Yet another beta from RIM has launched recently, only this one is geared more towards programmers. The first version of the BlackBerry PlayBook native development kit has gone into beta, meaning developers can make apps with a richness we have yet to really see on their tablet If you’ve poked around at all in the PlayBook’s App World, you’ll know that most of what’s available are extremely basic programs made in web languages through WebWorks, or Flash games ported through the Adobe AIR SDK that are often not fully optimized for the tablet. By giving developers access to the native C and C++ environment, we’ll start seeing apps that really take advantage of the tablet’s horsepower, including lots of OpenGL 3D stuff. The preloaded Need for Speed game gives you an idea of what’s possible with deep access to the device, but so does some of the stuff we’ve seen RIM’s Swedish design arm make.
While I’m excited to see some PlayBook apps that aren’t painfully basic, I’m worried about how long it will take for this NDK to exit beta. RIM’s development tools aren’t known to be the easiest to use, and if they want to set the right tone for developers and get them interested in working on the platform which will power their next generation of smartphones, this NDK really has to be done right. I have no doubt that RIM will be listening to and absorbing all of the feedback being offered, but the real clincher in getting these tools polished and out the door will be how quickly they can translate that feedback into bug fixes and useful documentation. Hopefully RIM’s streamlining processes will reduce the bureaucracy required for those kind of changes to happen, but no doubt they’ll be putting quality assurance first. Measure twice, cut once, as they say.
Developers interested in trying out the early-stage PlayBook NDK can apply in the BlackBerry Beta Zone.
[via BBNews]