RIM could be planning to allow Android applications to run on its BlackBerry Playbook and implementing this in the latter half of the year,according to Bloomberg.
The news outlet, which cites three people familiar with the matter, says that RIM plans to piggyback Android's 130,000+ apps using software it is developing internally, lending credence to previous rumours.
The PlayBook itself runs BlackBerry's proprietary QNX-based OS, but if the rumours are to be believed, support for Android applications could be ready as early as the second half of this year, possibly using the Dalvik Java virtual machine.
Clever RIM
Although it's not clear how the Android Marketplace would integrate with BlackBerry's own App World, if at all, it certainly would be a quick and easy route to a successful app store for the new tablet, particularly as BlackBerry has fallen behind in the apps arms race.
Google has yet to comment on the rumours, making it unclear whether or not this is a move that's been sanctioned by the Android owner.
The sources also say we could see Android apps running on the RIM tablet as early as the second half of 2011.
The BlackBerry Playbook should be available in the UK in late Spring, something we're pretty excited about after our glowing hands on BlackBerry PlayBook review.
Via Bloomberg
