RIM’s been hyping AIR apps and web apps for the PlayBook for a while now, but there’s a chance much bigger things are in the works: BGR says the company wants to add in Java compatibility for legacy BlackBerry apps, and that among other options it’s considering using the Dalvik virtual machine found in Android to get there. That makes a lot of sense — Dalvik is one of the most advanced Java(ish) virtual machines out there, and it’s open-source, so RIM could conceivably take it and tweak it to work with existing BlackBerry apps, which are built in Java. Clever, clever.
But that’s not all: BGR goes on to speculate that using Dalvik will also allow the PlayBook and future QNX devices to straight-up run regular Android apps, which is obviously a much bigger deal than simply using the same virtual machine. Exactly how or why BGR’s making that leap is unclear, since running Android apps on the PlayBook would require porting much more than just Dalvik, but it’s out there. In fact, it’s been out there since December 7, when Fortunepicked up a note from Gleacher & Company analyst Mark McKechnie suggesting that RIM was planning to offer Android compatibility, so we’re curious if this rumor’s just taking another trip through the internet meat grinder. Honestly, our bet is that RIM is far too proud to offer Android compatibility and that it’s just investigating Dalvik as a Java environment, but we’d love to be proven wrong — we’ll see what happens.
Details on the new Blackberry Messenger 6 may just have been leaked from an Indonesian source KomBB. This BBM6 social platform style direction that RIM is heading is very exciting since they’ve been nothing but business for so long. Gamematchi is reportedly developing games for the new BBM6 platform.
Here are some of the features rumored:
- The ability to play games and use your BBM user name as your gamer name
- Cross chats between users over BBM
- When tasks are completed in these new games, user statuses will change to show the completed task
- BBM6 groups will be able to handle more members
- BBM6 will be supported on all devices running OS 5+
RIM seems to be working hard to show that they too can have some fun and aren’t all business. Improvements in their phone processors and graphics cards for 2011 also indicates their aim to better support gaming.
As odd rumors go, RIM engineering the BlackBerry PlayBook so that it can run Android apps sounds pretty far fetched, but that’s today’s mystery. According to “multiple trusted sources” speaking to BGR, RIM is considering using the Dalvik Java virtual machine, as used by Android, and potentially opening the door to the PlayBook and other QNX-based devices to run Android code.
RIM needs a Java VM so as to provide legacy support for QNX-based devices like the PlayBook, such as custom apps which corporations might have deployed and don’t want to – or can’t – recreate as a native version. Official access to Android apps would be another thing, however; that would require RIM working with Google to certify its platform in some way, so as to provide official support to the Android Market.
That sort of agreement would likely work in RIM’s favor, but whether it’s something Google would be amenable to remains to be seen. Still, as we saw in our own hands-on time with the PlayBook, there’s a lot to like about the BlackBerry slate, and Android support would be icing on the cake.
RIM and its partner carriers have been promising BlackBerry 6 updates for a number of recent models, and Verizon’s getting a couple of the heavyweights out of the way today with the introduction of official upgrade packages for the Bold 9650 and Curve 3G 9330. In addition to universal search and an overall streamlined UI, one of the most important improvements here is the addition of RIM’s WebKit-based browser that makes hitting your favorite pages moderately less painful than before. Look for the update to become available at 8:00PM Eastern this evening, both online (see the Source links for instructions) and over-the-air.
If you’re champing at the bit to separate your work life and personal life into two distinct, impenetrable entities, RIM’s got your back: it turns out that the Balance product announced a few days ago will be available in just a couple months’ time. In a recent chat with Retuers, the company’s senior VP of business and platform marketing revealed that Balance is already in testing with carriers ahead of a wide-scale launch — and furthermore, it’ll be available on the upcoming PlayBook as well. As a refresher, Balance seeks to let you do all your personal stuff on your BlackBerry while still giving the IT suits in your office unfettered access to the secure stuff — corporate email and the like — which means you can carry a single device (as long as you’re okay with that one device being a BlackBerry) where you might have previously carried two. Of course, if you’ve got a phone and a PlayBook, we suppose you’ll have two devices anyhow — but regardless, at least you’ll be able to Facebook your face off without corporate security getting in the way.
While we wait for the PlayBook to released in its WiFi- and WiMAX-equipped forms over the next few months, RIM’s taking every opportunity it can to talk about the platform — and the latest comes from an interview between FierceDeveloper and the company’s veep of developer relations, Tyler Lessard, who played a prominent role at BlackBerry DevCon ’10 a while back where the PlayBook was first announced. When asked about RIM’s decision to partner up with Sprint and deliver a WiMAX version first before looking at bigger carriers with more broadly-used technologies, Lessard says that they “were really excited about was Sprint’s interest and excitement in coming to the table and working with us on a product like that” — which we take as code for either “they paid us the most” or “no one else bit.” Either way, interesting verbiage to say the least — though he does say that there are other versions in the pipe.
On App World, Lessard notes that BlackBerry’s third-party app platform has taken in some 5,000 apps in the last couple months alone — not a big number, necessarily, until you consider that they’re only up to 17,000 total, so they’re definitely seeing some nice growth percentages there. Turning the attention to the perennial question of when QNX will come to smartphones, he basically echoes a sentiment first shared by bossman Lazaridis back at D: Dive Into Mobile: dual-core processors are key, so the new platform won’t filter down until the hardware gets beefier. He says that “we really want to make sure we don’t back-step from that and offer a degraded experience because hardware is not ready or the performance isn’t there,” which is arguably odd wording considering that BlackBerry 6 is already well behind the curve — how much worse could QNX on a single-core 1GHz-plus processor really be?
Expanding a trial that had already been underway in a few markets, Starbucks is now rolling out its Starbucks Card mobile app nationally with payment capability built-in, meaning you needn’t reach into your wallet, pocketbook, or purse just because you’re jonesing for that midday caffeine fix. Instead, you can fire up the app — which supports the iPhone, iPod touch, and a number of BlackBerry models — and hold up a barcode on the screen to a scanner in the store, at which point monies will be automagically deducted from your Starbucks Card account and transferred back to the mothership in exchange for high-octane brew. The circle of life, as it were. Follow the break for the full press release.
As far as tablets go, not many of them have been designed to be an out-right extension of a smaller device, like a smartphone. Many manufacturers have brought them to market to stand as their own device, unhindered by the necessity of being tethered to another device to have primary functions. For the BlackBerry PlayBook, the first tablet device from Research In Motion (RIM), one of the major complaints about the device is the requirement that it be connected to a BlackBerry smartphone for some features to function.
RIM designed the PlayBook so that some PIM-related features, like the use of the Calendar, Contacts, and Memos applications can’t be done without being tethered to a BlackBerry device in one fashion or another. Whether it be wired or wireless. It’s taken further by the fact that the PlayBook won’t be able to send corporate email from the native email application on the tablet device without being connected to a BlackBerry smartphone either.
Despite these things that some may call a glaring issue, RIM’s Senior Product Manager in charge of the PlayBook, Ryan Bidan, says that the tablet “is a great standalone tablet.” He goes on to add that “this is not a device that’s reliant on a BlackBerry.” However, what Bidan does not say, is anything about the specific complaints from potential customers regarding the PIM-related features, and the necessity to be connected to a BlackBerry smartphone to access them. Instead, Bidan takes a broad approach, and teases that having PIM functions without needing to be tethered to a BlackBerry smartphone “will come as the platform evolves.” No date provided, but at least it’s coming eventually.
We got some hands-on time with the device at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, so check out the video below, and head through this link to read what we thought of the initial preview.
RIM has apparently agreed to filter pornographic content access from Indonesian BlackBerry users, after the country’s government threatened to revoke the company’s license. According to the AP, Indonesian government officials say RIM has promised a filtering system will be in place before the end of the week; they also claim that the Canadian company has agreed to set up servers in the country, so as to make security access to user data more straightforward.
RIM had previously been given a deadline of January 21, along with other telecoms companies operating in Indonesia, to enact a porn ban, but the new deadline will see them come in ahead of schedule. The company itself is yet to publicly comment on the report; as we’ve seen in the past, it’s not unheard of for governments to seemingly misinterpret what RIM is promising them.
RIM has hinted at the possibility of more flexible control over non-BlackBerry devices from the company’s servers, making it more straightforward for enterprise clients to manage phones and tablets running Android, iOS and other platforms. VP Pete Devenyi told AllThingsD that RIM had wondered whether there is “the possibility that RIM might extend capabilities to make it easier for those corporations to manage those devices” as an extension of BlackBerry Connect.
“BlackBerry is and will continue to be dominant in most corporations. It’s not going to be the only device, given the fact that consumers have the choice to bring in their own devices, and IT departments are often letting them in. So there’s a question there. Do those corporations have to manage those devices differently or is there the possibility that RIM might extend capabilities to make it easier for those corporations to manage those devices as well” Pete Devenyi, Vice President, RIM
BlackBerry Connect already allows control of some non-RIM devices via the servers, but requires those devices to communicate using BlackBerry protocols. A more complex setup as Devenyi is describing, he claims, would be “done differently” since it would not use those RIM protocols.
“It is not something that we would say is never going to happen. If enough of our customers really want us to do it, we know that BlackBerry management is far and away the best management console in the world, and if the right thing to do is to extend a subset of those capabilities to be able to manage other devices, it’s worthy of a conversation.”
The hint does not mean that RIM is necessarily planning to bring coveted services like BlackBerry Messenger to rival platforms, however, and such a move would seem unlikely as it would potentially rob the company of a significant differentiator. Instead, it would more likely mean that enterprise-friendly functionality such as remote-wipe and tracking could be more easily implemented across a range of devices.
