Although the Android App Player for the BlackBerry PlayBook has been downloaded a multitude of times already, we just received an official statement from Research In Motion regarding the leak, it's stability and when we can expect an official version to be released.
We do of course agree with RIM here -- the Android App Player is buggy at this point and it's not exactly for the faint of heart. The leak, shouldn't be loaded on on your PlayBook without the understanding of the fact you could seriously mess things up. That said; hopefully RIM will see how much interest this peaked among BlackBerry PlayBook users and drop the Android App Player for us all very soon."An older version of the Android App Player beta software for the BlackBerry PlayBook was inadvertently posted and has since been removed. We recommend that users refrain from downloading and installing this software since it is outdated and non-functional in many respects. The official beta release of the Android App Player for the BlackBerry PlayBook is on track for release later this summer."
Reader comments
Official statement from Research In Motion regarding the leaked Android App Player for the BlackBerry PlayBook
I tend to agree with you that the BlackBerry phones are the best smartphones on the market.
Their PlayBook is the only tablet that the US federal government will use because it is reliable and secure. It's AWESOME. I have one, and just love it.
RIM should bring out the BETA to the public for whomever wants to try and test it. This would GUARANTEE that they get it right with the publics feedback. Another thing, I am highly disappointed that they are releasing the "BETA" till "late summer". You'd think a powerful and important corporation would hire extra personnel in order to get the actual product out by summer rather than "BETA".
RIM should bring out the BETA to the public for whomever wants to try and test it. This would GUARANTEE that they get it right with the publics feedback. Another thing, I am highly disappointed that they are releasing the "BETA" till "late summer". You'd think a powerful and important corporation would hire extra personnel in order to get the actual product out by summer rather than "BETA".
Look on the bright side, you will have a PlayBook *and* an Android Tablet later this summer.
"Later this summer"...
You mean in August? Summer is almost over, man...
And what's with this "beta" business? What happened to "Very soon after launch."?
*shrug*
Well as soon as i seen the link for this, i took the plunge and downloaded it...
It's FAR from ready (the gesture where you swipe the bottom bezel from right to left has to be near perfect otherwise it doesn't do it) however it does show promise - i sideloaded the Skype app using ADB however after trying to log in, it popped up with an error message saying it needs to re-install again so it's a good indication that this thing actually exists...
So this MAJOR update every PlayBook owner has been pining for since Day 60 after it was released in the States (I'm from the UK btw) has moved from ''Technological Myth'' to ''Yeah, it's in the works and here's the current state of it''
What we need now is ''Oh hai guys, here it is all shiny, new and fully working'' just hope that the ''later this summer'' isn't really ''Later this summer 2012'' (touch wood)
I've deliberately held off getting another tablet (iPad 2, HP TouchPad with 50GB free Box.net account, Motorola Xoom etc) just to see how the Android Player and native email/PIM works out
Leoncio Zamora
hey i accidently download the link without reading and it said couldnt open file by download i hope this doesnt mess things up for me in the future it said couldnt open app file what should i do i download the file from megaupload android app from n4bb
This is your PIM app
After 60 "business" days :D inside the android player LOLZ :D!
What´s going next.......................................................... iOS player accidentaly?
is very long this summer...
Android is open source so anyone can use it, it's the Google App Store and Google apps like maps and docs to go that cost money to phone manufacturers. So no legal issue.
If they were going to leak a beta, why leak something that clearly doesn't work? I don't see this as intentional.
... It just needs A LOT of polish. I'm currently running Pandora, Kindle, OfficePro, and gmail (not at the same time obviously), and they all work fine.
RIM needs to make the interface consistent and allow apps to launch from the PB environment, rather than from within the Android Player. Gestures need to be consistent too.
Wouldn't RIM need to pay royalties for embedding the Android player in the Playbook? I'd be fairly concerned about the legal ramifications right now...
Is free. That's why so many phone manufactures use it.
Yeah this looks really fishy to me as well. Who would leak a major piece of functionality by mistake, it just doesn't make any sense. The quality of the utility is really poor and is clearly "alpha" code.
I certainly hope RIM is more professional than this and is not doing this type of activity out of desperation.
I always thought the android apps would run in seamless mode, much like windows xp mode apps in win 7. If it wont be using the PB keyboard, can they at least make modifications to the android one to fool us into thinking we are? Don't get me wrong, anything is better than nothing at this point. It just seems like it would make for a better user experience.
What about the many android keyboard available? Will SwiftKey work?
LOL ... How fitting that an Android emulator gets the Crackberry community all up in a frenzy. Makes sense though. Nothing interesting has come from Waterloo in over a year. Tablet market share results just came out and the Playbook came in 4TH behind iOS, Android, and WINDOWS 7. Market share for the QNX wonder is a whopping 3.3%. SMH at you RIM. What a travesty. Very sad. I used to love my Blackberry. :(
I bought a used iPad at a steal from a co-worker when he bought is shiny new Playbook. I even helped him bridge it to his Torch when AT&T would not. Three weeks later I go into work and he has a shiny new iPad 2 on his desk. The reason .... "I missed the iPad. Its screen was nicer and there were so many apps. Its gonna take Blackberry forever to catch up." Sad that RIM needs Android to have any shot at all.
the build date of this android player is 2011.07.19, so it does not seems an "older version" :(
It may have been a feature build that hasn't yet been merged into the main trunk.
i.e. the build that was leaked may have been branched off ages go to develop/test a specific feature, and doesn't yet contain all the features that the final product will have.
I guess technically 2 days can be considered "older" but you are right RIM makes it sound like it is weeks/months old.
Please read Gord888's post directly before yours...
Someone could have easily made the most minute of changes 2 days ago and changed the production date. It done all the time. It is probably months old. Programming this type of applications takes many months to properly accomplish.
could be a recent compike of an old code set...
The leak rocks! Great to see that it works with quite a few apps off the bat
not the best obviously, but a good start for sure
I will definitely be keeping it til official comes 'round
Wow. This is HUGE. I can wait another month or so.
It looks to me like there is going to be a HUGE lineup of news coming from RIM starting later next month.
Why did the US government give the ok for the FBI to use the PlayBook when Canada is SLOW to respond and do the same thing?
WAKE UP Mr. Canadian government. Don't you care about the security of Canadian citizens? Do you want us all to die on the account of you allowing non secure tablets or what?
Where is the compassion?
Is this how you treat your people?
Do you not know what security is?
These PlayBooks should be the ONLY tablet ( and that goes for BlackBerrys Phones as well) permitted to be used by any government official. If a government employee is using anything else, THEY MUST BE FIRED IMMEDIATELY.!
At least with this inadvertent leak I can see there is actually work being done that maybe we can't always see outright.
Keep on, Keepin' on!
never mind. I turned off some Japanese language options that keep coming back in the keyboard settings area, then set keyboard to "simple" then tried again. I don't think I actually changed anything as they all went back to default but it "jogged" the Android keyboard into working...
I had a flawless install and have done 2 restarts. I can't get the Android keyboard to come up either even though all the setting seem correct to me. Is there a trick. A very tiny house (home) looking icon shows up next to the field I want to enter text into.
I'm not an Apple fan, but it's "piqued" and not "peaked".
........Lame
Anyone else think this was a well executed PR stunt? Leaking an early version of a Android app player is just to whip up some excitement about the BB platform again. The vapourware is starting to solidify.
couldn't agree more. seems intentional - either to keep buzz going (esp with new govt playbook approval) and/or to have a bunch of people test it and report the problems on here for them to fix! After all - official statements telling the crackberry community to NOT do something almost always results in increased frequency of that action!
2001bmw330xi, I agree with you 100%... It is just like putting candy in front of a child and telling it not to eat the candy... I want the Android. I am tempted to download this version.... RIM stop teasing us... shoot!!! Whenever we get the Android player and some major apps, it is going to seem as if we have a brand new tablet... Then RIM should have a rerelease of the of the Playbook...
They have official statements for the Android Player leak and not other significant problems posted in the forums. Sheshhhhh! So selective.
late summer beta? I thought it was supposed to be summer release...
Late summer is still summer, isn't it?
But beta isn't release
What they are meaning is that its supposed to be a full release in summer not a beta release. (I think :) )
RIM doesn't expect anyone to stop using it.
This is just to pre-empt the clearly organized Apple trolls who will, of course, begin immediately posting message that start with "I'm not an Apple fan, but....."
I can't get the Android keyboard working. Everything is check-marked for it to work. I guess that that is one of the non-functional features on the Player?
You have to reboot the PlayBook to get the keyboard up.
Posted using the Android browser on the PlayBook.
figures, I doubt it will stop the people from using it... lol
"later this summer".. yeah screw that.. and until then, i'm sticking to my "outdated and non-functional in many respects" leaked android player, thank you very much!
"Later this summer" again, huh?
This is one leak that I would stay away from like the black plague...
+1 x 1,000,000 + infinity * 999 ^2 + a googol (only fitting!)
And the same vote to installing the "official" release when it comes out!
agreed. Still loving it.
"Later this summer" cant come soon enough!
Everything that RIM promises is later this summer.
They say it so much they should trademark it and make it their official slogan.
"Research: In motion, later this summer."
that really made me laugh
did anyone else notice in the statement by RIM they said "The official BETA release of the Android App Player" will be released later this summer. does that mean they will release a Beta android player? and not the final build?