RIM posts BlackBerry PlayBook SDK, simulator for Mac and PC
updated 01:45 pm EDT, Mon October 25, 2010
BlackBerry PlayBook gets SDK and simulator
RIM today posted the first SDK and emulators for its upcoming BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. The kits let both Macs and Windows PCs write apps in BlackBerry Tablet OS' preferred Adobe AIR format and gives a disk image that can run in VMware and possibly other virtual machines. The release gives developers an early opportunity to design ahead of BlackBerry App World submissions and the PlayBook's early 2011 launch.
Electronista has tried the SDK, but so far it remains a virtually empty template with just the home screen and largely empty sections for music and settings. The practice isn't uncommon as Apple and others often give barebones emulators without many of the final production apps, since the design is largely a testbed for apps. RIM has promised Flash 10.1 and HTML5 app support in the future.
The OS is based on QNX, a real-time OS often used for in-car stacks and other embedded uses, but may be considered ideal for tablet and eventually smartphone uses due to its low footprint and strong support for media features. Unlike the limited BlackBerry 6 platform, BlackBerry Tablet OS has full support for 3D graphics and should still support full multitasking and the BlackBerry's distinctive security features.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Mar 2009
Hopefully they've learned something
I recently had to do Blackberry development, and it was a horrible experience because RIM supplies individual emulators for every model (and carrier!) of Blackberry ... meaning that in order to test the app properly, I had to download, install and test multiple simulators (instead of say, just a single simulator with different device profiles like Apple or Palm)
I hope they've learned something, and that their new QNX-based platform simulator is better designed. I know there's only one tablet device on the way, but it'd sure suck if the simulators were still device and carrier-dependent for future devices.