It’s becoming more and more evident as the smartphone market continues to evolve and develop that a solid piece of handset hardware means nothing if you don’t have the software to back it up. That means a lot more than just an efficient operating system (OS) and intuitive user interface (UI). In the smartphone world one form of software reigns supreme over them all: the humble app. As such the battle to take the app throne heats up more every day and RIM’s BlackBerry line has been faltering in the crossfire between Apple and Android in their intense war to secure app supremacy.
In what will hopefully prove an intelligent tactical manoeuvre RIM recently announced their planned acquisition of tinyHippos, the creator of the Ripple Mobile Environment Emulator.
The Ripple Mobile Environment Emulator is a tool by which app developers can test their HTML5 software directly within their web browser. This tool is great for developers who have traditionally had to rely on browser-specific emulators in order to test their apps, thus requiring them to test the software across multiple emulators. It also makes things much easier when porting a pre-existing app (say and Android app) to the BlackBerry OS.
In short, RIM is trying to lure more app developers over to their camp by making it easier for them to write for BlackBerry devices or port their already popular apps from other platforms to the BlackBerry OS.
We like where RIM’s head is at here. While BlackBerry devices were once synonymous with the term “smartphone” they’ve been getting left behind in recent years. Turning their attention to improving their software, which has really been their biggest weakness since they realized that touchscreens existed, is a great step in the right direction.
The question now remains “is it enough?”. The Android and Apple app marketplaces are already booming industries. Will any developers find this new streamlined development process enough to make the switch to the BlackBerry OS, or will they continue to attempt to appeal to the already massive Android and iOS markets?
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