Last week BlackBerry released a major update for BlackBerry OS 10 which includes an enormous improvement in their Android runtime environment. That means that now, almost any Android app can run on BlackBerry devices which have been updated to OS 10.2.1. 

Of course, we were curious to see if Layar would run in this new runtime environment and the good news is: It does! Layar uses a lot of low level calls to native (C++) APIs, which meant that up to now, it wasn’t compatible with the Android emulator that BlackBerry was running on OS 10, but that has changed since the added support for Android Native (JNI).

If you want to try it for yourself, just follow these steps:

1.  You’ll need to have a Z10, Q10, Z30 or Q5 device. Only these devices are supported.
2. Make sure you update your BlackBerry device to the latest OS, at the time of writing 10.2.1.537. It must be at least 10.2.1. To update, go to Settings, then Software Update and follow the instructions.
3. Once your device is updated (this can take up to half an hour), reboot
4. Open this page in the browser on your BlackBerry device: http://layar.com/download/blackberry
5. Download the .apk file from that page
6. When the file is downloaded, the Downloads list will open, if not, open it via the menu in the browser
7. Click on the .apk file that was download and you will get the Layar install screen.
8. Hit Install, if it’s the first time you install an app that is not from BlackBerry World, you’ll be asked to give permission. Toggle the switch and continue the installation.
9. Now you’ll be asked to agree to the permissions Layar requires to run, click Accept.

That’s it! Now you can use Layar on your BlackBerry device. This is Layar v8.1 as we published it in Google Play, with no changes for BlackBerry. We’ll probably do a few small tweaks to improve the experience on BlackBerry in our next release. Let us know what you think, any issues you find, or if you like Layar on BlackBerry and think we should submit it to BlackBerry App World. Just use the comments below.

There are a few known issues we encountered while testing on a Z10:

• AR videos don’t play in the AR view, so you’ll have to tap them to view them full screen;
• The camera zoom level is a bit awkward, forcing you to hold your phone quite far away from the printed page when you’re using the scanning view in Layar;
• Sometimes hitting scan doesn’t give a quick response, just hit back when that happens and try again;
• When using Geo Layers, the map view doesn’t work.

We’re curious to hear your feedback!

After the recent release of several new Augmented Reality-capable devices, BlackBerry users can finally download Layar!

Layar now supports the following BlackBerry 7 OS devices: BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930, BlackBerry Torch 9850/9860 and BlackBerry Torch 9800/9810 and is available for download in the BlackBerry App World!

We’re also launching a BlackBerry version of the Layar Player very soon, so any BlackBerry app can use Layar technology!

The BlackBerry Layar client is similar to the Android and iPhone 5.0 clients with a few exceptions, including that there is currently no Layar Vision beta for BlackBerry. For full details on these variations, please see our BlackBerry support announcement.

Earlier this week the gadget blogs on the Web lit up with the news that Huawaei - the world’s second largest mobile equipment supplier (after Ericsson) - had introduced it’s very own entrant into the tablet wars: the MediaPad.

The announcement came Monday at CommunicAsia, and most outlets correctly reported that the new 7-inch, Android 3.2 Honeycomb tablet would come preloaded with Twitter and Facebook, but that’s not all. Yes, you’ll be able to tweet and connect with friends to your heart’s delight, but Layar will come preinstalled on the MediaPad as well. We are excited to partner with Huawei to place augmented reality in the hands of more people around the world.

The MediaPad is an exciting new device - the first of its kind, in fact. It’s the world’s first 7-inch tablet with Android 3.2 Honeycomb, and boasts a 1.2GHz Qualcomm processor for speedy performance. Engadget calls the MediaPad “downright luscious,” adding that “calling us ‘excited’ would be a severe understatement.”

“With the Huawei MediaPad, we are demonstrating yet again that design, functionality and performance is within anyone’s reach,” said Huawei’s Victor Xu in a press release. “The MediaPad opens up new worlds of entertainment for consumers by removing the barriers to tablet ownership, increasing access to a truly high-quality mobile entertainment experience fully integrated with cloud-based internet content.”

The Huawei MediaPad plans to ship in the United States, Layar and all, in the third quarter of this year. To get a closer look at the MediaPad, check out the promotional video below. You can also have a gander at this “sneak preview” video, which is a bit odd, but gives you a good idea of the size of the MediaPad.

With the debut of the iPad 2, Apple released iOS 4.3 and unfortunately the update has caused some problems with the Layar client. The update to the iPhone’s operating system and APIs causes some images and icons in Layar to display incorrectly or not at all.

But don’t worry! We are currently working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible!

If you have yet to update to iOS 4.3, we recommend you hold off on the update for a few days if you plan to continue using Layar. An update should be available in the App Store in a day or two, and we’ll update this post when the download is ready.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and thanks for your patience. If you have any questions, please email support@layar.com.

Keep it here for updates!

UPDATE #1: The fix has been submitted to Apple but is still pending review. You can expect it to be live sometime early next week! Thanks for your patience!

UPDATE #2: The fix is now available in the AppStore! Get it here.

Today Samsung announced their new Tablet device called the Galaxy Tab. Samsung markets it as a media device. We think its even better for Augmented Reality. Layar is even included in their press photo set of the Tab.

The second wave of Augmented Reality Experiences
Augmented Reality on the mobile has started with lots of point of interest applications. “Where is a house for sale (and how much)” and “where is a restaurant (and is it any good)” are well known examples. The second wave for mobile Augmented Reality is an immersive one and will will be an addition to the first wave. With immersive AR people step into a different world, either by playing a game like Conquar which is a risk like strategy game on Layar or by experiencing how the Berlin wall looked like. This is made possible by adding interactivity and more graphical elements like 3D models and animation. This is what the Layar Publishing platform can enable for brands, publishers and agencies.

Tablet devices like the Galaxy TAB with their big screens and high resolution displays will ensure that this next wave of immersive Augmented Reality experiences will look even better then on a phone.