RIM has announced that its upcoming Tablet, the BlackBerry Playbook will support apps designed for Android 2.3 handsets and older BlackBerry OS and Java Apps. This would be made possible using two optional application environments that RIM would release. Although this might sound simple, things aren’t actually as plain as simply going to the Android Market from the Playbook to install apps. Instead, in order for an Android app to arrive on the Playbook, it would need to be recompiled by the developer of the app to work with RIM’s compatibility API that will enable the port. Once the compilation is done, it would be submitted to RIM’s own BlackBerry App World from where it would be downloadable by users
While all this might sound complicated, we think this might just be a smart move by RIM to give the Playbook a shot in the arm when it comes to sheer apps availability. If most developers decide to support the Playbook’s App emulation API, the number of apps available across all the supported platforms (Java, Android and RIM’s own) would total almost 200,000! This without RIM having to set up its own eco system.
RIM would also allow developers to code directly for the Playbook’s QNX platform should they feel necessary to do that. They will be releasing a new SDK that would allow native support for Ideaworks Labs and Unity Technologies’ platforms as well.
That said, with almost six months gone since the announcement of the Playbook, we are yet to see the product ship. With a barrage of new tablets arriving post its announcements, the BlackBerry PlayBook is likely to underwhelm most users – but if RIM’s app porting plans works well, the battle might just get a bit interesting.
If you were not considering looking at the Playbook until now, has this move unsettled your plans to home in on your next tablet?
