RIM has been cagey about showing everything the BlackBerry PlayBook has to offer as they continue putting the final touches on the OS and its apps, but one lucky guy got some time with the tablet to check out App World briefly. The layout is largely the same as App World on BlackBerry smartphones, with the home screen showing a featured carousel in the middle, a search bar at the top, and category selection along the bottom. Once an app is selected, you get a full description on the right side, plus ratings and screenshots, as you might expect. It’s still a work in progress, as the gesture-based options menu still isn’t implemented, but no doubt it’ll be ready for April 19. A separate screenshot of App World confirmed our suspicions that Skype would be coming to the BlackBerry PlayBook to offer video calling capabilities.
We also get to check out the Voice Notes application at 2:38 in the video, which isn’t anything particularly special, but we haven’t seen it in action yet. It looks like the National Film Board of Canada will have an app ready for launch which will let you watch free full-length documentaries and indie films on the tablet.We also get a look at Documents to Go, which looks like it’s coming along, and should be ready for your word processing needs. The usual stuff like the 7digital music store and Podcasts application also get a brief run-through, along with a smattering of other native apps.
It’s good to see App World up and running, but what will be really interesting is when we see that store populated with Android applications. RIM has announced that developers will be able to repackage, resign, and resubmit their existing Android creations for App World, but have yet to release the tools to do so. It’s probably safe to assume they’ll be in place well before the summer launch of the 3G and 4G versions of the PlayBook.
If you’re looking for more footage of RIM’s first tablet, be sure to check out our hands-on with the PlayBook.
[via BBNews]