DJs
RIM's annual DevCon is underway and during the keynote speech by co-CEO Mike Lazaridis a new operating system named BBX was announced.
BBX is the name given to RIM's QNX based OS and will power future phones and tablets under the BlackBerry brand. Since BBX uses the same source code as BlackBerry OS 6 and OS 7, HTML apps that were built for the older operating systems will work on BBX. The UI is said to be based on the Cascades framework developed by the Amazing Tribe.
RIM has also announced a new developer beta for the BlackBerry PlayBook that takes the software to version 2.0. This update also includes the BlackBerry runtime for Android apps which allows developers to make Android apps compatible with RIM devices. Developers can either add a BlackBerry plugin or use the BlackBerry packager on their apps to make it work on BBX.
Another update has been made to the BlackBerry App World which now has a separate 'Work' tab which is aimed at corporate users who are a big part of the BlackBerry clientele.
RIM announces BBX OS for smartphones and tablets
BBX is the name given to RIM's QNX based OS and will power future phones and tablets under the BlackBerry brand. Since BBX uses the same source code as BlackBerry OS 6 and OS 7, HTML apps that were built for the older operating systems will work on BBX. The UI is said to be based on the Cascades framework developed by the Amazing Tribe.
RIM has also announced a new developer beta for the BlackBerry PlayBook that takes the software to version 2.0. This update also includes the BlackBerry runtime for Android apps which allows developers to make Android apps compatible with RIM devices. Developers can either add a BlackBerry plugin or use the BlackBerry packager on their apps to make it work on BBX.
Another update has been made to the BlackBerry App World which now has a separate 'Work' tab which is aimed at corporate users who are a big part of the BlackBerry clientele.
DJs
BlackBerry's first DevCon Asia took place from the 13th to the 14th of January 2011 at Bali Indonesia. This event hosted the announcement of BlackBerry OS 6.1 which was presented during the keynote at the opening day.
BlackBerry OS 6.1 has the following features:
BlackBerry OS 6.1 announced
BlackBerry's first DevCon Asia took place from the 13th to the 14th of January 2011 at Bali Indonesia. This event hosted the announcement of BlackBerry OS 6.1 which was presented during the keynote at the opening day.Version 6.1 is said to build on Blackberry OS 6 and introduce some new features for developers to take advantage of.
BlackBerry OS 6.1 has the following features:
- Magnetometer / Digital Compass APIs
- Open GL-ES 2.0
- Window API
- Event Based Geo-fencing location APIs
- Enhancements to barcode APIs for additional formats and custom decoding.
The developer tools will soon be available at BlackBerry's developer site allowing developers to prepare for the release of BlackBerry OS 6.1 in the coming months.
It was expected that the future BlackBerry smartphones will be powered by the QNX based platform that is available on the BlackBerry PlayBook, but looks that future is still some time away as RIM continues to work on updating it's BlackBerry OS platform.