Alongside the launch of their first touchscreen device, the BlackBerry Storm, RIM has let loose some development tools to get started on the new device. Fresh APIs will allow programmers to mess around with the accelerometer, rotation, camera, touch screen, and home screen backgrounds. These should provide lots of opportunity for programmers to make some great stuff on the BlackBerry 9500, while still working within a familiar operating system. Not to be left out, compatibility for both the BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Pearl Flip are also included in the beta for BlackBerry Java Desktop Environment 4.7, and good thing – I’ve been waiting for so many apps to make the Bold leap… Simulators for all three devices should help get things properly tested and ready for distribution.
All of this is just in time for the first BlackBerry Developers Conference in Santa Clara, California, which will be covered by yours truly in less than two weeks. It will certainly be interesting to see what folks manage to cook up for the BlackBerry Storm in that time, especially with that rumour of an Application Center floating around… If you’re thinking of going, it might be prudent to download the BlackBerry JDE 4.7 and any simulators you might need.
[via RIM]