Converting Android app to BB10 (via Eclipse)

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I have to be honest. Not many clients are requesting these days to have their app uploaded to the Blackberry World store. But once in a while I’ll get a client with the request of having their app in all the stores which includes Blackberry World.

Obviously the best way is to write and optimize the application in the native format. However, what if you wanted to just convert an application that you just completed for Android without re-writing the entire thing all over again.

I have to admit it was very difficult when I did this a year ago, but as of recent its becoming easier and easier. I’m unsure if Blackberry has made it easier, or I have gotten used to the process.

Some things you need before you begin:

1. Blackberry Vendor Account

2. Eclipse

3. App you created for Android

4. Blackberry signing keys (must have #1 completed)

5. Blackberry Eclipse Plugin

In regards to #5, follow directions on how to install it within Eclipse.

After you have set-up and you have done all of the above, the process is pretty straightforward unless you have many Google Services installed. You have to get rid of those before the application is properly verified by the Blackberry APK Verifier.

Tips:

– When you are uploading your BAR file to the Blackberry World, make sure you have proper screenshots (either from Simulator or the actual device) as they seem to be rejecting apps that don’t have proper screenshots.

– Don’t bother including Playbook as part of the accepted applications for your App. I’ve noticed that when you do include playbook, the blackberry employee by default will use Playbook to test your app, and for some reason it always fails. I personally don’t have a Playbook to test, nor do I want to optimize it for the limited market that’s Playbook. Stick to official BB10 devices such as Z10, Z30 and Q10. I have tested on the BB10 devices and the conversion works flawlessly.

Happy submitting to the Blackberry World store

New Language “Swift” with a government twist?

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As you probably have heard by now, Apple unveiled a “new” coined language “Swift“. Swift apparently works side by side with Objective-C. The new code presented will be interactive, fun, and above all lightning-fast. With the announcement came a 500 page iBook that was ready for download for those who wanted to learn the new language. Very exciting. Above all, the actual release received the biggest applause by the audience observing the keynote.

And now the TWIST

At the bottom of the Apple’s website there is linkage to a third party website:

Looking for the Swift parallel scripting language? Please visit http://swift-lang.org

The website was immediately down after the announcement and the following message was posted on the swift-lang.org website:

Swift Language

Here’s where it gets interesting. Upon performing a Whois on swift-lang.org following information was revealed:

swift-lang.org whois

Hmmm? Whats this:

mcs.ani.gov

When you go to the website it will take you to Mathematics and Computer Science (Argonne National Laboratory). If you scroll all the way to the bottom you will see this fine logo: (US Department of Energy):

US Department of Energy

Now if you go to search and type in: Swift, you will get the following:

Swift

And here we see the name of the person who registered the domain name originally. And it appears the program is part of University of Chicago.

Its just interesting to see the “connections”. You can draw up your own conclusion.

Regardless, I’m truly excited in seeing Swift at work.