As a web developer I have been keeping a close eye on RIM’s BlackBerry WebWorks platform. When it first launched it seemed like RIM was just trying to cash in on the “Widget” craze without really investing time and effort into the platform for the smartphone. That feeling is going away since the PlayBook showed that WebWorks will be the main platform for cross tablet/smartphone development for BlackBerry. The WebWorks team has been doing an awesome job of embracing open source with some solid developments like allowing code contributions.
Tim Neil from RIM pointed out to me that RIM actually has a roadmap for both the PlayBook and Smartphone WebWorks platform. I know they plan on combining the two platforms at one point in time but for now they are developed separately. The most important move I see them making is moving extracting the on device JavaScript API’s from the OS so that they can be upgraded without upgrading the OS. They are also optimizing trackpad navigation and other updates in March. OS 6.1 support and NTLM/Basic authentication is coming in release 2.1.0 at some time. The WebWorks platform for the PlayBook will mainly be getting a bug fix update in v1.0.0.x Beta 3 in early March (now?) along with additional loading screen support.
These are key developments for the WebWorks platform. Check out the full list at the links below:
Anybody else loving the fact that RIM has an active Github project?
altaera ( View Profile) - Posts: