This is just what Research In Motion (RIM) doesn’t need. Confusion over one of the features of their BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.
The confusion appears to have been sown by RIM’s vice president of developer relations, Alec Saunders. In a Tweet aimed at developers yesterday, Saunders suggested that RIM would prevent the ability to side-load Android apps onto the tablet in the future, and referred to Google’s Android market as a “chaotic cesspool.”
That was taken by some to mean that RIM would discontinue the new BlackBerry PlayBook feature that allows PlayBook users to download and use Android apps on their BlackBerry tablet. This was one of the new features added to the tablet when complete makeover. It now has a new operating system and a price that is dramatically lower than it was just a year ago.
Saunders clarification will likely make this whole issue blow away, as a careful reading of his comments make it clear that he was not referring to the ability the app to use Android apps. But RIM will have to tread carefully to make sure no additional confusion arises. With the company in a downward sales and earnings spiral lately, both users and investors are nervous. That nervousness can lead to either, or both, jumping to wrong conclusions over minor issues such as this.