BlackBerry is a line of wireless mobile devices developed by Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM). While including smartphone applications (address book, calendar, to-do lists, etc.) as well as telephone capabilities on newer models, the BlackBerry is primarily known for its ability to send and receive e-mail wherever it can access a wireless network of certain cellular phone carriers.
BlackBerry Widget applications are standalone BlackBerry device applications that consist of standard web components, including HTML, XHTML, style sheets, JavaScript, SVG, image files, and other resources. BlackBerry Widget applications follow the same security rules, configuration, and deployment model as any other native BlackBerry application.
Integrating with BlackBerry device applications
A BlackBerry Widget can invoke a BlackBerry device application such as the email, organizer, phone, browser, and camera applications to perform an action or display information. The invoke BlackBerry Widget objects allow you to pass arguments to the BlackBerry device application.
The BlackBerry Java Development Environment (JDE) is an integrated development environment (IDE) that provides a complete set of tools and APIs for you to develop Java applications that run on BlackBerry devices. JDE requires the Java 2 SDK to run. The JDE is a fully-integrated development environment and simulation tool for building Java Platform, Micro Edition (Java ME) applications. BlackBerry’s JDE is a Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) compliant Java ME environment, which is ideal for developers who want to uphold seamless portability in their wireless applications.
BlackBerry handheld devices are becoming quite popular for both data and voice, and wireless carriers all over the world are distributing them. Several BlackBerry devices are Java-enabled, supporting CLDC and MIDP, while also providing API extensions for BlackBerry-specific features. The BlackBerry Java Development Environment enables developers to create CLDC-based, BlackBerry-specific applications that will run only on a BlackBerry, as well as standard MIDlets that will run on any MIDP-enabled device, including those bearing the BlackBerry brand.
