RIM merges phone and tablet operating systems

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 19 October 2011 09:21

IT Industry - Strategy

Research In Motion has unveiled a new platform for BlackBerry devices, BlackBerry BBX, claiming that it takes the best of the BlackBerry platform and the best of the QNX platform that underpins its Playbook tablet.

RIM also announced a series of developer tool updates, including WebWorks for BlackBerry smartphones and tablets, the Native SDK for the BlackBerry PlayBook and a developer beta of BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 with support for running Android applications. RIM also provided direction for developers on how to best develop and monetise their BlackBerry applications.

According to RIM, "The BBX platform will include BBX-OS, and will support BlackBerry cloud services and development environments for both HTML5 and native developers. BBX will also support applications developed using any of the tools available today for the BlackBerry PlayBook - including Native SDK, Adobe AIR/Flash and WebWorks/HTML5, as well as the BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps - on future BBX-based tablets and smartphones."

BBX will also include the new BlackBerry Cascades user interface framework for advanced graphics (shown yesterday for the first time in the US at the BlackBerry DevCon Americas 2011 event) and "bring 'Super App' capabilities to enable many advanced capabilities including deep integration between apps, always-on Push services, the BBM Social Platform, and much more," RIM says.

BlackBerry WebWorks will enable developers to monetise apps on both existing smartphones (running BlackBerry 6 and BlackBerry 7 OS) and BlackBerry PlayBook tablets. It supports apps built on HTML5, CSS and JavaScript. The latest release, BlackBerry WebWorks SDK 2.2 (supporting both smartphones and tablets), is now available and includes updates for the new PlayBook OS SDK, PlayBook Simulator.

The BlackBerry WebWorks APIs are supported by the Ripple Emulator, billed as "a standalone, high-fidelity browser-like emulation tool that allows developers to test and debug their applications on multiple platforms and devices without having to compile or launch simulators." It is available in beta.

The launch of BBX is a major development for the troubled company, but may not solve its problems. In a review of the company last month Canada base analyst, Kris Thompson of National Bank Financial said: "The company is expected to display prototypes of its QNX SuperPhone at DEVCON in San Francisco. We can see two scenarios unfolding.

"One, the SuperPhone is fantastic, which translates into lower BB7 demand (as many consumers await the SuperPhone) and another period of inflated inventory levels. Then if the product launch slips, the stock suffers from another transition period. Two, the prototype reveals software bugs or a lack of hardware innovation, translating to renewed negative sentiment and lowered consensus estimates. For now we'd suggest investors stay away from this stock."

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