BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 update has been keenly awaited by Playbook owners, and the update may finally be arriving in February. According to a post by RIM’s Developer Relations team, the update will be available this month, packing the BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps feature that allows Android apps to run on the PlayBook tablet. This is one of the reasons users are waiting for it so eagerly.
The update brings native email, contacts, calendar support, and, of course, BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps. RIM has set a deadline of February 6 for developers to submit their Android apps in the BlackBerry App World so that the update launches with some apps already on the App World.
They have even posted a set of guidelines for developers submitting apps, which includes removing the word “Android” and even hints or links to the Android Market from all parts of the app, selecting BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 as the minimum platform requirement, and ensuring that the app is code signed.
The BlackBerry Plug-in for ADT, BlackBerry Packager for Android apps, and the BlackBerry SDK for Android apps can be used to port apps, which RIM promises is an easy process. We’ll have to wait and see how many Android apps we get to see on the Blackberry App World.
