BlackBerry Widget SDK 1.0 Beta 3

The new BlackBerry® Widget SDK 1.0 Beta 3 consists of the BlackBerry Widget Packager 1.0 Beta 3, a BlackBerry smartphone simulator, the BlackBerry Email and Connectivity Simulator (this is an HTTP Proxy and is needed to develop widgets), documentation and code samples.

The BlackBerry Widget Packager 1.0 Beta 3 is a new tool that allows web developers to package up their web assets into BlackBerry Widgets (small, discrete, standalone web applications that use HTML, CSS and JavaScript®). A BlackBerry Widget looks, behaves and has the same security mechanisms as a native BlackBerry smartphone application. BlackBerry Widgets can be installed on a BlackBerry smartphone like any native application and extended to use device-specific information and data using the BlackBerry Widget APIs.

Beta 3

Our latest Beta software opens up new development opportunities with focus based navigation for trackpad and trackball devices, added communication options and bug fixes. Download the latest version and experience new development opportunities.

BlackBerry Widget SDK 1.0 Beta 3 Downloads

Development Tools

Each of the tools below needs to be downloaded before you can begin development. Note: if you installed the BlackBerry Widget SDK 1.0 Beta 1 or Beta 2, please remove it before installing the Beta 3 version.

1. Download and install the Sun Java® Application Development Kit. This is required software to compile the BlackBerry Widget. Minimum version of JDK 1.6 is required—if you have JDK 1.6 or higher already installed, you can skip this step
2. Download and install the BlackBerry Widget Packager Beta 3. Note: this is a 32-bit version for Windows® XP and Windows Vista™. The tool is currently not supported on 64-bit operating systems and Windows 7
3. View or download the BlackBerry Widget SDK Installation Guide
4. For developers who wish to use the Eclipse or Microsoft Visual Studio development environments, we offer a beta release of our BlackBerry Web Plug-in software to create BlackBerry Widgets.

Technical Requirements

• Operating System: Windows XP and Windows Vista (32-bit)
• Java®: Java 1.6

Note: 64-bit operating systems and Windows 7 aren’t currently supported.

If you installed the BlackBerry Widget SDK Beta 1 or Beta 2, please remove it before installing the Beta 3 version.

Deployment Tool (only required when deploying on a physical device)

• You’ll need a code signing key to enable your application to run on a physical device

Documentation

• View and download BlackBerry Widget SDK documentation, including the Installation Guide, Development Guide, API Reference and Release Notes

Videos

• How to Use the BlackBerry Widget Packager to Create Your BlackBerry Widget — This video covers how to use the BlackBerry Widget Packager command line tool to package your web content and create a BlackBerry Widget
• Features of BlackBerry Widgets — Shows the different features of BlackBerry Widgets and how to use them

Sample Code

• Grocery List (ZIP) — Source code for a BlackBerry Widget that demonstrates the basics of Navigation Mode.
• Remote Control (ZIP) — A proof of concept layout for a remote control application that demonstration how to use the various navigation mode properties in your BlackBerry Widget.
• Storing local data with Gears (ZIP) — A full working sample that utilizes the SQLite® database using BlackBerry Widgets
• Accessing information from SD Card (File I/O from the SD card) (ZIP) — A full working sample of using File I/O to store, retrieve and backup data on the SD Card from widgets
• Using PIM information (ZIP) — Source code for a BlackBerry Widget that creates and displays contact information from the contacts database

Tutorials (step-by-step instructions)

• How to Set Up Eclipse® for Widget Development with the BlackBerry Widget Packager (PDF) — Learn how to create the proper directory and file structure to create your BlackBerry Widgets using Eclipse and how to package them for deployment using the BlackBerry Widget Packager
• How to Install More BlackBerry Smartphone Simulators (PDF) — Learn how to install multiple BlackBerry smartphone simulators side-by-side to debug your applications
• How to Configure the BlackBerry® MDS Simulator to Work Behind a Proxy (PDF) — Learn how to configure the BlackBerry MDS Simulator to work behind a proxy with the appropriate settings
• How to Install the BlackBerry Widget Packager (PDF) — Learn how to install the BlackBerry Widget Packager to create your widgets using the command line tool
• How to Avoid Recompiling a BlackBerry Widget During Development (PDF) — A guide on how to reduce development time by eliminating the need to recompile and rebuild your BlackBerry Widget between small edits
• How to Secure Your BlackBerry Widget (PDF) — A guide to understanding how to use the feature and access permission elements of the config.xml file to enable a BlackBerry Widget to access the web APIs and content from remote domains

Labs (development guidance)

• Building a BlackBerry Widget JavaScript Extension (ZIP) — How to extend the functionality of your BlackBerry Widget application to include native BlackBerry functionality.
• Create a push widget (ZIP) — A step-by-step example of how to create a widget that listens for pushed data
• Create a GPS widget (ZIP) — Exercise in how to build a BlackBerry Widget that invokes the BlackBerry® Maps application for a selected location
• Create a widget using PIM (ZIP) — How to build a BlackBerry Widget that displays contact information from the contacts database

BlackBerry Widget SDK 1.0 Beta 3 Additional Information

New Functionality for this Release

• Focus based navigation for trackpad and trackball smartphone devices.
• The ability to choose which transport (e.g. Wi-Fi®, BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, etc.), the order and timeout value
• Bug fixing

Core Functionality

• Combined both the BlackBerry smartphone simulator and BlackBerry Email and Connectivity Simulator into the same product bundle as the BlackBerry Widget Packager
• BlackBerry Widgets leverage the rendering capability of the 5.0 BlackBerry® Browser
• Leverage Gears APIs for storage, location, multi-threading and more
• Ability to specify Custom Header Addition to all communications for seamless blend between server and client content

Security

• Ability to white list a wildcard to allow all outside domain content into your widget (Note: wildcard doesn’t allow for access to BlackBerry Widget APIs)
• Top-level domains for white listing are no longer allowed
• Ability to digitally sign the BlackBerry Widget using the COD signing mechanism
• Definition of a domain white list with which the BlackBerry Widget is allowed to communicate
• BlackBerry Widgets will be packaged the same way a native BlackBerry smartphone application is packaged and distributed via a website, the desktop manager or BlackBerry App World™, using the same security model and maintained just like native BlackBerry smartphone applications
• All BlackBerry Widgets must be signed to ensure any BlackBerry Widget APIs will follow User Access Control policies

Support

To receive free support for the BlackBerry Widget SDK, email betadevsupport@rim.com