Many Android apps won't run on BlackBerry PlayBook

Android applications which uses Google Maps, in app billing, SIP VoIP and live Android wallpapers would not be usable on the BlackBerry PlayBook.

Any application which uses Google Maps, in app billing, SIP VoIP (Voice-over Internet Protocol) and live Android wallpapers would not be usable on the BlackBerry PlayBook.

This has been revealed by the Research In Motion engineers at the Droidcon conference in Romania.

According to a blog, "Key features which will be unavailable to Android apps running under the compatibility layer on the PlayBook and future BlackBerry devices include Android's famed battery-sucking Live Wallpaper, SIP and SIP VoIP, anything built using the Native Development Kit, apps containing only App Widgets, and apps containing more than one activity tied to the Launcher."

This is definitely bad news for BlackBerry PlayBook which had promised that the Android apps would work on the device through an Android app player, thus delivering the best of both worlds for the users, QNX platform as well as the Android apps. With this news, the viability of the BlackBerry PlayBook ecosystem has come into question as it's clear if there are no apps on the device users are not likely to buy it either.

Google Maps or in app billing are essential for several apps and their absence will not be welcomed by users or developers. In app billing is absolutely essential for the survival of freemium apps which generate their revenue from in app billing alone.