[RSS Bot]

The BlackBerry PlayBook is now available, first day sales of the device appear to have exceeded expectations, and, hopefully sooner rather than later, the BlackBerry PlayBook will gain support for Android Apps.  Could, however, that very support for Android applications hinder native BlackBerry PlayBook application development which is sorely needed?

Both iOS and Android have tens of thousands of apps available for tablets that run their respective operating systems.  The BlackBerry PlayBook has about 3000 apps, and, from what I have seen so far, the percentage of those 3000 apps that are actually worth the time it takes to download and install is about the same as its competitors.  The BlackBerry PlayBook will eventually run Android Apps addressing the ‘shortage’ of apps the currently befalls the PlayBook, but, running another platforms applications creates a whole new set of problems for RIM…

Android is an established mobile operating system that isn’t going anywhere with tens of millions of consumers that can run Android Apps.  The PlayBook, on the other hand, is a brand new platform that only an estimated 500,000 or so people will purchase in its first quarter.  Certainly, developers will develop apps natively for the PlayBook, but, I’d be willing to bet that most will develop first, possibly even exclusively, for Android, and, then host those Android apps in BlackBerry App World.

Financially, this makes the most sense for developers.  Why write an application for a market of X when you could write the same application for a market of 20X and sell it to the market of X who can run said app in an application player?  RIM giving a BlackBerry PlayBook to every developer that got a BlackBerry PlayBook app accepted into BlackBerry App world was a cool idea, but, I think that the company, if they truly want to get best mobile app developers creating apps for their platform, is going to have to offer a little more than a $500 tablet.

 

Will Android App Support Hinder Native BlackBerry PlayBook App Development? is a post from: RIMarkable, the Unofficial BlackBerry Weblog...

View the full article