Previously, I talked about how to use the MapView APIs to embed your own layers on top of it. While that was nice and very flexible, it still required some work to get basic pins and bubbles going. In BlackBerry 10.1 we have updated the APIs to support push pins and bubbles out of the box. This means you can now use the native APIs such as GeoLocation and MapData to create and manage push pins with custom icons as well as assign a name and description to each that shows up in the bubble.

MapView with pins and bubbles

The bubbles can contain a title, a description as well as an action button. Signals are emitted when the text or the action button is tapped by the user so that applications can carry out the right action in that context. Typical actions would be to show more details about the location or starting a turn-by-turn navigation to that location. Oh and before I forget, did I mention that the title and description supports html tags? Yes it does. You can use html tags to format the text or even insert hyperlinks to open webpages.

A bubble with an HTML hyperlink

I guess I have been saving the best for last. One feature that I am really excited about is the ability to set the MapView to follow a specific pin. This is extremely useful if you want to track friends on a map or keep the user always centered on the map. Simply update the coordinates of the followed pin and watch the map automatically move with it. A full sample app can be downloaded from here.

Finally, a big shout-out to our maps team for their hard work – the MapView now has much better performance, faster tile loading and packs the features most of us need. Let’s get to work and put some more maps in our apps. If you missed the session at BlackBerry Jam Americas 2013, please check out the content on-demand – JAM69 - Maps in your Apps.

For anyone new to analytics let me explain why I am so excited and why you should be as well. Analytics gives you the ability to know who is using your application as well as how they are using it. Sounds easy enough right? The Flurry SDK integrates with your application and allows it to log “events” when they occur. A simple example would be logging an event where a button is clicked. That data is recorded and then sent up to the dashboard where patterns start to emerge on how many people are clicking that button, how they got to it, and what users do after it gets pressed.

Analytics helps by telling you two very important pieces of information:

Who is using your application?

The Flurry Analytics service will report the following information about the user/user’s device by default:

• Locale set on the device
• Time Zone
• Approximate location
• Device name (ex “BlackBerry Z10”)
• Device OS version
• Carrier

And can also be configured by you to report:

• The version of the app being used
• The user’s geolocation (with permission from the user)
• The user’s gender (if supplied by the user)
• The user’s age (if supplied by the user)
• The user ID (if used by your application)

This will let you know where your application is being used, as well as provide you an idea for the type of people that are using it. This in turn gives you the ability to tailor content to various regions and locales based on demand, as well as determine which device models you may want to focus on in the future.

How are people using your application?

Of course after you know who is using your application you will definitely want to know how they are using it. Flurry lets you log events that occur within your application, letting you map out every step the user takes. This is helpful so you can see trends for where they may be getting stuck, areas for improvement, and features that are being used more than expected and can be prioritized for enhancement in future releases. This information is invaluable for making informed decision on where to take the direction of your application.

From the aspect of monetization, knowing user patterns can help you understand what will make your application and possibly digital goods for sale, more attractive/valuable to the end user. Events would also allow you to track the success of promotions within your application. If you happen to sell a limited edition digital good, or offer to unlock the premium features of the app at a reduced price, you have the ability to track the success of the promotion with a relatively short turnaround.

The idea of tracking everything your users do may sound like a scary concept, however all data is made anonymous by the service meaning there is no way of tracking specific actions back to one device/user. Keeping the data anonymous keeps users from compromising their privacy while still maintaining the integrity of the data.

If you’re ready to add some analytics to your application then getting started is easy. Simply go over to the Flurry home page and create an account. Then create an application to get the analytics SDK for BlackBerry 10.

I’ve also whipped up a sample app that you can take a look at to get a feel for the APIs that can be downloaded from the Community Samples Repo on GitHub.

JAM68 – Flurry Mobile Analytics on BlackBerry 10!!

If you’re lucky enough to be at BlackBerry Jam Americas this week, you can attend JAM68 where Anthony Watkins and Rich Brett from Flurry will be presenting with me on how to integrate the Analytics SDK into your BlackBerry applications. For those unable to make it, the recording should be posted a few days following the session and you can always send me a message on Twitter with your questions/comments: @garettBeuk

For more information you can also refer to our Analytics page on the forums:

http://developer.blackberry.com/devzone/develop/platform_services/platform_analytics.html
http://supportforums.blackberry.com/t5/BlackBerry-Analytics-Service/bd-p/analytics_serv

I hope you’ve enjoyed the series and we look forward to seeing you all at BlackBerry Jam Americas in Orlando. Please let us know what you thought of the videos to ensure that we can bring information to you in a way that’s educational, but entertaining as well.

This particular video will give you some information about the current opportunities and upcoming roadmap items that we’re looking at for extending connectivity for developers. In this video we’re joined by Rob Williams who talks about how you can connect BlackBerry 10 to the world around you to incorporate context into your apps.

Learn the tips and tricks around optimizing your payment services code to provide the best user experience possible while at the same time maximizing your potential revenue. See how other apps that have earned the coveted Built for BlackBerry designation have implemented payment services as we deconstruct the models used by real apps in BlackBerry World today.

In the ever growing world of app choices, choosing an appropriate monetization strategy is as important as a solid execution in determining the success of your application; in JAM05 we will discuss both.

Whether you need to bus, train, fly, run, scooter, bike and/or pogo to get to this year’s BlackBerry Jam Americas, we hope to see you there. If you are without one or more of the aforementioned means of travel, fear not.  The sessions will be recorded for playback at a later time!  However, if you choose that option, you will miss out on Larry and my sparkling personalities and live stage theatrics, as well as the Q&A, but we’re always reachable via Twitter at @lmcdunna and @garettBeuk for questions and feedback.

We’ll be posting videos as part of this series leading up to BlackBerry Jam Americas in Orlando in order to give some more background surrounding the topics that we’ll be discussing in detail during the conference.

In this video we’re joined by Dale Ducharme (against his will) to talk about the cool features available for gaming developers on BlackBerry 10.

We’ll be posting videos as part of this series leading up to BlackBerry Jam Americas in Orlando in order to give some more background surrounding the topics that we’ll be discussing in detail during the conference.

This particular video will give you some information about the upcoming roadmap items that we’re looking at for extending BBM capabilities for developers. In this video we’re joined by Nick Kalkounis to talk about new APIs that are coming to better connect your application through BBM.

We’ll be posting videos as part of this series leading up to BlackBerry Jam Americas in Orlando in order to give some more background surrounding the topics that we’ll be discussing in detail during the conference.

This particular video will give you some information about the upcoming roadmap items that we’re looking at for further integration into BlackBerry 10. In this video we’re joined by Michael Clewley to talk about how integration with BlackBerry 10 can improve the user experience of your application.

The things I like to look for at these events are the technologies that have the potential to disrupt the apple cart. These revolutionary movements do more than simply evolve last year’s technology. They beg the question whether whole companies or industries will radically change and shift to address this new force, and whether or not new players will emerge as drivers in this movement. At GDC this year, I could see that such a shift is starting to take place and I’m excited that BlackBerry is actively engaged in this movement. What’s the shift? We’re starting to see mobile devices provide a console gaming experience, anywhere, anytime.

We’ve been playing games on phones for many years, why talk about this now? What’s changed?

Technology Advancement

As with many disruptive forces, a number of normal evolutionary changes take place first that, by themselves, are not disruptive. However, when brought together, they can change the game considerably and challenge an entire once-stable industry. The critical technologies all on mobile devices that are beginning to put pressure on the gaming console industry are the following:

• Multitasking Operating Systems
• High Performance GPUs
• High Definition Video (HDMI)
• Wireless Mobile Game Controllers
• Portable Game Software

When all these technology advancement come together in a smartphone, you have something very close to a game console in the palm of your hand. Each of these plays a vital role. Let’s explore the contribution of each.

Multitasking Operating Systems

A true multitasking operating system is critical for providing smooth performance and interactivity for today’s most demanding games. Not only must the OS manage the game itself, but it must also juggle location information, gyro, accelerometer and other sensors, concurrent voice or VOIP for trash-talking your friends during gameplay, and interact with the cloud and social networks for storing and sharing your results. Neither iOS nor Android has a great multitasking solution here. In contrast however, BlackBerry 10, powered by QNX Neutrino (a leading world class RTOS), is very well positioned to provide all the power necessary for managing the ever-increasing demand of concurrent functionality in the next generation of mobile games.

High Performance GPUs

GPUs render the images. Without them, our game visuals would be slow, blocky, and flat. There’s no question how important these processors are. Over the last couple of years, the advancements made by companies like ARM, Imagination, NVidia, and Qualcomm for smartphones have been enormous. It’s getting harder and harder to tell the difference between a game rendered by a GPU on a laptop vs. a game rendered by a smartphone GPU. Perhaps the most obvious difference has been the physical screen size. However, when you add a multitasking OS and a high performance GPU to HD Video (the next critical technology), things start to get really interesting.

High Definition Video (HDMI)

One of the things we did in the BlackBerry booth this year at GDC was connect a bunch of our BlackBerry Z10 smartphones (using the standard HDMI port) to large HD monitors. We also did this at our interactive pods in the Unity and Marmalade booths. I can’t tell you how many times people walked up and asked questions like, “Since when did BlackBerry start making game consoles?” When we told them they were looking at a game being rendered and played on the BlackBerry Z10 smartphone they had that mind blown look on their face.

In the picture above, a young gamer is playing “Shadow Gun” on a BlackBerry Z10. This is a great First Person Shooter game built on the Unity3D game engine. You can just see the Z10 on the table in front of him below the monitor. What you can’t see in this picture is the awesome SteelSeries Free game controller he’s using to play the game. That piece of critical technology is next on my list.

Wireless Mobile Game Controllers

To an awesome multitasking OS, killer GPU, and HDMI out, you add a wireless game controller and you’ve just about got the whole package. Using a controller accomplishes two important things: First, it gets your fingers off the valuable screen real estate freeing up more pixes for game play. The other benefit of the controller is that it adds that real, immersive game feeling you get with console controllers. The controllers we used at GDC are the SteelSeries Free Mobile Wireless Controllers (shown below). The last time I checked, the controller will set you back about $80USD and you can find one here. Other controllers, such as the Wii Remote and the Gametel, are also usable and there’s more to come.

For you game developers out there, you can get more information about how to instrument your code to work with these controllers including samples and tutorials by checking out Sean Paul Taylor’s devblog: “Adding Gamepad Support to Your BlackBerry 10 Game”. You can also read about Ramprasad Madhavan’s experience at GDC this year and the Unity BlackBerry 10 Open Beta coming soon on his devblog: “Unity and BlackBerry Gaming at GDC 2013”

Portable Game Engines & Frameworks

The final critical technology contributing to the end of the game console industry as we know it is portable game engines and frameworks. The easier it is to get your game ported from one platform to another, the harder it is for games to be locked to a single console or device. Companies like Marmalade, ShiVa3D, and Unity3D/Union all contribute here. As a developer, you want the highest quality game experience you can get with the largest distribution possible. This is exactly what these frameworks offer and each has been tuned to deliver a killer experience on BlackBerry 10.

Summary

I confess I own an Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and a PlayStation 3. However, I more often find myself connecting my Z10 to my 46” flat screen, the audio-out to my surround system, and kick back on the couch with my SteelSeries Free remote to enjoy a great game of Angry Bots or Critical Wave. There’s no question that smartphones like the BlackBerry Z10 are providing near console game experiences. This is being driven by advancements in 5 areas: real multitasking OS’s, high performance mobile GPUs, HD Video, mobile game controllers, and portable frameworks.

Consoles will need to adapt and add value to remain competitive. Where does that leave game consoles in the future then? Are they becoming extinct? Will smartphones replace game consoles outright? Will consoles evolve into something even better? Or, will they become the mobile extension of their stationary counterparts? As the great Yoda once said, “Always in motion the future is”.

We’ll be continuing this video series leading up to BlackBerry Jam Americas in Orlando in order to give some more background surrounding the topics that we’ll be discussing in detail during the conference.

In this particular video, we’re joined by Geordie Ferguson to talk to us about the ins and outs of headless applications and the areas that we’re exploring to bring this type of functionality to an upcoming release of BlackBerry 10.

BlackBerry developers that rely on a simulator for app development, listen up, because you need to read this! The latest simulator release for BlackBerry 10 brings a heap of new improvements, features and core apps, taking development one step closer to using a physical device.

In the latest BlackBerry 10.1 simulator release we now offer the ability to select which form factor you want to launch the simulator with. In this release, we support the layout for both the Z10 and Q10 devices. No more need to download multiple simulators! You’ll see these boot options listed as follows:

1. BlackBerry 10 All-Touch [1280x768]
2. BlackBerry 10 Keyboard [720x720]

Once the boot option is selected, you’ll notice some handy tool tip information during the simulator boot up screen. These tips will highlight new features as well as suggestions for maximizing simulator performance. Additionally, the simulator adds support for multi-touch input where developers can simulate up to 10 individual touch paths. For example, you can simulate using a two finger pinch and zoom. For more details, check out the documentation for simulator gestures.

The simulator controller joins the new feature party with added support for automatic simulator connection, incoming and outgoing phone call simulation, and mouse mode selection for controlling touch events. If your application supports incoming phone calls, you can test this by sending a call from the simulator controller. The incoming number will be detected by your application. For all the details on what is available in the simulator controller, check out the documentation.

Now let’s talk about what applications come with the simulator out of box. Previously, we supported a basic set of core applications including:

• BlackBerry Hub
• Contacts
• Calendar
• Browser
• BBM
• BlackBerry World
• Phone
• Settings

Today, we have added a whole bunch more; including support for social connect accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Evernote and LinkedIn. These new apps include, but are not limited to:

• Calculator
• Facebook
• File Manager
• Games
• Help
• Maps
• Pictures
• Remember
• Smart Tags
• YouTube
• Weather

So, what are you waiting for? Grab the latest simulator download and get started using all these great new features today! For additional information, please see the release notes.