It was two years ago when the mobile community was abuzz with rumors that RIM would be supporting both Flash and Silverlight applications. Since then RIM’s tablet line actually delivered Flash while Silverlight was nowhere to be seen. Given that there was really no interest for Sivlerlight mobile apps back then it isn’t surprising that they went with Flash.
Since then RIM has had its eye on the application stores run by Apple and Google. While only a small fraction of the applications are actually useful, all it takes is the lack of a single application to drive customers away. RIM cannot simply court specific developers, as what’s considered an essential application varies from person to person. So instead they are looking at supporting the whole Android app store.
An alpha version for the PlayBook was accidentally released by RIM last month, a mistake that was detected by the fan site N4BB. While the download is still in the wild, RIM strongly discourages its use. In a statement cited by CrackBerry, RIM says,
An older version of the Android App Player beta software for the BlackBerry PlayBook was inadvertently posted and has since been removed. We recommend that users refrain from downloading and installing this software since it is outdated and non-functional in many respects. The official beta release of the Android App Player for the BlackBerry PlayBook is on track for release later this summer.