Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM) has announced
new software tools to make it easier to develop applications and
graphical user interfaces for its mobile handsets.
The announcement was welcomed by more than 1,300 software
experts at the
Blackberry Developer Conference in San Francisco.
Jim
Balsillie, RIM's co-CEO, said the firm had been working on the
new tools for more than a year. Delegates at the
Blackberry
Developer Conference suggested some of the announcements were
"about time", a view Balsillie acknowledged, saying, "We heard
you."
The new tools affect both Java and Web development environments.
They include support for Open GL ES, Support, a Java GUI builder
and a theme studio to help developers build slick new front pages
for Blackberrys.
Jim Balsillie also announced that RIM would in future sell such
interfaces and widgets on its App World online store, giving
developers a chance to earn money from their creativity.
The moves also takes RIM closer to the consumer market, but
Balsillie and other RIM officials were at pains to stress that the
tools apply as much to development of enterprise software as to
consumer applications.
Key for the future is better support for graphics-intensive
applications through support for OpenGL ES. This allows Java
developers to speed up development of 3D graphics applications,
such as 3D games, for smartphones running Blackberry OS 5.0 and
higher.
OpenGL ES support is available through an update to the
Blackberry Java software development kit; a beta version is
available online.
RIM also said it would add a graphical user interface builder to
the Blackberry Java plug-in for the Eclipse development
environment. This will let programmers speed up development and
localisation of complex user interfaces by switching between coding
and an improved simulation engine that mimics different Blackberry
smartphones. The GUI builder is expected to be available in mid
2010.
RIM hopes developers will use the new free theme studio to
develop a rich set of front pages that users will download to
customise their phones.
The studio supports theme design, illustration and animation for
smartphones running Blackberry OS 4.2.2 and higher. These include
the new Storm2 and Bold 9700 smartphones.
Developers will be able to import Adobe Photoshop files, add
ringtones and build screen transitions such as zooming, sliding,
wiping and fading within themes for smartphones running Blackberry
OS 5.0 and higher.