In a press release today, RIM has announced releasing Application Programming Interfaces (API’s) to the Blackberry Java Development Environment (JDE). With more than 125,000 registered developers that have the JDE and with more API’s, the world can expect to see more robust third party applications for the Blackberry.

With access to almost every functional component and application on a BlackBerry smartphone, developers are now building robust wireless applications that leverage the inherent capabilities of the BlackBerry platform, including secure access to the Internet and corporate intranet, rich multimedia features, access to personal content, location and mapping services, alerting and notification and device personalization.

The new API’s released include:

• Mobile Multi-Media API for Java (JSR 135) allowing developers to embed custom audio and video content into applications; invoke the BlackBerry Media Player to play video or audio content; record audio or voice and save recorded files to the handset or send it over the Internet
• Camera APIs that allow developers to invoke the camera application and access pictures taken with the camera; support for registering listeners with the Camera application that enable an application to be notified when a new picture is taken
• Support for MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC and AMR audio formats with support for routing audio playback to the external speaker, connected headset and Bluetooth(R) headset
• XML and Web Services support to help simplify communications with existing Internet applications
• BlackBerry Messenger APIs allowing access to presence and contact information and the ability to send peer-to-peer messages
• File System Access APIs (JSR 75) to provide access to documents and other files stored locally on the smartphone or on the microSD expansion memory; support for registering listeners with the file system that enable an application to be notified when a new files are added or removed
• GPS APIs (JSR 179) that provide access to location information from local GPS chip or external GPS receiver connected over Bluetooth
• BlackBerry Maps API providing access to the map application to display an address or a route with BlackBerry Maps providing all of the geo-coding and mapping data for free
• Wallpaper and Ringtone Customization Java APIs to enable custom applications to add new wallpapers and ringtones to the smartphone
• Planned support for 3D Graphics API (JSR 184) and SVG API (JSR 226) to enable more powerful gaming and rich-media content
• Planned support for MMS Java APIs (JSR 205) to complement the existing SMS and Phone APIs which enable third party applications to listen for incoming phone calls and SMS messages, invoke the phone application to place a call, and compose SMS messages for peer-to-peer messaging

The BlackBerry platform is also designed to extend its inherent security, network efficiency, reliability and push capabilities to any application, so developers can focus on their core application offerings rather than the underlying infrastructure that enables wireless connectivity.

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