We just told you about the Marmalade SDK for the BlackBerry PlayBook but we have some other good info for game developers. The developer of BattleBallz Chaos, DrMop, has posted a great guide on how to setup and deploy a game developed using the cross platform Marmalade SDK onto the BlackBerry PlayBook and available in App World. This is all based on the Marmalade SDK 5.1.3 with beta PlayBook support which is quite slick.
Check out the tutorial here on DrMop’s blog.
Via:BBReview
[This post comes to us courtesy of CrackBerry Forums member HaTaX who has been doing some awesome things with the Android Player on the BlackBerry PlayBook despite its current limitations]
This tutorial assumes you’ve already installed the Android player BAR file on your PlayBook. If you haven’t done so yet, go find “sys.android.bar” somewhere on the interwebs, and then check here for instructions on installing downloaded BAR files to your PlayBook
You also need to extract the contents of the “GApps-PB-rev2.zip” to your PlayBook after the Android player has started for the first time. Extract these files to the file share on your PlayBook via the network file sharing feature. You should extract the 3 folders in the ZIP file to “\PLAYBOOKmediamiscandroid” where PLAYBOOK is the IP address of your PlayBook. Get the ZIP file to be extracted to your PlayBook here.
The key to getting this working 100% correctly is to be PATIENT! Don’t try to move any faster then the video or you may get some weirdness or your downloads will sit at the “Starting Download…” message. If that happens, restart the PB and try again.
*This stuff is all experimental, if you decide to go through these steps it’s at your own risk.*
via:cb
In another leak for a soon to be released device, we have OS 7.0.0.258 for the BlackBerry Bold 9790. We saw a bit from this device (dubbed “Bellagio”) with a few tutorial videos that had been leaked. I’m sure not many of you have one to play around with, but if you do you can fire up this leaked OS and see how it goes. Feel free to post some comments (or even pictures) should you be one of the lucky ones 😉
*OS Disclaimer – Please Read: Keep in mind this is NOT an official release and as such is not supported by RIM or your Carrier. If you choose to install, do so at your own risk and only if you’re comfortable in the process of upgrading and downgrading your device software. It is quite normal during operating system development for certain features to be crippled or disabled while others are tested, and these beta builds often reflect that. They are not always better. Depending on your BlackBerry comfort level, it may be best for you to wait for community feedback on a build before deciding to download and install for yourself or simply wait for the next official release.
Download OS 7.0.0.258 for the Bold 9790
Source: BBH-Plus
Ever needed to have a contact’s number in your phone but didn’t really want their name in your address book ‘just in case’ you were in a situation where other prying eyes are interested in who is in your BlackBerry address book? This “feature” I found a few years ago I’m assuming is a bug in the OS, and is so far down the priority list of things for RIM to worry about that is now a permanent feature.
OK, full disclosure, because my wife and her friends read CrackBerry.com – I personally do not use this feature. I only found it by accident and the way my brain works sometimes is to look several moves down the chessboard and see how this can be implemented. I do know several people that when I have shown this to have in fact put it into play.
So with that all out of the way let’s get down to the good stuff…
Although the Playbook doesn’t have OTA capabilities there is another way users can load non App World applications. This method, perfected by Keeper (Berry Review Forums), is ideal for sharing ported applications and, in case you are a developer, allowing Playbookers to beta test your applications. Side Loading, as it’s come to be called, requires a PC and a few programs. Here is my attempt to create a tutorial for the process. Hopefully RIM simplifies this process but until then this is what we have.
First (on your PC) download and install JRE (Java Runtime Environment)
Then download and install the Development Mode Installer which is used to load applications on your Playbook.
Continue reading BlackBerry Playbook SideLoading Tutorial and Resources
RIM’s vision of BlackBerry ID is slowly taking shape with more and more services coming under its umbrella. More and more RIM services are starting to use BlackBerry ID and it will be an integral part of BlackBerry OS 7 just like it is on the PlayBook. Right now when a developer wants to identify an app user they can either use the users PIN number or maybe query one of the email addresses associated with the device. RIM plans for BlackBerry ID to replace that as single point of identification for a BlackBerry user.
I spoke to Mike Kirkup, Director of Developer Relations @RIM, about this upcoming API that is either shipping with BlackBerry OS 7 or coming as a service after launch like the Advertising or BBM service. Developers can potentially use that BlackBerry ID data as a form of identification to uniquely identify a user. For example, developers can use that ID to verify app licenses against their own registration list and other customizations based on a single identity. I am hoping that means the end of registration codes and painful PIN transitions.
On top of that RIM has a long term vision beyond the original use case for BlackBerry ID. They envision leveraging it in the future for 3rd party devs to store information about the user like app registrations or even app settings in the cloud. I can see quite a bit that devs could benefit from especially for making the transition between devices simpler. It could store a quick backup object for each app with basic settings to make device switches a piece of cake sort of like what BlackBerry Protect did.
What do you think about the BlackBerry ID API?
Oddly enough I found that Adobe Developer Evangelist, Renaun Erickson, posted a whole tutorial about working with the BlackBerry ID API on the BlackBerry PlayBook. The weird part is that I can find no reference to the different API’s Renaun talks about though I can now confirm that they are coming. Renaun pulls in this ID information from the following classes:
Except for Renaun mentioning them I cannot find any other reference to them. Let me know if you figure out more!
via:bbr
Rene let us know about a way to get Google’s slick Cloud Print solution working from your BlackBerry PlayBook. Rod from SimpleMobileReview posted up some simple instructions on how to set it up and print from the Gmail client on the BlackBerry PlayBook which is kind of slick. It simply ties your home printer on your home network to be able to print any of your emails or attachments.
Check out the tutorial Rod put together at this link and let us know if it works for you!
via:bbr
I ran across this commercial for FedEx Office Print & Go today, and while it’s not new exactly, I thought it was humorous as well as informative. Who can’t use a laugh on a Monday, right? This ad features a couple of business men at FedEx Office, trying to print a document from their boss, using their BlackBerry Torches. It’s a clever ad, and reminded me that I want to try this app out sometime. After watching the tutorial video for HP ePrint and seeing how easy it looks to print documents from your device right to the copier at FedEx Office, without ever having to wait for an employee to do it for you or rent the computers there to get to your document, I can really see how this would be a valuable application for anyone on-the-go that needs to print something quick. You can check out more information at the links below.
More information/download the HP ePrint App from BlackBerry App World
Read about HP’s ePrint Mobile Printing
Read about FedEx Office Print & Go
via:cb
Recent news over the weekend came out of a problem batch of about 1,000 PlayBook tablets released into the market. Supposedly only a few of those tablets may have actually ended up in the users hands, according to a recent statement put out by RIM. Sources also say that the tablets were headed to Staples stores.
So, if you happened to purchase your PlayBook from a Staples store you may want to check out our tutorial on how to find the serial number on your tablet, and see if it matches up with one of the serials numbers released from RIM from the infected tablets. If you do end up with a bad tablet, contact RIM support immediately, and let us know as well.
When customizing your BlackBerry PlayBook, one of the first things you’ll want to do is change the wallpaper. While some might be able to do this without a hitch, others will have trouble figuring out just where to go to get it done. This quick tutorial will help you quickly change your wallpaper using any saved photo or sample wallpaper on the device.
Continue reading BlackBerry PlayBook 101: Changing the wallpaper on your BlackBerry PlayBook
Night Hawk Computers Blackberry Alliance 