Android Market Finds Its Way Onto The Blackberry Playbook – Makes The Dying Tablet Desirable Again
Seems some crafty developers have somehow managed to get the Android Market up and running on the Blackberry Playbook, giving the dying tablet a new lease on life. Just like the failed HP TouchPad, this is all thanks to Android.
If you’re familiar with root and command line interfaces, the process seems pretty simple. Install the Dingleberry jailbreak, root the Blackberry Playbook, install the Market and enjoy. Step-by-step instructions as detailed by IntoMobile can be found below:
How to get the Android Market working on the BlackBerry PlayBook:
1. Install the 2.0 beta on your PlayBook.
2. Root your PlayBook using the Dingleberry tool found at dingleberry.it
3. Download the Google apps package from http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php?title=Latest_Version/Google_Apps
4. Install and launch an Android app packaged as a .bar file in order to set up the Android system. I would recommend installing a launcher app of some kind since you will need one to launch the Market and related apps. A bunch can be found at http://playbookbars.com/
5. Log into your PlayBook as root with an scp client (eg: WinSCP for Windows). Copy the system folder in the Google apps download to the root of your PlayBook and merge it with the system folder there.
6. Open up a root ssh shell and remove “/system/app/SetupWizard.apk” (this can by done by typing in “mv /system/app/SetupWizard.apk /system/app/SetupWizard.apk.bak”.
7. Kill the running Android player “cd /apps/sys.android.XXXX.ns/native/scripts” (XXXX will be different for each device) and run “./android-player-cmd.sh kill-android-core.sh”
8. Launch a launcher app of some kind. Start up Android Market (or any other Google app), enter your account details and it will start working. This trick will also install Google Chat and a few other goodies. The Android Market works and will install things after you do this.
9. Play around with the Android player and find other cool things!
The fellas responsible for the Dingleberry jailbreak are hoping more devs will help bring more cool stuff to the Playbook with the main goal to get the device dual-booted into BBX and Android. Wouldn’t that be something?
Sideloading Android apps onto the Playbook is nothing new and hackers and modders are waiting patiently for the release of Playbook OS 2.0 in February which should make the whole process a whole lot easier.
Time and time again, Android has proven to increase the desirability of a manufacturer’s product turning companies like HTC, Nvidia and Samsung, into overnight success stories. Not quite sure why RIM or Nokia can’t see this but then again, I’m not the head of a billion dollar company.
[Via IntoMobile]