Blackberry all set to use Android app for QNX Smartphones

Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) is planning to boost up its handset sale by using the Android applications. A immensely popular platform, Android has round 25,000 apps available. RIM hopes the platform will give boost to the sale of RIM's QNX handsets, which are expected to be launched in early 2012.

QNX is a Unix-like operating system developed by the Canadian company QNX Software system which was later acquired by the Blackberry producer RIM.

One of the reasons for the slump in the sales of Blackberry handset is the shortage of applications in the Blackberry Apps world. But with this deal Blackberry users will get access to download and run Android application in their Blackberry handsets.

The deal between Google’s Android and RIM’s- Blackberry is sure to spurt the sale of Android based Blackberry handsets. According to Bloomberg, Steven Li, an analyst with Raymond James Ltd. in Toronto said, “being able to run Android apps, that’s a big plus. If you get the tonnage of Android apps and the top 50 apps through Blackberry’s App world, it could address many of the concerns people have about RIM’s ecosystem.”

As per the Gartner Inc., Blackberry’s share of global smartphone market fell to 12 percent in the second quarter from 19 percent in previous year whereas Apple Inc. climbed to 18 percent from 14 percent, and Android rose to 43 percent of the market.

RIM has said earlier that its Playbook will be equipped with the technology that allows the its users to run Android applications on it. But they never disclosed their plan that the same technology would be used in the QNX powered smartphones as well.