BlackBerry PlayBook to Support Android Apps

The BlackBerry Playbook will support Android Apps according to a a RIM rep who walked MobileMondayRio through the device during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Video overviews of the device or nothing new considering we first saw the Playbook back in September. But there’s something new about this one. A few seconds into the above video, a RIM rep utters the words “We’ll also support Android apps.”

As we pointed out yesterday, RIM is fighting a steep uphill battle in attracting developers for the PlayBook. It’s reportedly a big hassle to even get to the point of writing your first line of code, even for experienced Android and iPad developers. If the PlayBook tablet does end up supporting Android apps, this is going to be huge for RIM, providing the best of both worlds for corporations who are already heavily invested in all things BlackBerry.

Relying on Android apps early on could also be detrimental to RIM’s developer program however since developers could just take the easy way out and just point PlayBook users to their Android apps rather than building apps specifically for the PlayBook. RIM allows developers to hook into core parts of the Blackberry  Playbook’s core applications.

Video via CrackBerry

The BlackBerry PlayBook is expected to be very popular within enterprises thanks to its emphasis on messaging and security.