Less than Two Weeks Until BlackBerry DevCon Europe!

01.27.12

It’s now less than two weeks until BlackBerry® DevCon Europe 2012, running February 7-8 in Amsterdam. We’re extremely excited to announce that BlackBerry DevCon Europe has sold out!

BlackBerry DevCon Europe is the perfect opportunity to gain tips and advice from some of the world’s pioneering minds in development. Hundreds of BlackBerry enthusiasts will come together to collaborate with platform experts from across Europe and beyond. The various breakout and hands-on lab sessions will explore the BlackBerry development platform and best practices, focusing specifically on the following content categories:

  • Java® Development for BlackBerry® 7 OS
  • WebKit and the BlackBerry® WebWorks™ Platform Development
  • BlackBerry® PlayBook™ OS Development, including BlackBerry® Native SDK for Tablet OS, Adobe® AIR® and Adobe® Flash®, and Android® Player
  • BlackBerry Application Platform Services and the BBM™ Social Platform
  • Getting ready for the BlackBerry® 10 Platform
  • Tips and tools to help debug and optimize your apps
  • User interface and user experience tools and best practices
  • Developing quality enterprise applications
  • Marketing and distributing your applications

At BlackBerry DevCon Europe, attendees will also be able to take advantage of App Express to help fast-track their apps by porting their existing Android™ app to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, or transform an existing web application into a full-fledged app for both the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and BlackBerry smartphones (OS 5.0 and up). Also, BlackBerry platform experts will be available in the “Ask the Experts” area to work through issues, and to whiteboard ideas and solutions one-on-one.

We look forward to seeing attendees at our inaugural BlackBerry DevCon event in Europe!

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Code Signing: Past, Present and Future

01.26.12

Hey BlackBerry® devs! Got another guest post for you today – this one from Mark, who’s got some useful info about code signing (what it is and why we do it). Enjoy! – Ed.

There are many great things about developing for the BlackBerry platform – including our commitment and support of open source technologies and multiple development languages (Native, HTML5 with BlackBerry® WebWorks™, Adobe® AIR®, Java®). One thing we’ve really invested in over the last year is to respond to developer feedback and requests, in order to enable you to build the way that’s best for you. One of the areas we’ve been focusing on especially is code signing.

What is Code Signing anyway, and why does BlackBerry code sign?

Code signing has been designed to provide security for consumers. They can feel confident that the application they are installing has not been modified after it was signed by the application developer. Code signing is also a means for applications to protect their data.

Code signing has many benefits for both developers and consumers. Developers can distribute an unsigned version of their application along with a debug token to a limited set of beta testers. The debug token helps to ensure that only those beta testers that a developer has issued a token to can run the application. I’ll walk through this process in more detail in a future blog post.

Debug tokens also allow for central key management, allowing for a single code signing key to be used by a team of developers testing an application. Debug tokens can be issued to each developer, allowing them to test builds on their BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet. The code signing key can be deployed to a secure build server, protecting it and ensuring that only official builds of the application are signed for public distribution.

Read more about code signing, debug tokens and what steps we’re taking »

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Announcing Java Sample Repositories

01.24.12

We are pleased to announce two new repositories of Open Source code for the BlackBerry® development platform. We have a repository of Java® sample code, which includes our BlackBerry JDE samples from the 7.0 SDK and a repository of samples previously released through our Knowledge Base. Now these popular code samples are available through the Apache License, version 2.0, which allows developers full access to use these code samples in their applications and extend the samples further.

JDE-Samples

If you aren’t familiar with the samples included in the BlackBerry tools, I’d recommend taking a look at our JDE-Samples repository if there is an API you are curious about. There are 100+ samples included which cover each major API. Our JDE-Samples repository will include these samples for each version of the SDK.

This repository uses Github’s support of branches (e.g. see Pro Github’s Chapter 3), to keep the samples for all the JDE releases in the same directory. For example, the in-device samples for JDE 4.6.1 are here. There are currently 8 branches, plus the master branch. There are also 8 tags, one for each of these branches.

See more Java samples »

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Develop Games for BlackBerry!

01.24.12

Hey BlackBerry devs! We’ve got a great guest post for you today from Sean Paul, who’s put together a must-read list of links and resources for BlackBerry game developers. Check it out! – Ed.

The BlackBerry® Native SDK for Tablet OS gives you the power to create rich C/C++ games. For those of you just getting started with developing for the BlackBerry platform, these links will help you quickly get a jump on making your own games using the BlackBerry Native SDK.

Once you’ve gotten a good start, be sure to check out the Developer’s Guide, Tutorials and Libraries available in the BlackBerry Native SDK including:

  • STL and POSIX library support
  • OpenGL ES 1.1 and 2.0 for 2D and 3D graphics
  • OpenAL for cross-platform 3D audio
  • libpng and libjpeg for encoded images
  • FreeType for fonts
  • Scoreloop SDK for integrating social gaming capabilities

If you’re looking for additional resources, be sure to take advantage of blackberry.github.com, where you’ll find many Open Source game engines and libraries ported and available including:

  • GamePlay: a cross-platform 3D gaming framework
  • Cocos2D-X: a cross-platform mobile 2D game framework
  • Box2D: a 2D physics engine
  • Bullet Physics: a 3D physics engine
  • ALUT: a companion toolkit to OpenAL
  • Lua: a powerful, fast, lightweight, embeddable scripting language
  • SDL: a cross-platform multimedia library

3rd party game development kits have also added support for BlackBerry® Tablet OS:

You’ll also be able to find support for casual web gaming using Adobe® AIR®, HTML 5 and WebGL through BlackBerry® WebWorks™. Finally, you can distribute your finished game through the BlackBerry App World™ storefront with $0 registration and submission fees – browse the current BlackBerry App World game catalog to see some great examples of apps.

Got any questions about developing games for the BlackBerry platform? Leave a comment and let us know!

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BlackBerry Native SDK 2.0 Beta 3 for Tablet OS Ready to Rock & Roll!

01.19.12

It’s here – the third beta release for the BlackBerry® Native SDK 2.0 for Tablet OS is now available for download! Additions and improvements to tooling, APIs and developer documentation are all included in this update for your BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet OS 2.0 beta 3 native development.

Looking at the games in the BlackBerry App World™ storefront over the last few weeks, we’ve seen some amazing native game titles launching. Last month we had three Angry Birds titles from Rovio Entertainment Ltd., and ZeptoLab UK Ltd. just brought “Cut The Rope HD” to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet last week during the 2012 International CES conference in Las Vegas (check out the Inside BlackBerry Blog post!). Native game development for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet brings the best of cross-platform native standards support and the power of the QNX® Neutrino® RTOS coupled with the most important ingredient of all…awesome game developers pushing it to its limits!

We’ve been working closely with many different companies and individual developers porting their existing titles to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, and we’ve been evolving our tooling, APIs and online presence to help meet your needs.

Tooling enhancements:

  • A new easy-to-use Add Library Wizard, which is designed to simplify the process of adding library dependencies to a project
  • Improved navigation and workflow in the Deployment Setup Wizard
  • Enhancements to the BAR file editor to view localized manifests for each locale

API improvements:

Documentation updates:

  • A new “Hello Native SDK” tutorial provides a walkthrough of the OpenGL ES 1.1 Application Project template that comes with the QNX® Momentics® IDE
  • A new “Displaying a dialog” recipe instructs users how to display dialogs on the screen and handle dialog events

As we make our way towards BlackBerry DevCon Europe, we’ll be continuing to evolve our online content to help those using our Native SDK port their existing cross platform C/C++ applications to the BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 OS as well as ensure that all developers using each of our development options can be successful on the totally awesome update coming to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

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Top Tips for Making More Money From Your Apps on BlackBerry App World

01.16.12

Back in my previous role as Product Manager for the BlackBerry App World™ storefront, I had the privilege of working with Ronjon Nag, VP of BlackBerry App World. Ronjon has been around the mobile world for a long time. He’s been featured on the cover of Fortune and involved in the development of apps, user interfaces and new m-commerce distribution methods of mobile applications and devices. All of this work culminated in the founding of Cellmania, which was acquired by Research In Motion® (RIM®) in 2010. But he’s not all suits and business meetings – he’s also my go-to guy around the RIM campus for marketing insights about apps.

Ronjon has put together his top tips, based on his experiences, for making more money from your apps on BlackBerry App World– and we’re happy to share them with you today.

Optimize Your App

  • Your App Name Is Key
    • Have fun with your app name, but keep it simple and immediately recognizable.
    • Give your app a relevant name to boost discoverability and make it memorable to help your app go viral through marketing and social media channels.
    • Remember to include your app name and a few keywords in your description to increase search result placement.

Best Ways To Make Money and more tips »

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Rochester Institute of Technology Developer Day Showcases BlackBerry Development

01.12.12

Our representatives from the BlackBerry® Academic Program at Research In Motion® (RIM®) had a chance to meet with Antonio Mondragon from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) at this year’s Frontiers in Education (FIE) conference. Antonio is an Assistant Professor at RIT in their Electrical, Computer and Telecommunication Engineering department. He joined the department in 2009 as an assistant professor with more than 20 years of industrial experience. Today, his research is focused on embedded systems design, an interest that catapulted the launch of RIT’s ARM® Developer Day held on December 2, 2011. Antonio sat down with us to tell us more about the event and RIM’s participation.

Hi Antonio, thanks for taking some time to talk about the 2nd annual ARM Developer Day that took place at RIT this year. Could you tell us more about the event?
ARM produces one of the most used micro-controllers for electronics nowadays. Different semiconductor companies such as Research In Motion license ARM cores and integrate them into high performance chip systems. The ARM Developer Day was an event that focused on letting students and faculty at RIT gain hands-on experience with different platforms that use these micro-controllers. These platforms range from simple hobby-like applications to sophisticated, high level application development such as those done with the BlackBerry® Tablet OS. By exposing students to different platforms at different levels of their academic program, this type of event helps ignite creativity and gets students innovating.

How did RIM become involved in the event?
I met with representatives from the BlackBerry Academic Program during the Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) in South Dakota this year. We chatted about what kind of academic offerings are available from RIM and how we could partner to introduce students to BlackBerry application development – enter the ARM Developer Day. Since the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet contains an ARM processor, it was a natural fit for the event. RIM had a full day workshop that covered an introduction to the Native Software Developer Kit (SDK) for Tablet OS, game development using the BlackBerry® Native SDK for Tablet OS and a hands-on lab session using the BlackBerry Native SDK. They also gave away a total of 10 BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablets throughout the workshops to student participants.

Read more from Antonio about the Developer Day at RIT »

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Navigate your app more quickly: BlackBerry WebWorks for Smartphones SDK 2.3 released

01.10.12

The latest version of the BlackBerry® WebWorks™ for Smartphones SDK v2.3 for Microsoft® Windows® and Mac is now available for download. The main focus for this release was to greatly improve performance of applications taking advantage of Navigation Mode for BlackBerry® smartphones with optical trackpads. Navigation mode allows the BlackBerry WebWorks developer to specify which fields in their application should be focusable, and the framework will automatically move focus in the application based on user input from the trackpad. BlackBerry WebWorks developers can take advantage of the speed improvements in Navigation Mode just by recompiling their applications with the new 2.3 SDK.

We included a number of other features in this release that certainly deserve mention. The full list of improvements includes:

  • Navigation mode speed enhancements and bug fixes
  • BBM™ 6.1 API support
  • Application Orientation lock (portrait/landscape)
  • Memory Management enhancements
  • Native-looking dialogs for selections, date/time, color picker

What can I do with the new BBM 6.1 APIs?

More about the BlackBerry WebWorks update »

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inTouch Innovate leaps forward with NFC on BlackBerry apps

01.06.12

As a long-time developer, Kendro Hendra has a keen sense of emerging technologies. That’s why it’s no surprise that the chief executive at inTouch Innovate Indonesia has made it a priority for his company to research and develop applications that leverage Near Field Communications (NFC). The NFC feature, which enables applications to interact with smart tags, smart accessories, and other NFC-enabled devices, has already been utilized by inTouch in a number of popular applications.

Kendro talks about the tools inTouch used to develop NFC-enabled apps, introduction of NFC capabilities in their existing apps and the unique features for BlackBerry smartphones that were key to success of their apps.

Tell us about the development tools you used to develop BlackBerry apps and the importance of NFC capabilities.

We developed using the BlackBerry Java® Development Environment, which was a great tool to work with. The JDE helped us create projects that we could automatically build and package into applications. We were also able to take advantage of BlackBerry NFC API’s such as NFC Reader API, NFC Emulation API, and NFC Listener API, which were extremely helpful. In terms of NFC as an emerging technology, one thing that’s important to understand is that it’s not restricted to payment-related functions. As a developer, you can utilize NFC in a number of interesting ways, from tag-reading smart posters to emulating something like a campus card. We’re working on a smart campus app that will act as an alternative student ID for daily attendance, library access, parking and payment at the cafeteria.

Your AIRewards app will soon feature NFC capability. How will it work?

The application allows merchants to distribute coupons, gift vouchers and tickets using BlackBerry smartphones. When you purchase something from a participating merchant, you scan a QR code and collect a stamp, which can then be redeemed for free products. The application is also integrated with BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) and the Facebook® for BlackBerry® smartphones app, allowing users to share stamps with other members and post what they’ve collected on their BBM profile or Facebook page. With other platforms, our work on NFC has been mainly research-based, but with RIM we’ve had specific projects like this in mind for a while. Once people get used to tapping their phones with smart tags, smart accessories, and other NFC-enabled devices, it will be much easier to use than QR codes.

What unique RIM features have been particularly important to the success of your applications?

The AIRewards app is a good example of some of the features we’ve leveraged. The BlackBerry Push Service is definitely very important. It allows us to notify the user about a merchant’s offer shortly before it expires, which encourages people to go back to that business and purchase more of their goods. We think that BBM is a killer app that no one can live without. It’s extremely popular in Indonesia and it allows people to update their profile with URLs and deals that they’ve redeemed. When they do so, their friends can click on the URL and download the same application. Since sharing is such a vital part of the BlackBerry community, these features are significant.

Thank you for your time, Kendro! Readers – stop by the inTouch website to see what the team is currently up to.

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Getting to Know Open Source BlackBerry PlayBook Development

01.06.12

BlackBerry PlayBook tablet

In light of Hewlett Packard’s decision to contribute webOS to the open source community, we’d like to welcome webOS developers to another open source community: BlackBerry® WebWorks™. We invite you to expand your options by developing HTML5 applications for the BlackBerry device platform using the BlackBerry® WebWorks™ SDK and the Ripple emulator.

Why develop for BlackBerry?

The BlackBerry® Platform is standards based, with an outstanding web experience and the ability to package web resources into full applications with our BlackBerry® WebWorks™ SDK. You can leverage your existing skills with HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript, and leverage the talents of other developers from our vast and continually growing community of Open Source contributors. A variety of Open Source projects are underway including ports of major libraries like Qt and Lua, while we have open sourced the entire BlackBerry WebWorks SDK and the Ripple emulator. There is even a community-based project to support developing applications with the Python language on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

BlackBerry has a vibrant user base that has added over 20 million more subscribers in the last year, reaching 70 million total subscribers. It’s also a platform where developers can make money. As a developer on the BlackBerry Platform, you can reach a global audience in 130 countries.

Developers can take advantage of platform features to help them succeed, such as integration with BlackBerry’s well-loved instant messaging service, BBM™. With more than 50 million BBM users, BBM integration provides an additional monetization stream via both Advertising Service and in-app Payments.

How we can help

We’ve worked with Łukasz Dzierżak, a developer from the BlackBerry community who has experience with both webOS and BlackBerry WebWorks development, to create a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet app development guide for webOS developers.

Łukasz will also be on hand at BlackBerry DevCon Europe to run a hackathon for webOS developers where they can port their apps with the assistance of BlackBerry development experts.

Get started today

Along with the new development guide, why not head to our BlackBerry WebWorks site to get familiar with how to build HTML5 apps with Native capabilities? We have a getting started guide and tools available.

Go for it!

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