Posted in: Mobile computers

RIM adds Android apps support to the BlackBerry PlayBook, makes it look like a winner

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The BlackBerry PlayBook just got a whole lot hotter. The tablet was already looking like a pretty sweet deal with its incredibly user-friendly UI and the serious stuff that was going on under its hood, but the lack of apps looked like it might hold it back.

With Android and iOS already in the hundreds of thousands, the PlayBook looked doomed to be relegated to the role of an also-ran. Fortunately, RIM seems to have found a cure to this issue, making its tablet look like a winner from the very beginning. Apparently, the slate will be supporting native BlackBerry and Android apps, giving it an easy access to the goodies offered by developers in both App markets.

Now this doesn’t mean you will be able to simply transfer the APK files to your PlayBook and launch them immediately. Developers will still need to repackage and code sign their apps, but that should be as easy as it gets thanks to the high degree of API compatibility between Android and QNX.

So, basically, what RIM did is to greatly facilitate the porting process of Android apps to the PlayBook platform. We are really hoping that developers will take advantage of that and all worthy apps will quickly find their way to the BlackBerry App World.

This is the exact kind of good news RIM investors needed since the announced lowered earnings forecast yesterday sent the company shares plummeting. The RIM stocks are down over 12 percent in pre-market trading.

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