\n\tThe big announcement of the conference was BBX — RIM’s merging of BlackBerry OS with QNX.
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\n\tDevelopers will be able to target the platform using C/C++ or via HTML5 packages.
\n\tThe vast majority of the keynote’s demonstrations were of games — they showed off the hardware acceleration that the PlayBook is capable of.
\n\tThis application takes advantage of WebGL and ran quite nicely.
\n\tCascades is a UI framework coupled with RIM’s new Native SDK, which uses C++ to create interfaces, such as this photo-viewing application that has the photos fall onto the screen as the user scrolls through.
\n\tThis Cascades application analyses a user’s communication sources.
\n\tCitrix showed its Citrix Receiver, which allows PlayBook users to use a virtual Windows Desktop and run virtual applications. After all the games were shown during the keynote it was nice to have a useful application aimed squarely at BlackBerry’s traditional users.
\n\tThis game was created using Abode AIR.
\n\tThis pool application was created for Android and uses BBX’s Android runtime.
\n\tAn overview of the frameworks and APIs available for BBX.
\n\tUsing the PlayBook’s HDMI output, attendees were able to play games on televisions and use the PlayBook as a steering wheel. While fine in theory, it was actually easier to look at the PlayBook in practice.
\n\tWhile it may have been subliminal to most attendees, they were exposed to the delight of having beetroot, egg and pineapple on a burger.
Some would say that it is a long way from software engineering to journalism, others would correctly argue that it is a mere 10 metres according to the floor plan. During his first five years with CBS Interactive, Chris started his journalistic adventure in 2006 as the Editor of Builder AU after originally joining the company as a programmer. Leaving CBS Interactive in 2010 to follow his deep desire to study the snowdrifts and culinary delights of Canada, Chris based himself in Vancouver and paid for his new snowboarding and poutine cravings as a programmer for a lifestyle gaming startup. Chris returns to CBS in 2011 as the Editor of TechRepublic Australia determined to meld together his programming and journalistic tendencies once and for all.
