Last week Xtreme Labs presented the AccuWeather BlackBerry 10 application at the BlackBerry 10 Jam Keynote in Orlando, Florida. We received phenomenal responses from our amazed partners and surprised skeptics.
Our long-time friend and partner, RIM, allowed us early access to the Cascades UI platform that later became known as BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha. The wait was finally over! We knew we were given the right tools to build astonishing apps. This platform is extremely developer friendly. Here’s why we like it:
- The UI libraries (Cascades/QT/QML) are very rich and show great potential in rapidly creating applications. Laying out views is extremely simple, especially for multiple screen resolutions. This is one feature our developers rave about.
- The new platform tools are way better than the older generation of BB platform, they are approaching similar levels to the iOS and Android.
- C/C++ has many rich libraries (e.g. Boost), and it’s the full language with familiar industry tools (e.g. gcc). There are lots of resources online for C/C++.
- Developer support and relations has been active and extremely helpful.
- The BB10 still in beta and maturing, but we see lots of potential. Our devs believe that BB10 will allow for apps to be built that will exceed current expectations of what most people think a mobile app can do.
- The skillset is very useful, UNIX C/C++ is never is out of style.
Time and time again during our stay in Orlando, we were approached by industry influencers and experts alike sharing remarks of excitement for the new Cascades platform.
Prior to the BlackBerry Jam, AccuWeather partnered with Xtreme Labs to build the coolest app presented at the conference. We asked our designers to go wild with their imagination and our engineers to put on their hacker hats. The result was an elegant combination of art and engineering; an app that is both aesthetically pleasing and comprehensive. The bonus? We completed AccuWeather for BB 10 ahead of schedule.
After our Keynote a viewer summed up our presentation nicely for us with this notable comment: “There is substance in Cascades [as a platform], and I believe [RIM] is committed to BB10.”
Needless to say we are incredibly excited about the BB10 platform.
