For awhile now there have been rumors that RIM is working on a way to make Android apps run on the BlackBerry PlayBook. That rumor just got stoked again by Business Week with more detailed information about RIM’s plans. Business Week claims that “Three people familiar with the matter” said that RIM is definitely working on running Android apps on the PlayBook giving them access to the 130,000+ available Android apps. According to these sources “who asked not to be identified” RIM first tried outsourcing the effort but is now developing the solution internally. According to two of those “familiar” people the solution might even be ready by the second quarter of this year.
The other interesting twist was that while RIM was considering using Androids version of Java called Dalvik they decided against it due to the ongoing patent issues with Oracle and Google. While this may break how many applications with internal native API calls work it would still allow 90% of games and apps to work like a charm or with a little tweaking. It seems like RIM is taking a shotguns style approach to getting developers on the PlayBook. Shoot out a bunch of options and see what sticks. 🙂
Kind of a cool idea. Anybody else hoping it comes to fruition?
Terrence T ( View Profile) - Posts: