March 27th, 2007
BlackBerry Adds APIs To Support Cool New Third-Party Apps
Just a few minutes ago, BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion said it is adding additional Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to the BlackBerry Java Development Environment (BlackBerry JDE).
Doing so will stimulate more third-party applications development, RIM implied in their statement.
The BlackBerry Java Development Environment can be accessed by more than 125,000 registrered developers. JDE contains a set of Java APIs for BlackBerry that are promoted as offering tighter integration with the unique features of BlackBerry smartphones and applications.
Some of these include:
- Mobile Multi-Media API for Java (JSR 135) allowing developers to embed custom audio and video content into applications; invoke the BlackBerry Media Player to play video or audio content; record audio or voice and save recorded files to the handset or send it over the Internet
- Camera APIs that allow developers to invoke the camera application and access pictures taken with the camera; support for registering listeners with the Camera application that enable an application to be notified when a new picture is taken
- Support for MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC and AMR audio formats with support for routing audio playback to the external speaker, connected headset and Bluetooth(R) headset
- XML and Web Services support to help simplify communications with existing Internet applications
- BlackBerry Messenger APIs allowing access to presence and contact information and the ability to send peer-to-peer messages
- File System Access APIs (JSR 75) to provide access to documents and other files stored locally on the smartphone or on the microSD expansion memory; support for registering listeners with the file system that enable an application to be notified when a new files are added or removed
- GPS APIs (JSR 179) that provide access to location information from local GPS chip or external GPS receiver connected over Bluetooth
- BlackBerry Maps API providing access to the map application to display an address or a route with BlackBerry Maps providing all of the geo-coding and mapping data for free
- Wallpaper and Ringtone Customization Java APIs to enable custom applications to add new wallpapers and ringtones to the smartphone
- Planned support for 3D Graphics API (JSR 184) and SVG API (JSR 226) to enable more powerful gaming and rich-media content
Russell Shaw is an enterprise computing journalist, analyst and author based in Portland, Oregon. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
