Ideally, RIM will find a way to surprise me at DevCon, but this will be tricky to do given how many things are already expected to be announced. My expectations for the event are as follows:
Things I highly expect to see at DevCon
- PlayBook OS 2.0
The new OS for the PlayBook will be released including support for many new features mentioned below. - Android App Support
Java apps compiled against Android OS 2.3 - AIR 3.0
- NDK release
Support for native c code, and apps through services like Marmalade - Release of the 9380 Curve
This device will probably not be available in North America, but if RIM can get the price on this low enough, this could be an extremely important phone. - Release of the 9790 Bold
I have no idea why RIM is releasing this device, it is too unique to be easy for devs to support, but not unique enough to have a market. I really hope that AT&T doesn’t think this is a replacement for the 9900. - BBM 6.0.1
This has been in beta since late August, and is required in order to support the new BBM SDK 1.2 - BlackBerry Tag
Officially already announced, but I expect RIM to push this NFC concept during the event - PlayBook video store
Things that may or may not be announced
- Python support
RIM has been talking about this language a good amount, but have not said anything publicly yet. - BBAS for AIR
BlackBerry needs to offer a good ad service for apps designed for the PlayBook in AIR, or else they are limiting the opportunity that devs have to offer free apps - LTE PlayBooks
Originally promised for last summer, it is not clear if these devices will ever be released - BBM on PlayBook
This may be dependent upon QNX getting support for BIS and BES which may not happen until the OS is on phones (in 2012)