Android Apps Available On The PlayBook

As RIM reported strong revenue growth for 2010, it also confirmed that its new PlayBook would support Android apps.AuthorDavid GilbertPublished25th Mar 2011 Share   5 comments     EmailTrustedReviews Newsletters

Remember last month when we told you about reports that Android apps were going to be made available on RIM�s BlackBerry PlayBook? Well the Canadians have confirmed the rumour at yesterday�s revenue call.


The 7in PlayBook, which will launch on April 19 at a cost of $499.99 for the 16GB model, will now be a lot more attractive considering that over 200,000 Android apps could be available on the tablet. RIM announced that in addition to supporting its own SDK, the PlayBook will support apps written for Android 2.3 (presumably Honeycomb compatibility will follow soon) as well as BlackBerry Java. Not content with bringing us this news, RIM added that it would be bringing its AirPlay and Unity 3 games engines to the tablet.


RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis said: �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.� While rumours of this happening have been swirling around for some time, its confirmation will no doubt help boost interest in the PlayBook - expecially considering many people had worried that there would be not enough support in terms of apps.

The news came as RIM announced revenues of $15.2 billion for 2010, helped considerably by sales of BlackBerry smartphones which soared 43 percent in 2010 to 52.3 million units. However, despite the earnings, RIM share prices fell by 10 percent in after-hours trading because of poor expected future earnings for the early part of 2011.

We look forward to seeing how RIM manages to implement this support of Android Apps and if its as �quick and easy� to port the Android apps as RIM say it is, then we would hope that many developers will choose to do so. Will this additional app goodness entice you to stump up the $500 for the PlayBook?

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PlayBook Won't Ship With Native Apps

Email, calendar, contacts and messaging apps will all be missing from the BlackBerry PlayBook when it ships next month.AuthorDavid GilbertPublished30th Mar 2011 Share   14 comments     EmailTrustedReviews Newsletters

It seems as if RIM is doing all it can to mess up what could be one of the best tablets we have yet seen.

Having already failed to have the software developer kit (SDK) finished prior to shipping and only having a WiFi version at launch were bad enough, but RIM is now telling us that the BlackBerry PlayBook will come without native communication and messaging apps that made BlackBerry smartphones so popular. In a leaked FAQ for the PlayBook, the Canadian manufacturer tells us that native calendar, contacts, messaging and email will not be present when early adopters unwrap their new tablets on 19 April, when the device is launching in the States. News last week that Android apps would be supported on the platform was seen as a major coup for RIM, but this latest mis-step will leave many frustrated.


In the FAQ, RIM says that the PlayBook can be securely connected to a BlackBerry smartphone over Bluetooth via the BlackBerry Bridge feature where the native apps on the phone can be displayed on the bigger 7in screen of the tablet. It also helpfully points out that email can be accessed through the PlayBook browser, which was nice of them. However at the end of the FAQ it finally admits the lack of native apps promising they will be coming soon: �In a future software update for the BlackBerry PlayBook, we will also provide native e-mail, calendar, and contact apps for those customers who prefer to have these apps directly on the tablet.�

�Those customers who prefer to have these apps directly on the tablet?� Do they mean everyone then? This could be a major issue for RIM and will leave those people who have been pinning their hopes on the PlayBook being a real iPad competitor, burying their head in their hands. It seems from all the evidence that despite giving Apple well over a year of a head start, RIM has still rushed the PlayBook to market and it will not be all that we hoped it could be when we were seriously impressed at CES in January.

It�s now clear that when RIM CEO Jim Balsillie said that apps were pointless, he really meant it. With the launch of the PlayBook in the UK not for a few months yet, let's hope we will have a fully functioning tablet to play with by then.

Source: CrackBerry.com

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  Related ArticlesBlackBerry PlayBook Hands-On - 8th Jan 2011PlayBook Shows Off The Astonishing Tribe Apps - 18th Feb 20117digital Music Store To Come Pre-Loaded On PlayBook - 9th Mar 2011PlayBook Pricing Revealed - More Than iPad 2 [Updated] - 22nd Mar 2011Android Apps Available On The PlayBook - 25th Mar 2011

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Podcast 37: PlayBook And Amazon Streaming

We look at the "stripped to ship" PlayBook, Amazon's cloud-based streaming service and much more.AuthorCliff JonesPublished2nd Apr 2011 Share   5 comments     EmailTrustedReviews Newsletters

In this week's podcast we look at the stripped down PlayBook, which ships with no native apps, and Amazon's cloud-based music streaming service.

We also discuss the extraordinary offer on Viewsonic's Viewpad 7. In Product Focus we explore the pros and cons of the Zeppelin Air and our Hot Topic this week is the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play and the state of mobile gaming.

Plus we look at products coming in the week ahead and read out the best of you comments from the website.

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