RIM Puts Social Tools Into Public Beta

Research In Motion (RIM) has released the first public beta-test version of Blackberry Messenger (BBM) Social Platform, the BBM extension announced at the Blackberry DEVCON last September.

The BlackBerry Messenger Social Platform, expected to be released this spring, gives developers access to a set of APIs that let them build BBM features such as chat, content sharing and invitations into their applications, RIM said.

Integration

For instance, BBM users could use the service to invite a friend to join them in a game, and then chat with one another while the game is being played, according to RIM. RIM has said that BBM has more than 28 million users.

Other BBM features users will be able to integrate include contact lists, user profiles, application-specific communities and content transfer, according to RIM.

The current beta is aimed at Java developers, with support for BlackBerry WebWorks developers scheduled for the next beta, set for release in April. WebWorks is a set of development tools for the development of HTML-based BlackBerry applications.

The current release includes simulators for BlackBerry OS 5.0 and 6.0.

Earlier this month RIM was reported to be in talks with Google and Apple about making BBM available for people using the Android and iOS platforms.

Tablet rumours

Technology blog Boy Genius Report (BGR) cited “multiple trusted sources” for the news.

This follows rumours last month that RIM’s forthcoming Playbook tablet could run Android Apps in an effort to boost developer interest. RIM is also rumoured to be building Android Apps support into all of its BlackBerry devices.