[gduggan]

Did the GRP101 - Roundtable: BlackBerry 10 USB and Bluetooth Extensibility session actually run at BB10 Jam? Wondering if anyone has any new/official info on USB host and Bluetooth in BB10? ie if the API has made it into the NDK yet or if we still have to wait... I haven't had a chance to look through the new NDK beta yet, but also didn't see any new documentation on it yet either.

Thanks!

[Sucroid]

Did the GRP101 - Roundtable: BlackBerry 10 USB and Bluetooth Extensibility session actually run at BB10 Jam? Wondering if anyone has any new/official info on USB host and Bluetooth in BB10? ie if the API has made it into the NDK yet or if we still have to wait... I haven't had a chance to look through the new NDK beta yet, but also didn't see any new documentation on it yet either.

Thanks!

Yes, it ran. The USB and BT APIs are being rolled out bit by bit over the summer. We should expect one update a month. There is nothing in the NDK right now.

[_StephenBB81]

Yes, it ran. The USB and BT APIs are being rolled out bit by bit over the summer. We should expect one update a month. There is nothing in the NDK right now.

Who told you 1 update per month.

Tim Neil would not commit to any update time frames, nor would Any other executive or director that I probed

[Sucroid]

Who told you 1 update per month.

Tim Neil would not commit to any update time frames, nor would Any other executive or director that I probed

You don't have to take my word but that was what I heard. They plan to roll out the APIs over the next few months, probably one uodat per month.

[gduggan]

Wicked, thanks for the heads up. Hopefully they cover this at the Jam -road show- in Toronto next month.

[Sucroid]

Wicked, thanks for the heads up. Hopefully they cover this at the Jam -road show- in Toronto next month.

Don't hold your hopes too high for two reasons: 1. the session was held on unconference day, i.e. not a regular scheduled session 2. they weren't really showing any complete APIs as they haven't nailed down the details (it was after all a session to obtain feedback). It was pretty much an overview of what you would be able to do on BB10.

I did make some suggestions on the kinds of things to consider supporting for the USB part which I won't disclose here. But one thing I heard is that there is no support for 3rd-party USB drivers. Custom peripherals will have to be supported via CDC/ACM. That's understandable since RIM's primary concern is security.

[gduggan]

Fair enough. At this point, that's all I really expect/am looking forward to, an overview of capabilities. I am stoked that they will eventually be opening this up to us, it just opens a world of great possibilities.

At the moment a couple friends and I have an app on the PlayBook that communicates with a race car engine through Serial-over-USB. It works, but it's tedious to enable USB-Host and the USB-Serial driver, simplification will be GREAT, and I can't wait for the possibilities of using Bluetooth.