Adding fuel to the fire: "We'll also support Android apps" heard during PlayBook demo at MWC

Supporting Android apps is definitely a game changer and if this migrates down to future BlackBerry phones then we might as well say to Android "thanks for playing, better luck next time."

I would love for it to support them,
But honestly, I think he was just trolling.

If they actually support Andriod apps it will be the stupidest thing RIM has ever done.

Why would ANYONE develop an app for the Playbook when they can create an Android app and be on both the most popular smartphone platform and the best (that I've seen) tablet OS? They wont. They will make Android apps and BlackBerry App world will continue to suck.

So this means that anything the xoom can do the playbook can do better. Let's hope its true.

Man I am sold.Just release this and I will buy very first day.

Seems to me everyone is complaining about RIM not releasing the Playbook soon enough while all the other developers 'get a jump' on the consumer market. If you have noticed that evertime a tablet is released (yes, even iPad2), RIM shows a glimpse of what the Playbook will support as if "Oh, we will be able to do that too."
Why come out with a second version so soon if you have everything in the first version? That's because you didn't include all features that consumers asked for. If you buy a 32" TV and 6 months later a better version comes out, should you have waited or is it you just wanna be part of the 'in-crowd'. Just an observation.

I don't get all the hype behind RIM supporting Android apps. I don't want them to because it takes away from developers creating apps geared to take advantage of the BlackBerry platform. Apps will come but please RIM don't go the route of Android.

I don't get all the hype behind RIM supporting Android apps. I don't want them to because it takes away from developers creating apps geared to take advantage of the BlackBerry platform. Apps will come but please RIM don't go the route of Android.

This all makes sense now ... Google plans to acquire RIM!

Just wish they would release the Playbook. Releasing this close to the release of other tablets coming soon is not a good idea. There must be some software or battery issue that is delaying this launch. As for Android apps coming to the playbook, this will really grab some attention and boost sales, but sadly I have to agree that app world may be killed. Unless, like a guy posted this week and said, android apps will have to be loaded from the app world. Doubt Google would like that. However it turns out i just know this delayed release may hurt RIM. I am a blackberry fan but the Ipad 2 should never have been announced and shown off next week before the playbook's release. Just seems silly for RIM to let that happen.

Android apps on future QNX BBs = RIM huge success!

Why buy a PlayBook? Why not just get an Android tablet?

I guess there just hasn't been enough takers in developing apps for the PB before release. This has always been the #1 reason for RIM talking about the PB way before they were going to release to market. I'm guessing they haven't had much success with a ton of developers, so in order to not release a product with poor app library support, they're hoping that adding in Android emulation support will help to stave off naysayers for a while upon release.

Couple this with the newly released changes to RIM's code signing access and availability program and it just screams "We need apps and developers, PLEASE!!!!!"

He said Appworld Apps - Not Android Apps

Hm this Playbook seemed somehow buggy. Bad response over all :(. Different from the last other videos I've seen. I hope this was an older device I really want to buy a Playbook.

without access to google android market your limited to 3rd party places like appslib. Still thats more than say iOS or windows 7 phone have access too. whether they run well on the platform remains to be seen but better than nothing.

Still I love the concept of these new tablets esp when tethered to b a blackberry phone but it still just a gap between smartphones and netbooks and not a fully fledge Notebook. Im not sure why Stylus are seen as old fashion when it was always about accuracy. shame really.

anyways here's to RIM establishing itself as something more than just a casual, multimedia platform and something that will seriously be a good replacement for businesses.

For some reason, I'm more excited by the fact this is the first time I've heard someone confirm that you can tether your data connection over 3G using your blackberry phone. They first said it on the website but afterwards nobody ever confirmed it again. This really excites me.

I'm willing to trade BBM for access to the Android Market.

BBM on Android. 150000+ apps on PlayBook and BlackBerry. It's win-win.

It's so crazy how people have bought into the 150,000 app garbage. Most apps are just that, garbage. I suspect you need only about 1000 apps to span the range of needs for 99% of people. However the fact is people and the media (and bloggers) have totally bought into it and so I think it is very wise for RIM to include this ability with the playbook if only for marketing purposes. It's like lack of apps? We rung android so shut up on that and let move on so we can tell you what this thing can actually do.

I also think it is totally consistent with RIM goal of drawing more app developers to the playbook. I'd just think of this as making it that much easier to get your app on playbook, and I do see at least some good developers going an extra step to develop a playbook version of the app to take advantage of some of the unique aspects of the playbook.

All in all it's a good thing. I think the reason we haven't heard anything before is likely the dispute between Google and Oracle about ownership of the software that runs the android apps.

If there is some delay in the playbook release I think an announcement that says We are going to miss our self-imposed deadline by x weeks, and oh by the way when the playbook come out it will run the full library of android apps, will only make the stock go up.

They really need to release this thing. It's almost embarrassing how long it's been since the first announced it. I wonder if next week's apple announcements might leapfrog any advantages the playbook currently has over the ipad.

ANGRY F-ING BIRDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111111111111111(6-5)

so let's see an android app run on this thing? what's the hold up?!!?!?

Does this mean future QNX BB apps can work on android as well?

Once again, he said APPWORLD and not ANDROID!

Is this vaporware ever actually going to come out? RIM's announced 4 different versions over the past 6 months, and so far none of them have actually been released.

At this point, forget about the iPad 2, the iPad 3 is going to beat it to market.

RIM needs to get android Apps to survive ....there phones need them too because they suck

QNX is a Unix based OS. As is Android. Therefore there's a chance Android apps written in C and using standard Unix API's may work (or at least recompile for Playbook) - though Android isn't POSIX compliant so perhaps it wouldn't be that straightforward.

So yes, at launch the Playbook could run some Android apps as long as they were written in C.

Java apps run on a JVM. Therefore you might assume that Android apps written in Java would run on Playbook. In theory the type of JVM shouldn't matter (Dalvik versus Oracle versus IBM etc) . Provided of course, that Google didn't write any JNI API's for Android.

But they did. So you'd need the Google JNI/Java libraries and possibly even the Google Dalvik JVM.

And there's the problem. Google is currently the subject of a patent violation suit from Oracle. There is little doubt that in modifying the base JVM Google has violated Oracles patents, and is therefore likely to be subject to enormous penalties when the suit is finally settled.

Therefore I'd have thought the chances of litigious averse RIM buying into Dalvik were pretty remote.

In summary if an Android app in C is Unix compliant it may run on Playbook without modification. And if an Android Java app uses only standard Java features then it may run on Playbook without modification.

Not sure you'd want to use them and anyway there's another enormous problem.

RIM have not yet released a JVM for the Playbook, and have not even committed to when a JVM will be available, so I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for the bulk of Android apps to arrive on the Playbook.

You'll have to make do with the hundreds of thousands (possibly millions) of Flash apps out there instead.

Give up BBM for access to Android Market? Are you insane?

I think it was interesting that BlueTooth is incorporated into the PlayBook. Maybe I missed that in other presentations. A BlueTooth mouse would be an obvious choice, even though touchscreen seems to eliminate any desire for that, though my first thought was the WACOM Intuos BlueTooth pen tablet. If Adobe enables some of their creative software to run on the PlayBook, or even a future PlayBook, then connecting with a WACOM would be all that would be needed to edit photos, or do illustration. The potential is there to make the PlayBook a tool for creative professionals.