BlackBerry is branching out. Beginning Tuesday, Research In Motion will open the BlackBerry platform further by offering developers APIs (application programming interfaces) that allow them to make more interesting lifestyle-oriented applications.
Having customer relationship management software on your smart phone is cool and all, but soon BlackBerry addicts will have access to applications that are far more consumer oriented: apps with embedded audio and video, more location-based services, support for better 3D graphics, and more customizable wallpaper and ringtones.
The new collection of BlackBerry APIs are based on the industry standard Java Micro Edition.