RIM Intros Developer Tools for BlackBerry Storm, Bold and Pearl Flip

Research In Motion reportedly announced the availability of new developer tools for creating and testing innovative applications for BlackBerry (News - Alert) Storm, BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphones.

 

The developer tools include new versions of the BlackBerry Java Development Environment. They are available as free downloads and will be showcased at the BlackBerry developer conference. The developer tools enable streamlined development of mobile applications and desktop simulators that accelerate mobile application testing.

 

“The latest versions of the BlackBerry Java Development Environment present developers with opportunities to create innovative, mobile-savvy applications that take advantage of the robust feature sets of the smartphones,” said Alan Brenner, senior vice president of BlackBerry platforms at Research In Motion, in a statement. “Each new BlackBerry smartphone presents an opportunity for mobile developers to create new applications or extend their innovations with the latest advances in mobile technology and application development.”

 

RIM technology enables third-party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products and services with wireless connectivity to data. The new developer tools are important for the industry including enterprise customers.

 

New Application Programming Interfaces available with BlackBerry JDE v4.7 that enable developers to take advantage of the new features of the BlackBerry Storm smartphone include touch-screen support, orientation and rotation support, accelerometer support, virtual keyboard control, camera and media integration, and set homescreen background image.

 

The new API features on the BlackBerry JDE v4.6 and BlackBerry JDE v4.7 include scalable vector graphics, location-based services, multimedia integration, customized messages and alerts, multiple calendar and contact list support, time zone enhancements, decor enhancements, and short messaging services and multimedia messaging services listener.

 

Besides new APIs, developers can take advantage of new features for the development of browser-based mobile applications, including improved Web page rendering and support for downloading files via the browser.

 

Desktop simulators for BlackBerry Storm, BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Pearl Flip smartphones accelerate mobile application development by enabling developers to easily test the end-to-end user experience and wireless network interactivity of their mobile applications, company said in a statement.