events like gesture swipes and touch screen inputs
Integrate the BlackBerry Tablet OS environment into existing code management and build systems using industry standard Eclipse CDT (C/C++ Development Tools)
Leverage work done in standard C/C++ to make it easier to bring applications to the BlackBerry Tablet OS
Find and fix bugs quickly with provided debug and analysis tools
“The response to the BlackBerry PlayBook from the developer community has been exceptional. Our commitment to supporting HTML5 and Adobe AIR development has resonated and spurred developers to create fun and innovative applications for BlackBerry PlayBook users,” said David Yach, Chief Technology Officer, Software at Research In Motion. “The upcoming BlackBerry Tablet OS NDK beta will add C/C++ tools to our repertoire and gives developers one of the broadest and deepest platforms to develop on.”
Gaming Engines
Building on the power of the BlackBerry Tablet OS NDK, RIM is working with leading gaming and application development technology providers such as Ideaworks Labs and Unity Technologies to implement their native engines and application development platforms. Developers will be able to take advantage of these engines when building games and other applications for the BlackBerry PlayBook.
The Ideaworks Labs Airplay SDK is expected to include support for the BlackBerry Tablet OS soon, making it easy for publishers and developers to use their existing code to bring their games and apps to the BlackBerry PlayBook.
"Supporting a new OS can be a challenge for developers," says Alex Caccia, President of Ideaworks Labs, "however, integration of the BlackBerry Tablet OS with the Airplay SDK makes this a non-issue. We think this is a far-sighted move by RIM: the BlackBerry PlayBook is a great device for games and applications, and combining this with content distribution via BlackBerry App World brings an exciting new ecosystem for developers."
RIM has also been working closely with Unity Technologies, providers of the highly popular, multi-platform Unity development platform and Union, the firm’s games distribution service. Through Union, dozens of high-quality Unity-authored games are slated to make their way to BlackBerry App World for the BlackBerry Playbook.
“With a sharp focus on the multimedia experience, very powerful hardware, and fantastic games in the pipeline, the BlackBerry Playbook has all the right ingredients to be a mainstream hit,” said Brett Seyler, GM of Union at Unity Technologies. “Through Union, Unity developers have an opportunity to reach a new audience and grow with another great new platform.”
Availability
The new app players for the BlackBerry PlayBook are expected to be available from BlackBerry App World this summer. More information and demonstrations of the new app players will be shared at BlackBerry World. The BlackBerry Tablet OS NDK will be available in beta later this year and will also be showcased at BlackBerry World.
Discussion about
Boom, RIM is adding Android to the PlayBook!
Native development was DOA already. The feedback from developers was brutal.
The answer to that seems to be "yes".
RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie:
"At the end of the day, people are going to want performance. You're just not going to get things like gaming and multimedia, you're not going to get the speed going through a VM interface. If you want content, or Flash type stuff, or you're looking at AIR-type, evolving web-type assets, that's what you're going to do."
The "VM interface" he's referring to is the Android VM layer they just announced.
www.businessinsider.com/rim-ceo-playbook-android-2...
RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie:
"At the end of the day, people are going to want performance. You're just not going to get things like gaming and multimedia, you're not going to get the speed going through a VM interface. If you want content, or Flash type stuff, or you're looking at AIR-type, evolving web-type assets, that's what you're going to do."
The "VM interface" he's referring to is the Android VM layer they just announced.
www.businessinsider.com/rim-ceo-playbook-android-2...
It's going to be interesting to see how they backport in new APIs that Google releases.
The more we learn about this device. The less sense it makes.
It's supposed to be a business tablet. But with a screen too small for standard business documents, and shown running games at every opportunity.
It's based on QNX, but a lack of native development has seen RIM shoehorn in Android apps to claim a large catalog. But these are Android phone apps, not native tablet apps and not designed for the screen size.
In short, this device makes as much sense as one of Jim Balsillie's business statements. I think regular consumers are going to be confused by the PlayBook and we will see less than a million units sold.
C.
It's supposed to be a business tablet. But with a screen too small for standard business documents, and shown running games at every opportunity.
It's based on QNX, but a lack of native development has seen RIM shoehorn in Android apps to claim a large catalog. But these are Android phone apps, not native tablet apps and not designed for the screen size.
In short, this device makes as much sense as one of Jim Balsillie's business statements. I think regular consumers are going to be confused by the PlayBook and we will see less than a million units sold.
C.
sounds like a serious win for the playbook... they get all the blackberry features their fans wanted and all android has to offer for free... it gets them a huge amount of apps right away since the blackberry app store was a joke anyway...
I do wonder about the lag issue brought up before... will it be able to keep up with the other tablets out there?
I do wonder about the lag issue brought up before... will it be able to keep up with the other tablets out there?
I agree with you. I am interested to see if there is any speed issues with the "Virtulization" they are using. In the long run though, it probably doesn't matter that much. Most users of the playbook will be BB users already and the Android app support is a through in for them. When they start to target the larger market segment outside of business professionals. This may become more of an issue.
I does however give them time to smooth any issues out.
I does however give them time to smooth any issues out.
I'm not to privy to the technical details, but Blackberry excels in security which is built into the platform. This is one of the major reasons why Blackberry is so popular at large companies. You won't see too many Android or even iPhones at enterprise companies, but if you do, they don't have complete access to intranet sites or internal applications. For Blackberry to give up their enterprise customers by moving to Android would be a major loss in business.
"Blackberry excels in security which is built into the platform." this is sadly no longer true at the present.
Pwn2Own contest held this year on March 9 to 11th, 2011 proves it. See tech.guide101.net/blog/2011/03/pwn2own-hacking-con...
iPhone 4 and BlackBerry Torch 9800 running on BlackBerry OS 6.0.0.246, were hacked.
While Android and WP7 were not. Though it is obvious why WP7 wasn't hacked. WP7 is quite new, and Geohotz who was challenger for WP7 did not show up on the scene, probably due to his case with Sony PS3 hacking. It was a bit of a surprise that Android was not hacked.
Pwn2Own contest held this year on March 9 to 11th, 2011 proves it. See tech.guide101.net/blog/2011/03/pwn2own-hacking-con...
iPhone 4 and BlackBerry Torch 9800 running on BlackBerry OS 6.0.0.246, were hacked.
While Android and WP7 were not. Though it is obvious why WP7 wasn't hacked. WP7 is quite new, and Geohotz who was challenger for WP7 did not show up on the scene, probably due to his case with Sony PS3 hacking. It was a bit of a surprise that Android was not hacked.
I mean thats my point exactly, they could build their security layer on top of Android. Im not sure if thats is possible but if it is then that would be the most logical step to take. The only disadvantage I see there is that they would have to keep up with Google's fast-paced releases (relative to RIM software updates).
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