RIM's QNX-Based PlayBook Will Get Android App Player

Research In Motion is developing an Android App Player for its QNX-based PlayBook tablet , and it's expected to be available before the end of summer. A beta version of the player was inadvertently posted on the company's BlackBerry site and has since been removed, RIM confirmed Friday.

However, the 143.28MB sys.android.bar player file was uploaded to several mirror sites around the world. RIM is advising PlayBook users to not download the file.

"We recommend that users refrain from downloading and installing this software since it is outdated and nonfunctional in many respects," a RIM spokesperson said. "The official beta release of the Android App Player for the BlackBerry PlayBook is on track for release later this summer."

Open To Alternatives

RIM's goal is to enable PlayBook users to graze the 250,000 apps at the Android Marketplace. RIM's BlackBerry World is sparsely populated by comparison.

"Supporting the Android ecosystem is an interesting move because it can be interpreted as giving up on building its own ecosystem," noted Al Hilwa, director of applications development software at IDC. "But in reality, using Android as a middle layer shows that they are open for alternative approaches and run an open and welcoming platform."

Still, running Android has to be implemented properly so apps are attractive and usable, Hilwa observed. "I don't believe we have seen exactly how this is going to happen yet," Hilwa said. "If RIM moves ahead with supporting Android apps, it will be one of many things that RIM is doing to improve the PlayBook -- all of which would also pay dividends with its crucial phone OS transition."

RIM is doing the right thing in pushing the developer story even as it tries out new things, Hilwa observed. "RIM has to develop an ecosystem which can generate a critical mass of apps [for] the Playbook as well as their future phones based on the QNX system," Hilwa explained. The problem for RIM is that all the developer oxygen is currently "being sucked up by Apple and Android, with Microsoft tapping its existing .NET base to generate some activity around Windows Phone," Hilwa added.

JayCut Acquisition

RIM acquired JayCut this week to bring the Sweden-based company's online video editor and cloud -based services to the PlayBook, which features dual HD cameras for video capture and video conferencing, HDMI output, and high-resolution video playback, RIM CTO David Yach observed. (continued...)

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