Video of BBX Cascades UI Framework – Beta Coming in November

 

RIM gave us a taste of the TAT’s (The Astonishing Tribe’s) UI framework called Cascades back at BlackBerry World. Now at DevCon 2011 things are starting to come together. RIM showed off the Cascades UI framework for the PlayBook and BBX. Now we know that the beta for developers is coming by the end of the November. That means that devs will be able to create engaging 3D apps based on simple and complex UI elements without having to be physics experts. You really have to read more on Cascades if you are a potential C++ PlayBook developer. It is really going to simplify things for devs when it comes to engaging users with slick UI’s.

Check out the video below:

Desktop Video Link | Mobile Video Link

Here are some more slides from the keynote:

 

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Devs: Open & Astonishing Native SDK Cascades UI Framework Coming by End of November

Update: From what I am hearing RIM is calling this the NDK v2.0

RIM dropped this little bit during The Astonishing Tribe demonstration. They mentioned that the Native SDK is getting The Astonishing Tribe Cascades 3D UI framework built into the OS in a beta in November. I am not sure when that means it will be available for end users but my guess is that is when PlayBook OS 2.0 launches… This is part of RIM’s new big BBX Open Source Initiative. They are also calling it the Open & Astonishing Native SDK for the work The Astonishing Tribe is adding with Cascades built into the PlayBook. Its very cool what they are doing letting any developer create immersive physics based dynamic animations without having to have any experience with doing that yourself.

Cascades also has a plugin for Photoshop to make it easier for developers to work with designers in creating the elements they need and slices or them. They were showing off some very cool visualizations for apps.

 

More on BerryReview

Scrapbook for BlackBerry PlayBook updated bringing new wallpapers, stickers, and Facebook sharing!

Back in May at the BlackBerry World Conference, Scrapbook was unveiled for the BlackBerry PlayBook. This app was developed by The Astonishing Tribe (TAT) and is a fun way to put your pictures together with clip art and colorful backgrounds for sharing. I like using this app, as does my daughter, but I always wished there were more backgrounds and clip art to choose from.

Today that wish has been granted, as Scrapbook has been updated to v1.1.0.4 bringing with it new backgrounds and stickers, as well as the ability to share directly to Facebook from within the app. I'm more of a Twitter girl myself, so I hope a future update will bring that function as well, though I'm sure we won't see Twitter or email options within the app until these are native features of the PlayBook.

For more information and to download or update Scrapbook for your PlayBook