Olá!, I’m Fernando, originally from Brazil and now based in Canada as part of RIM’s Developer Relations team. My mission is helping to make this planet a better, connected, fun place to live. I am also a writer, photographer and avid bass player, I’m passionate about aviation and it seems I have been spending too much time with robotics. (Editor’s note: You know how I feel about robots.)

We at RIM are extremely proud to announce that the BlackBerry® Native SDK for BlackBerry Tablet OS 2.0 is out of beta and now available for download! Based on requests from our developer community, we have been focusing on improving the user experience and providing a consistent environment with comprehensive APIs, resources and documentation.

Let’s take a look at some of the IDE enhancements:

• The EGit plugin allows developers to check out source code directly from GitHub via the IDE.
• A new easy-to-use wizard, Add Library Dependency, simplifies the process of adding library dependencies to a project.
• With per-project SDK support, you can now configure your SDK/toolchain on a per-project basis. This allows you to have projects in your workspace build against different versions of the device.
• A streamlined deployment setup wizard makes it easier for you to set up your development environment and troubleshoot issues. The wizard also leverages automatic device detection to help you set up your targets.
• You can now report bugs directly from the IDE. Select ‘Report a Bug’ from the Help menu in the IDE to report a bug and include screenshots, directly from the IDE.
• You can now filter files out of the BAR package to exclude unnecessary assets.
• BAR files in the Project Explorer can now be expanded to show contents. Files in the BAR can be opened (read-only) in the appropriate editor.
• The Import wizard has a new option, ‘BlackBerry Tablet OS Existing Code as BlackBerry Tablet OS C/C++ Makefile Project,’ to import existing code.
• The BAR file editor now allows viewing of localized manifests for each locale.
• Two new profiles, QNX Developer and C/C++ Developer (CDT), allow you to control access to functionality depending on developer type.
• AIR Native Extension Support, which includes new workflows has been added to the IDE to help you build and debug native extensions. This includes an ANE project type that works with the Adobe command line tools to generate ANEs. In addition, the new ANE launch configurations help you debug your ANE on the device.
• Access to more example projects using the New Example wizard.

The BPS (BlackBerry Platform Services) APIs have evolved too, now including more features and several enhancements:

• Sensor: many sensors are available, for example: accelerometer, magnetometer, temperature, luminance, etc.
• Device Information: functions for reading information like OS version, PIN, serial number etc.
• Soundplayer: several functions to play system sounds (like camera shutter, device lock etc).
• LED service: control of the LEDs and colors to notify users even if the device isn’t being used.
• Audio Mixer API: enables your application to react to events (headphone connected/disconnected, mute, etc) and also control audio properties. Also new input and output channels are available.

And also, highlights on Scoreloop! The addition of the Scoreloop SDK offers game developers next-generation technology for mobile social gaming features: achievements, challenges, user profiles, leaderboards, awards and more. The social features are modular so you can integrate only the ones you want, while maintaining your app’s look and feel.

You can get start at the Native SDK webpage, in the download section. Also take a look at:

• Documentation – in the documentation section, you will find a great source of information about tutorials, recipes, guides and a great directory of open source libraries ported and available on github.
• Forums – in the Native SDK forums, you can discuss support topics, learn from the community and interact directly with us.

So, are you ready? Let us know what you think in the comments!

We’re well into the holiday season, and Santa and his elves are busy in their workshop making sure all the good boys and girls have fun and exciting presents to open. What about the elves here at RIM? Well, I’m happy to tell you that the hardworking teams have version of the BlackBerry® Native SDK 2.0 for Tablet OS ready for you now! I know, I know…the title’s a mouthful but, like a festive holiday meal, the mouthful is worth it!

Continuing on the success we saw with our launch of the BlackBerry Native SDK for Tablet OS at BlackBerry® DevCon Americas this fall and the release of an initial beta for the BlackBerry Native SDK 2.0, the second beta release contains:

• The inclusion of the Scoreloop SDK 1.0 beta 1
• Updated documentation to help developers solve tricky problems
• Tooling/IDE changes:
• A streamlined deployment setup wizard designed to help with the setup of your development environment and to provide better feedback when there are issues in the process. It also leverages the automatic device detection feature to help you set up your targets.
• Adobe® AIR Native Extension (ANE) support – New workflows have been added to the IDE to help you build and debug native extensions. This includes an ANE project type that works with the Adobe command line tools to generate ANEs. In addition, the new ANE launch configurations helps you debug your ANE on the device.
• Per project SDK support – You may now configure your BlackBerry Native SDK on a per-project basis. This allows you to have projects in your workspace build against different versions of the device. For example, you could have one project in your space build against the latest release BlackBerry Native SDK (1.0.8) and another build against the latest developer SDK (2.0 DR2). Previously, all projects in your workspace built against the same BlackBerry Native SDK.

We continue to evolve and improve the developer experience on the BlackBerry platform. In that same vein, we have produced a BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet OS 2.0 beta 2 (DR2) for our native BlackBerry Native SDK users. Be sure to white list your device’s PIN so that you can download the DR2 release (Developer Release beta 2) of the BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet OS.

As mentioned in the list above, the BlackBerry Native SDK 2.0 for Tablet OS 2.0 beta includes the Scoreloop SDK 1.0 beta 2 release – the next-generation technology that enables mobile social gaming. It lets you integrate the Scoreloop SDK’s set of social gaming features into your games.

The Scoreloop SDK is a fully customizable SDK that is designed to allow you to seamlessly integrate the Scoreloop SDK’s features into your games while maintaining the look and feel of your applications throughout. The social features are modular, so you can integrate as many or as few social features as you want.

Some of the features currently available include:

• User profiles
• Leaderboards
• Challenges
• Awards and achievement

It’s a great time to be developing for the BlackBerry platform!

On that note, happy holidays to everyone. Thank you for your continued efforts, and I look forward to sharing more exciting news with you in the new year. I’ll be showing up at as many meetups, Mobile Mondays, events, conferences, and developer gatherings as possible. If you see me, come say hi, and let me know how I can help you succeed in your mobile development challenges.