Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cybersecurity
    • Mobile
    • PC Hardware

    RIM Introduces BBX Operating System for BlackBerry Devices

    By
    Nicholas Kolakowski
    -
    October 18, 2011
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Research In Motion didn’t whip back the curtain entirely from the QNX-based operating system it expects will put its BlackBerry smartphones on a more competitive footing with the likes of Apple’s iPhone and Google Android, but RIM did offer some details of that BBX platform at its BlackBerry DevCon Americas conference in San Francisco.

      BBX will power both BlackBerry smartphones and tablets, and support the company’s cloud services. Although the operating system represents a refresh for RIM, having been built from the ground up, the company is taking pains to link it with previous work: BBX will apparently “support applications developed using any of the tools available today for the BlackBerry PlayBook,” according to an Oct. 18 statement released by the company, “including native SDK, Adobe AIR/Flash and WebWorks/HTML5, as well as the BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps.”

      A variation of QNX already powers RIM’s PlayBook tablet, for which the company introduced the developer beta of its Blackberry PlayBook OS 2.0. That beta offers developers the ability to port Android applications onto the tablets, a strategic move that carries some risks for RIM: While it could increase the popularity of the platform, by vastly expanding the ecosystem of available applications, it also risks alienating those developers who poured so much time and effort into developing BlackBerry applications.

      RIM offered precious few details about BlackBerry BBX’s user interface or release date. This stands in sharp contrast to some other recent conferences, such as Microsoft’s BUILD, which accompanied a detailed drill-down into an upcoming platform (in Microsoft’s case, Windows 8) with the unveiling of hardware loaded with same.

      “At DevCon today, we’re giving developers the tools they need to build richer applications,” Mike Lazaridis, president and co-CEO of RIM, wrote in an Oct. 18 statement tethered to the conference, “and we’re providing direction on how to best develop their smartphone and tablet apps as the BlackBerry and QNX platforms converge into our next-generation BBX platform.”

      RIM also introduced a Native SDK for the BlackBerry PlayBook (1.0 gold release), which gives developers the ability to “build high-performance, multi-threaded, native C/C++ applications, and enables developers to create advanced 2D and 3D games and other apps with access to OpenGL ES 2.0 and Open AL.” Applications developed via that Native SDK are apparently forward-compatible with tablets and smartphones running BBX.

      In addition, RIM is pushing BlackBerry WebWorks SDK 2.2 for smartphones and tablets, for building HTML5 applications with native capabilities, and Open Source libraries for the PlayBook platform.

      RIM is betting big that its new generation of BBX products will allow it to compete against the Apple iPhone and Google Android, which have swallowed up enormous chunks of the mobility market and even threatened BlackBerry’s traditional standing among enterprise customers. Until those devices reach store shelves, though, RIM is depending on a refreshed line of BlackBerry smartphones running BlackBerry 7 OS to help it retain market share.

      Follow Nicholas Kolakowski on Twitter

      Avatar
      Nicholas Kolakowski
      Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×