Research in Motion (RIM) on Monday extended its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) peer-to-peer messaging platform with tools allowing it to be integrated into third-party applications.
The BlackBerry Messenger Social Platform, expected to be available in spring 2011, gives developers access to a set of APIs that let them build BBM features such as chat, content sharing and invitations into their applications, RIM said.
For instance, BBM users could use the service to invite a friend to join them in a game, and then chat with one another while the game is being played, according to RIM.
“Access to BBM services from within apps will revolutionise gaming, enhance multimedia experiences, and add a new dimension to location based applications,” said Alan Brenner, RIM senior vice president for the BlackBerry Platform, in a statement.
Brenner noted that BBM currently has more than 28 million users.
Other BBM features users will be able to integrate include contact lists, user profiles, application-specific communities and content transfer, according to RIM.
Also on Monday RIM launched WebWorks, a set of development tools for the development of HTML-based BlackBerry applications.
The open source tools are designed to compete with existing technologies such as JQuery and PhoneGap, but RIM said its offering provides better BlackBerry integration than third-party products.
The platform combines existing BlackBerry web development tools with new tools and services, RIM said.
The goal is to allow developers to quickly create BlackBerry applications using web technologies such as HTML 5, CSS and JavaScript, while still being able to integrate technologies such as multi-tasking and services such as the BlackBerry Advertising Service, also announced on Monday.
“The new BlackBerry WebWorks platform takes the power of existing web tools and enhances and adds to them in order to allow developers to build sophisticated applications using their existing HTML5 skill sets with no compromise in functionality or performance,” said David Yach, RIM’s chief technology officer for software, in a statement.
WebWorks is available immediately from source code hosting site GitHub.
Also this week RIM launched a BlackBerry themed tablet, called PlayBook, to compete with devices such as Apple’s iPad.
In August RIM released the BlackBerry 6 platform, along with developer tools supporting the new platform.
The new tools included a Java software development kit (SDK) v 6.0, which RIM officials said takes advantage of new user interface (UI) features and offers deeper integration with BlackBerry smartphones, access to new and enhanced services, and support for rendering and porting content to the new WebKit-based browser.
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The PlayBook looks like it could be the ideal companion tablet for the millions of corporate Blackberry users tired of iPad envy. With built-in tethering and BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) compatibility, IT won't have the same reservations they have about the iPad (even though there are secure iPad deployment options), plus RIM is probably already on the company approved vendor list.
No doubt the PlayBook will do a good job with email and the browser will work well for browsing, but with the 7" HD display, business users will also want access to all their business apps or even their full Windows 7 work environment. One way to enable that will be the Citrix Receiver for PlayBook, just as 100 million users use Citrix everyday to get virtual apps and desktops delivered to their PC, Mac, thin client or smartphone. The highly regarded Receiver for iPad for example is now one of the top app store business downloads and is used by professionals everywhere to be more productive without the chore of lugging a laptop.
Many reviewers point to the hundreds of thousands of apps available for iOS compared to the few for Playbook's QNX, however when it comes to business apps the difference is not huge especially given that Receiver makes thousands of windows & web business apps available for both platforms. However the PlayBook will need to compete on the merits of usability, speed, battery life and other areas where the iPad excels.
The planned Citrix Receiver for PlayBook will provide a great user experience while making all the company virtual apps and desktops available on-demand anywhere. Windows apps and desktops can run securely on company servers (or the cloud) and the User Interface is delivered to the remote tablet display using the optimised HDX protocol. Gestures and keystrokes are sent securely to the servers and the user gets an experience as if the Windows desktop is running locally on the tablet. PlayBook users will get the freedom to get work done from anywhere with access to any business app they need.