New developer tools, services out for BB Tablet OS, smartphones

BALI, Indonesia — Research In Motion (RIM) has launched here the beta version of the BlackBerry WebWorks SDK for Tablet OS and new services and developer tools for BlackBerry smartphones at the BlackBerry DEVCON Asia.

“RIM continues to invest in a global and diverse developer community and we are offering them a broad range of tools in support of the BlackBerry application platform,” said David Yach, RIM’s CTO for software.

“With BlackBerry Web-Works, developers will be able to use standard Web technologies to build powerful, integrated applications quickly and easily for both BlackBerry smartphones and the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, and the GitHub open source project around BlackBerry WebWorks means more support for developers, enabling them to fully participate in defining the future of this platform and tooling,” Yach said.

“We are also excited to launch the new payment service for BlackBerry smartphones, along with enhancements to the Push Service and an update of the Java Plug-in for Eclipse,” he added.

Based on robust Web standards and drawing on continued collaboration with the open source community, the BlackBerry WebWorks platform will allow Web and mobile developers to use the SDK in combination with their Web development tools of choice to create compelling and deeply integrated applications for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet that also support BlackBerry smartphones running the BlackBerry 6 operating system.

With features that include access to core functionality in the BlackBerry PlayBook, as well as extensibility and robust security, the BlackBerry WebWorks SDK for Tablet OS provides many benefits to developers, including:

• RIM’s powerful WebKit Web rendering engine (which is at the core of Web-Works) supporting the latest Web technology standards, including HTML5, CSS and JavaScript;

• Deep access to device capabilities and components such as native dialogs, application invocation and system information;

• A simple command-line tool that allows developers to use their favorite Web development environment to develop WebWorks applications; and

• The capability to automatically transform a W3C widget archive file containing Web assets into a BlackBerry WebWorks application package.

To provide an opportunity for WebWorks developers to qualify for the previously announced “free BlackBerry PlayBook” offer, RIM is extending the offer to March 15.

Web developers can download the BlackBerry WebWorks SDK for Tablets OS, build BlackBerry PlayBook applications and qualify for a free BlackBerry PlayBook. For more details about the offer, including the terms and conditions, visit www.blackberry.com/developers/blackberryplaybookoffer. Download the SDK at www.blackberry.com/developers/tabletos/webworks.