Wednesday, 9 May 2007

RIM Announces BlackBerry Plug-in for Microsoft Visual Studio

Research In Motion (RIM) is planning to introduce a new development tool that will enable developers to work within the familiar .NET programming environment to rapidly create rich client wireless applications for BlackBerry smartphones. The BlackBerry Plug-in for Microsoft Visual Studio provides system integrators and in-house corporate developers with the ability to create BlackBerry applications that integrate with back-end systems through .NET Web Services.

The BlackBerry Plug-in for Microsoft Visual Studio will leverage the BlackBerry Mobile Data System (BlackBerry MDS) to simplify wireless application development, deployment and management for the enterprise.

“Corporations of all sizes are increasingly recognising the tremendous opportunities to boost productivity and competitive advantage through wireless data applications,” said Stephen Drake, Programme Director for Mobile Enterprise at IDC. “Offering standard development tools that enable the creation of secure and manageable applications while abstracting the complexities of wireless systems will help accelerate the broader adoption of mobile enterprise applications.”

BlackBerry MDS is a robust and widely deployed platform that enables wireless access to enterprise systems, and applications developed with the BlackBerry Plug-in for Microsoft Visual Studio will benefit from its advanced security, manageability, network efficiency and push capabilities. The BlackBerry Plug-in for Microsoft Visual Studio extends the Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 rapid development environment to enable the creation of rich BlackBerry MDS Runtime applications for BlackBerry smartphones.

“RIM continues to provide a flexible and open development platform with robust tools, technical assistance and support of industry standards,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion. “This new developer tool meets the needs of the .NET developer community as well as enterprise customers by enabling the development of BlackBerry applications within the familiar framework of Visual Studio. It leverages existing skill sets as well as existing investments in the BlackBerry platform.”
According to the company, the key benefits of the BlackBerry Plug-in for Microsoft Visual Studio include:

• Familiar Development Experience
• Leverages Developer Skill Sets
• Wireless Connectivity
• Platform Interoperability
• Rich Client Application Functionality
• Security and Manageability