The RIM Playbook Will Run Android Apps

[Craig Horlacher]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.mediabistro.com/thinkmobile/rim-confirms-android-app-support-on-playbook_b11976?c=rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter' target='_blank'>http://www.mediabistro.com/thinkmob..._medium=twitter</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"After some speculation, RIM has formally announced that their tablet, the Blackberry Playbook, will run Android apps. The inclusion of support for Android apps is huge because it means RIM&rsquo;s new tablet will ship with the ability to run hundreds of thousands of apps."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/adt/auto/1301155873.usr309.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>Now if you follow the "read" link for all the info you'll see that what it actually will do is run RIM approved apps within an Android "app player" of some kind.&nbsp; This also means you will not have direct access to the Android Market.&nbsp; Android developers that want their app to be available for the Playbook will need to do some work to repackage their app, submit it to the BlackBerry App World, and wait for approval.&nbsp; I think it's smart for RIM to do this but only time will tell if developers will do the work needed to make their app available for the Playbook.&nbsp; I think a lot of eyes will be on the Playbook as well as the HP Touchpad (running WebOS) as so many people have been disappointed by current Android offerings.&nbsp; Also, I know I'm not the only one who thinks iOS is terrible on a phone and even worse on a tablet.&nbsp; The Playbook has some great hardware with 1GB of RAM, dual core processor, 3MP front camera, and 5MP rear camera.&nbsp; It does have a 7" screen which some people may think it too small, for me I think the 10" would be too big.&nbsp; The question is will it work well and will people buy it?&nbsp; What do you think?</p>

[Michael Knutson]

I love the concept of the PlayBook potentially being able to run Android apps ... even in a player environment, as QNX is FAST (think vmware player, etc;) ! I think that the key will be whether developers can make money porting their apps - if they're freebies, it's probably not worth the effort. I'm eager to get my hands on a smaller tablet, as a mobile phone screen is a bit too small for my aging eyes, and a larger screen is just not portable enough. I'm still eyeing the Dell Streak 5" and 7" models, if they can easily be upgraded ... I'm not (yet) Android-savvy, so this'll be a good learning experience ...

[Craig Horlacher]

That's a great point that this will let devs get their apps into a new market, with the potential for additional sales! It doesn't sound like it will take them much effort so maybe the additional sales will be enough to entice them.

[WyattEarp]

The PlayBook and WebOS tablets look very promising. Although, the PlayBook has stolen UI elements from both iOS, WebOS and even a little from Android. So I don't know why you think iOS is so terrible as it seems to work quite well for a whole lot of people. Anyway RIM needs to focus on their own OS and SDK before they start watering it down in this way. If devs get to comfortable with just porting their software via an easier method QNX will have no legs to stand on by itself except to say "we also run Androids apps" which still isn't entirely true if it has to to be put in some type of QNX "wrapper" to work. In any case time will tell how this works out for RIM.