RIM’s New QNX-based Platform to Run Android Applications?

Well, this is interesting. Research In Motion is hard at work on its PlayBook tablet, as well as on its new mobile operating system, for the device based on QNX. It’s no secret that RIM intends to deliver some form of backwards compatibility for its older BlackBarryOS applications. And that’s where a golden opportunity arises.

BoyGeniusReport is rumouring that RIM is considering choosing DalvikVM as its Java VM. Dalvik is the virtual machine which underlies the Android operating system, and it is claimed that if RIM were to opt for it, it could potentially bring support for running Android applications along with it.

“Here is the big news: we have been told RIM is very much considering the Dalvik virtual machine, and we ultimately expect the company to choose Dalvik,” BGR reports. In other words, at this point, it’s nothing but a big rumour, but it doesn’t sound as far-fetched as it seems.

If RIM were to go with Dalvik in order to run Android applications, it would most certainly do so in cooperation with Google. You see, Google is not particularly interested in whether or not you use Android – all it wants is for you to use its services and use its ads. By working together with RIM, Google ensures its own mobile ad service will gain a prominent position on RIM’s new tablet and operating system – and thus, RIM’s new mobile phones. On top of that, Android applications running on RIM’s new QNX-based platform will still use Google’s ad services.

Of course, there is one big potential problem – and that problem lies with the patent threats against Android, or more specifically, against the Dalvik VM by Oracle. Whether the threats can be substantiated or not is not relevant; uncertainty is problematic enough in the business world.

Still, it’s an interesting idea, and it would give users of RIM’s upcoming platform an immense body of applications to draw from, while giving Google a lot of prestige and new market opportunities. This rumour really isn’t as crazy as it sounds.

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