At BlackBerry Jam Americas in San Jose on Tuesday, RIM released the latest update to the BlackBerry 10 development tools beta, providing developers with even greater capabilities and features for building powerful applications on the BlackBerry 10 platform. These improved capabilities and functions enable an unparalleled user experience on BlackBerry 10.

The updates to the beta software development tools continue to improve the ease and speed of development for BlackBerry 10 – the most open ecosystem in mobile today. Developers can choose to develop apps with the languages and frameworks they’re comfortable using – including; Native C/C++, Qt, HTML5, Adobe AIR and Android Java runtime technologies. Developers can use the skills and knowledge they already have to quickly and easily build high quality and engaging apps.

New features of the BlackBerry 10 development tools improve readability of code and increase efficiency and convenience when building and editing applications. Changes include:

• BlackBerry 10 Core Applications

o   Software update for both the BlackBerry 10 simulator and BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha now includes the core BlackBerry 10 message center, contacts, calendar, and BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) applications

o   Developers can now start to develop BBM enabled applications for BlackBerry 10 smartphones

• Introduction of a new Native (C/C++) plug-in for Microsoft Visual Studio

o   Allows game developers to use their existing Microsoft Visual Studio tools to port their game titles to both the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and BlackBerry 10 smartphones

• Updated Ripple Simulator

o   Additional support for BlackBerry 10 device and API emulation

o   Ripple now offers Adobe Cordova (PhoneGap) some of the best support available in a web simulator

BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha Testing Device

The BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha testing device program has been a great success and due to the high demand, we have manufactured a second round of BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha testing devices for distribution. This is a sign of our commitment to our developer community. We are making sure they have the best software tools to build, and with this device, the best hardware to test.

Also see:

1) “BlackBerry 10 Sneak Peek: Mobile Has a Brand New Flow [VIDEO]”

http://blogs.blackberry.com/2012/09/blackberry-10-video/

2) “BlackBerry Jam Americas Keynote: Heins Delivering on Our Vision, Mobile Leadership and Strong Momentum [VIDEO]”

http://blogs.blackberry.com/2012/09/blackberry-jam-americas-keynote-video/

3) “RIM CEO Thorsten Heins Addresses BlackBerry Jam Americas 2012, Shares More Sneak Peeks of BlackBerry 10”

http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/09/blackberry-jam-americas-thorsten-keynote/

4) “BlackBerry 10 Demo and Exclusive Backstage Interview at BlackBerry Jam Americas”

http://blogs.blackberry.com/2012/09/blackberry-10-exclusive-demo-video/

5) “First Look: Apps, Videos, Music and More: BlackBerry App World on BlackBerry 10 [VIDEO]”

http://blogs.blackberry.com/2012/09/app-world-on-blackberry-10-video/

6) “BlackBerry 10 Browser Previewed at BlackBerry Jam Americas [VIDEO]”

http://blogs.blackberry.com/2012/09/blackberry-10-browser-video/

7) “Balancing Work and Personal Life with BlackBerry 10: The Guide for Business Professionals and IT Administrators”

http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/09/blackberry-balance-on-blackberry-10/

8) “How to add corporate email, calendar, and contacts to a BlackBerry 10 smartphone in simple steps”

http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/09/blackberry-10-enterprise-activation/

9) “Jeff Holleran, RIM Sr. Director of Enterprise Product Management, Talks BlackBerry 10 in Enterprise [VIDEO]”

http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/09/blackberry10-bes10-enterprise-roadmap/