3/24/2011

BlackBerry PlayBook to support BlackBerry Java, Android apps, and native C/C++

This just in: Research In Motion (RIM) has announced plans to greatly expand the application ecosystem for the BlackBerry PlayBook.

According to the press release, the company will launch two optional “app players” that provide a runtime environment for BlackBerry Java apps and Android v2.3 apps. These new app players will let users download BlackBerry Java apps and Android apps from BlackBerry App World and run them on their BlackBerry PlayBook.

Also, RIM will soon release the native SDK for the BlackBerry PlayBook, enabling C/C++ application development on the BlackBerry® Tablet OS. For game-specific developers, RIM states 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.

All this is in addition to the PlayBook's existing support for HTML5, Flash and AIR.

I'm barely scratching the surface of the announcement. Read the full version here.
 

6 comments:

Ben said...

This is really great news. I just saw that RIM will be releasing an NDK for the PlayBook as well. Do you think this NDK will allow USB host capability? I love how the PlayBook is really picking up steam. Awesome!

Paul N. Leroux said...

Good question, Ben! Unfortunately I don't have a good answer. ;-) I'm guessing, though, that you could find out on the BlackBerry Developer Forums.

- Paul

Unknown said...

Hey Paul and Ben

USB On the Go will eventually be enabled...just not at launch.

http://crackberry.com/usb-go-support-blackberry-playbook-coming-post-launch-and-more

:)

Cheers,
Ryan

Paul N. Leroux said...

Thanks Ryan!

- Paul

Beta said...

Now a growing number of so many applications that can run on the BlackBerry Java.

SHYAM said...
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