BlackBerry OS is the proprietary software platform made by Research In Motion for their BlackBerry line of handhelds. It provides multi-tasking, and makes heavy use of the device's specialized input devices, particularly the thumbwheel. The OS provides support for MIDP 1.0 and WAP 1.2. Previous versions allowed wireless synchronization with Microsoft Exchange Server's e-mail and calendar, as well as with Lotus Domino's e-mail. The current OS 4 provides a subset of MIDP 2.0, and allows complete wireless activation and synchronization with Exchange's e-mail, calendar, tasks, notes and contacts, and adds support for Novell GroupWise and Lotus Notes.
Third-party developers can write software using these APIs, and proprietary BlackBerry APIs as well, but any application that makes use of certain restricted functionality must be digitally signed so that it can be associated to a developer account at RIM. This signing procedure guarantees the authorship of an application, but does not guarantee the quality or security of the code.
Releases
| Key: |
Old Version |
Current Version |
Developer Beta |
| Version |
Release date |
Features/details |
| 4.2.1.114 |
March 18, 2008
(?) |
|
| 4.2.2.194 |
March 18, 2008
(?) |
- Latest stable release
- Ships with new 8300 series and 8800 series phones
|
| 4.5.0.42 Release 58 |
June 8, 2008 |
|
| 4.5.0.37 |
June 12, 2008 |
- Released by Vodafone Germany, contains bugs
- Major changes:
- Video camera
- Youtube support
- HTML Emails
- Voice recording
- Improved UI for media player
|
| 4.5.0.44 |
June 22, 2008 |
|
| 4.5.0.46 |
June 29, 2008 |
- slightly faster web browsing
- slightly faster boot up time (by a few seconds)
- a bit better camera quality
|
|
| 4.5.0.72 |
July 22, 2008 |
- Released by Orange Romania, posted through www.blackberry.com though its actually beta OS version 4.5.0.52 repackaged.
|
External links
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