Hello All,

I've just finished recording a Taking Notes podcast with Bruce Elgort and Julian Robichaux about BlackBerry development and integration with Domino.  The guys are very easy to talk to and do such a great job I hope it was good enough for them to publish!  I won't be able to listen to it,  I'm tempted to ask my wife but since she does this stuff for a living she'd probably start telling me things I wouldn't want to hear anyway

What I hope I said in the podcast:
Depending on the use case for your Domino application and/or your current skill level there is a way to extend its reach to mobile devices and in particular BlackBerry devices.  I forgot to mention that you can develop for a wider range of Java enabled devices than just BlackBerry.  But BlackBerry comes with the push technology and a million and one things that make it stand out for me.

I hope the podcast might appeal to you if you are looking to gain a new skill, you won't get all the answers from it but if you get some and the pointers to the resources that's good.  BlackBerry development could just be that next big thing for you; you won't have to invest too much time deciding just check out one of the BlackBerry webcasts, stop by the BlackBerry pedestal at Lotusphere and/or stop me for a chat.

Did you know?
RIM/BlackBerry provide free of charge** development tools that give you a relatively complete development environment (woo hoo! does anybody remember CodeWarrior for the Palm Pilot I couldn't afford that and I never bought another Palm).  BlackBerry provide webcasts, podcasts, documentation and code samples to get you started.  With the simulators available you don't even need to own a BlackBerry or BES to develop and test your app.  Basically RIM bend over backwards to get you going so why not have a go?

Resources:
In the podcast I mention a few URL's that are useful for downloading tools and sample apps.  Here they are:

Official BlackBerry Resources:
HTTP://www.blackberry.com/developers
HTTP://www.blackBerry.com/go/Domino
HTTP://www.resourcecenter.blackberry.com/
HTTP://www.blackberry.com/developers/resources/index.shtml

!Official BlackBerry Resources:
HTTP://www.blackberryforums.com/
Bill Buchan's killer MDS Studio presentation

The tools mentioned are:
BlackBerry Browser
MDS Studio
The J2ME Java Development Environment*
BlackBerry MDS and Email Simulator
Eclipse

Documentation you need for the J2ME stuff:
BlackBerry Java Development Environment Guide: Fundamentals
BlackBerry Developers Guide Volumes 1 & 2

craicBerry:
We also talked a little about craicBerry and that I've hidden a tiny (possibly cheesy) easter egg in it.  Because I didn't want to bloat the application too much it may be an anti-climax when you find it   To compensate for that and because I want to have some fun with craicBerry I have a little give away for Lotusphere:

I have one (and only one sorry) O2 Blue Bluetooth headset which I will cheerfully give to the first person who finds me and shows me the easter egg on their BlackBerry handset.  As you know I have a little touch of pneumonia (I can't quite get rid of it).  So if I shouldn't make it I'll ship the headset to Bill Buchan and I hope he'll agree to do the honours (honors) for me.  Let's hope that doesn't happen for my sake this year is going to be great!

Stuff I should have mentioned:
The Turtle Partnerships BB Sessions App (I may have mentioned it)

BlackBerry Sessions at Lotusphere:
BP302 Best Practices for Delivering IBM Lotus Domino Applications to Wireless Devices (R1 & R2)
BOF303 IBM Lotus Domino and Blackberry - Meeting the New Mobile Demand
BOF218 Extend the Power of IBM Lotus Notes to Your BlackBerry
BOF319 Beyond BlackBerry: Mobile Email Alternatives and Deployment Best Practices
SPN103 Mobilizing Applications with BlackBerry in Your IBM Lotus Domino Environment
BOF318 Are You an IBM Lotus Domino and "Everything Else" Administrator?

Finally:
Thank you to Bruce, Julian and Anil at openNTF and anyone and everyone who has a play with craicBerry.  I'll try and make the next entry something totally unrelated to BlackBerry I promise  If I could only get back out on the beat!


*I really do know that J2ME means Java 2 Micro Edition honestly, listen to the podcast and you'll understand!, and I know a little about MIDP and CLDC too

** Just for completeness:  Applications that perform certain functions (though not all) must be signed before they will run on a real BlackBerry device.  The signature keys must be obtained from RIM and an admin charge is payable (currently 100 USD).  Signatures are not needed for the Simulators.