Developers preparing to attend BlackBerry 10 Jam this year have a limited edition BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha handset in store for them. Although not the final product in terms of hardware or the OS, the prototype device is designed to help with developing and testing apps for the upcoming firmware.
The Jam is scheduled to take place in Orlando, Florida from May 1 to May 3, 2012. The company is expected to release the first beta of the BlackBerry 10 Developer Tools. This kit will include the Native SDK, WebWorks SDK, SDK for Adobe Air and SDK for Android apps. Participants are also being given the opportunity to interact with platform experts who can share information about the software.
“Not only will developer attendees get access to the BlackBerry 10 Developer Tools, but they’ll also be receiving a limited edition developer prototype device – the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha. This is not a BlackBerry 10 smartphone – it is a prototype running a modified version of the PlayBook OS which will help developers design their apps for the BlackBerry 10 smartphone form factor,” confirms a recent post on the Inside BlackBerry Developer’s blog.
Apart from this, attending developers will get to be a part of instructor-led labs and sessions as well. These will be dedicated to topics like HTML5+ BlackBerry WebWorks, BlackBerry Runtime for Android apps, building applications with Flash+AIR tools and more.
To be able to grab the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha prototype and the SDKs, developers will require to register for BlackBerry 10 Jam through the official website for the same.