RIM Considering Dalvik Java Virtual Machine – BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet & Future Smartphones To Run Android ...

By Mauricio

First awesome news bit today comes to us courtesy of the team over at BGR. Apparently RIM is still unsure about how it will handle Java on future BlackBerry devices running the QNX OS like the PlayBook. Their main concern is being able to support legacy apps since most developers are deployed and would not be willing to rebuild theirs. While RIM is pushing the WebWorks platform for developing across devices, there is still a need for a Java VM. According to BG’s sources, RIM is considering Dalvik, the virtual machine used in the Android platform:

Here is the big news: we have been told RIM is very much considering the Dalvik virtual machine, and we ultimately expect the company to chose Dalvik. If that sounds familiar to you, it’s because it’s the same VM that the Android OS uses, and it would allow RIM’s PlayBook and other QNX devices to run just about any application built for the Android platform.

There are various approaches to this situation — one where RIM uses the open source Dalvik VM and does not involve Google, and another (incredible) scenario where RIM and Google might reach an agreement (basically “certify” the device/platform) that would provide official support to Android apps on RIM’s QNX-based OS, and would feature the Android Market, Google’s Gmail, Maps, and other apps.

How’s that for some pretty unexpected news? If you switched to Android, would you go back to BlackBerry if you could run the same apps?

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