At last month’s Consumer Electronics Show, Research in Motion previewed the company’s upcoming BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 update, which we exclusively reported would land in mid-February. The anticipated update will give PlayBook users the ability to use Android apps that have been compiled for RIM’s platform, but getting developers on board remains the issue. RIM is taking steps to get the attention of developers, however, and one of the first is to offer free BlackBerry PlayBook tablets to ...

Over the next 12 months, Google’s Android operating system will become the favorite platform among mobile developers, according to research firm Ovum. Nearly all developers, however, will support both mobile platforms. While Apple’s iOS and Android have long been the favorites, Ovum said there is growing developer interest in both Windows Phone and BlackBerry operating systems. “The growing momentum behind Windows Phone indicates that Microsoft has managed to convince developers that its pl...

Microsoft recently revealed a number of details on its Windows 8 Windows Store, an application storefront that will launch in February in tandem with Windows 8 Beta. Microsoft corporate vice president Antoine Leblond explained that developers will receive 80% of all revenues from applications sold after earning $25,000 in revenue, before which developers will receive a 70% cut. Apple, by contrast, offers developers 70% of app revenues. Microsoft is also taking a different approach to subscription models. The ...

We’re live from Spotify’s New York City press conference where CEO and founder Daniel Ek took the stage to announce several new Spotify features, most notably applications. Ek confirmed that Spotify will launch a “truly integrated” application platform inside Spotify that will be “tailored to you and your user tastes.” Third party developers can easily build HTML5 apps using a simple API. The first generation of applications will be featured within the “Spotify platfo...

Apple just started seeding iOS 5.1 moments ago to iOS developers. The new build is available for the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, iPad and third and fourth-generation iPod touch devices. We’ll let you know if this new release further fixes battery life and if we find any other changes. Apple’s full change log for this release follows below. (more…)

Apple began seeding OS X Lion 10.7.3 to developers on Tuesday. In its release notes, Apple said there are no known issues and that the update focuses on iCloud document storage, AddressBook, iCal and Mail. As is typical, developers who choose to upgrade will not be able to revert back to the previous build after updating to OS X Lion 10.7.3. Apple’s full release notes follow after the break. (more…)

Developers are now more compelled to build apps for Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system than for RIM’s aging BlackBerry OS, new research from Appcelerator and IDC revealed Monday. “The third major mobile OS after iOS and Android is now clearly Windows [Phone], driven largely by the Microsoft/Nokia partnership and underscored by the new Nokia Lumia 800,” IDC vice president of mobile and connected consumer platforms Scott Ellisson explained. 38% of survey respondents said they a...

Apple has just seeded iOS 5.0.1 to developers for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad devices. Here are the changes, and most notably, Apple has confirmed that some users have experienced unideal battery life and iOS 5.0.1 should fix that:iOS 5.0.1 beta contains improvements and other bug fixes including:Fixes bugs affecting battery lifeAdds Multitasking Gestures for original iPadResolves bugs with Documents in the CloudImproves voice recognition for Australian users using dictationContains security improvementsiOS ...

Beginning January 1st, Google will start charging a fee to developers and websites that frequently access its Google Maps API service, BBC reported recently. Developers will apparently be charged $4 for every 1,000 views after Google Maps is accessed more than 25,000 times in a single 24-hour period. BBC said Google expects the changes will only affect 0.35% of its user base. “We understand that the introduction of these limits may be concerning,” Google Maps product manager Thor Mitchell said. &#...

With iOS 5 being released on October 12th to everyone (well, everyone who has relatively recent Apple device), Apple is making it available to developers today for testing. It just hit Apple’s developer site, and we’re in the process of getting it installed on our devices. We’ll update you with any new changes we find, and you do the same, alright? In the mean time, the full change log we received is after the break! (more…)

Desktop apps that are designed to run on Windows 8 computers with x86/x64 processors will also be capable of running on ARM processors, ZDNet reported on Tuesday. Developers will need to recompile applications so that they run properly and Microsoft is hoping that a majority of developers create both desktop and ARM versions of their applications. In addition, ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley said the standard Windows 8 desktop Metro style user interface will look the exact same on both types of processors. Micros...

Samsung will open its bada mobile operating system to other manufacturers and developers next year in an effort to “reduce its reliance” on Android, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. The South Korea-based company also hopes it can deploy bada on other devices, such as smart TVs. Samsung unveiled bada in late 2009 and has used the operating system on its Wave family of handsets. According to Gartner, bada currently has a 1.9% share of the mobile OS market. Samsung’s latest bada-pow...

Google posted a guide on its Android Developers website on Monday that should help developers prepare Honeycomb applications for the new Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) operating system, which will run on smartphones as well as tablets. That means Honeycomb developers will need to make their applications compatible with displays smaller than those found on various Android tablets. Creating an Ice Cream Sandwich compatible version of an application is important to reaching a larger audience, too. “Optim...

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer surprised developers during Micorosft’s BUILD conference in California on Wednesday when he took the stage to talk up Microsoft’s new operating system, currently named Windows 8. Ballmer noted that there have already been 500,000 downloads of the operating system since it went live last night. “We still have a long way to go with Windows 8,” Ballmer said. “We’re retooling all of what we do.” Ballmer believes that the changes will compel dev...