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RIM Announces BlackBerry Plug-in for Microsoft Visual Studio
Research In Motion has announced last week plans 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 BlackBerryPlug-in for Microsoft Visual Studio provides system integrators and in-house corporate developers with the ability to create BlackBerry applications that seamlessly 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 recognizing the tremendous opportunities to boost productivity and competitive advantage through wireless data applications. 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.â€
said Stephen Drake, Program Director for Mobile Enterprise at IDC.
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. 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.â€
said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion.
Key benefits of the BlackBerry Plug-in for Microsoft Visual Studio include:
- Familiar Development Experience - The plug-in integrates within thefamiliar Visual Studio development environment, and allows developers to visually design, implement and debug applications for BlackBerry smartphones.
- Leverages Developer Skill Sets - Customers and system integrators can leverage their developer skill sets in order to reduce costs and accelerate the development of applications for the BlackBerry platform.
- Seamless Wireless Connectivity - Leverages the inherent security, manageability and efficient wireless connectivity of the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution.
- Platform Interoperability - Allows enterprises to create rich client applications for BlackBerry smartphones that interoperate with .NET-based systems via Web Services.
- Rich Client Application Functionality - Provides the ability to create rich client applications with a flexible user interface, offline data storage, asynchronous push, and secure data access.
- Enterprise-Class Security and Manageability - Applications developed will leverage the same security architecture of BlackBerry Enterprise Server. IT departments will benefit from simplified management and centralized control of their wireless deployments with reduced administrative overhead and a lower total cost of ownership.
The BlackBerry Plug-in for Microsoft Visual Studio was previewed at the Wireless Enterprise Symposium 2007 in Orlando, Florida and is expected to be available later this year as a free download at blackberrydeveloper.com.
