14 DAY TRIAL // Yesterday, Canadian mobile phone maker Research In Motion hosted a webcast for developers interested in the building of applications for the company's new BlackBerry PlayBook device, and unveiled a nice range of details regarding the process.
This was only the first webcast from a series that should spread over the a period of five weeks, aimed at providing even more insights regarding the development process for apps aimed at the new tablet PC.
Some of the main details that were unveiled in the said webcast include the fact that RIM plans on opening the PlayBook app submission within two weeks.
At the same time, we should expect for the company to unveil specific info on the free PlayBook devices it promised to developers when app submission is opened, the guys over at BlackBerry Cool report.
According to them, the slate is expected to land on shelves with a series of cool gestures for switching apps or displaying device information.
Currently, the tablet PC supports only the development of applications based on Adobe AIR, but the environment should be expanded in the future. It appears that RIM also aims at enabling the development of PlayBook apps in Java and WebWorks.
Other details unveiled during the webcast include:
- Currently, there is no support for app splash screens but RIM will include it if there are enough devs asking for it. - Not a lot of information available on GPS and location support but this will be explained in future webcasts. - The PlayBook will have capabilities that the BlackBerry doesn’t. - The AIR SDK can leverage both front and rear facing cameras. - Theme Builder is not in the plans for the initial release but they’ll consider it if there is enough positive feedback.
One other aspect that should be mentioned here is that the deployment over the BlackBerry Enterprise Service was not finalized.
“The first version is a WiFi only version so no direct connection with BES but there will be tethering,” BlackBerry Cool reports.