[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

Earlier this week, we showed you some BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet applications being demoed by The Astonishing Tribe (TAT) at Mobile World Congress 2011. Both the ‘Scrapbook’ app demo and BlackBerry® WebWorks™ videos were great demonstrations of the power the BlackBerry PlayBook platform has for providing a rich application experience – and that wasn’t all TAT had on hand for us!

The above concept demo, which shows a BlackBerry PlayBook tablet outputting stereoscopic 3D visuals, demonstrates many of the hardware features of the tablet: 1080P HD visual, micro HDMI output, and multi-touch support. It’s also really cool to look at, whether you’re wearing 3D glasses or not! Check it out and let us know what you think of the possibilities of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

I interviewed Ryan Bidan at CES 2011 in January to answer questions Inside BlackBerry readers had about the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. I thought Mobile World Congress 2011 would be a good opportunity to play catch-up with the BlackBerry PlayBook Product Manager, and Ryan was kind enough to give us some more time to discuss this week’s PlayBook announcements, as well as the tablet’s presence at the show. Please post a comment if you have questions you’d like us to ask Ryan in future videos!

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

BlackBerry Developer Day at Mobile World Congress 2011 was a jam packed development party. Each bootcamp and speaker session was filled with eager developers looking to learn more about BlackBerry development. I was able to meet up with Mike Kirkup, Director of Developer relations, at the end of the day and get his thoughts on how things went, as well as the rundown of his BlackBerry Development Roadmap session (highlights: Near Field Communications, OpenGL 2.0, Magnetometer and Digital Compass support are all coming in BlackBerry 6.1).

We also were able to talk briefly about the AppCircus Spotlight on BlackBerry event. The event was streamed live on our BlackBerry Mobile World Congress 2011 page, but if you missed it, don’t worry! We have a full video recap of the event available by clicking the link below. Make sure to also check out these BlackBerry App World download links for the event winner, Gbanga and honorable mention, UrbanStep.

Read more at the Inside BlackBerry Developer’s Blog »

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to catch up with recent acquisition The Astonishing Tribe this week at Mobile World Congress 2011. In the short amount of time since joining RIM, they’ve already built a variety of fun apps demonstrating the performance of the BlackBerry PlayBook platform. One application that caught our eye was the “scrapbook” app, which demonstrates advanced four-finger multi-touch controls and rich graphics in the above video.

Like Need For Speed Underground, the “scrapbook” application is a great example of the power BlackBerry developers will be able to utilize in quickly making their own PlayBook applications with the native BlackBerry Tablet OS SDK. We can’t wait to see what our friends at TAT will show us next!

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

Like many of my fellow RIM employees that made the trek over the Atlantic to Barcelona for Mobile World Congress 2011, I’m very excited for our new BlackBerry Travel app which launched in the BlackBerry App World Test Center. If you haven’t read our BlackBerry Travel Core Features post or Ty’s great BlackBerry Travel Getting Started Guide, check them out, but also make sure to check out the above video I was able to film today with BlackBerry Travel Product Manager, Andreas. Andreas gives me a hands on demo of many of the features mentioned in the posts above, and explains what makes BlackBerry Travel a Super App.

Andreas also wanted me to pass this information along to current WorldMate users looking to test out BlackBerry Travel. In order to take advantage of BlackBerry Travel, you will need to sign up for a new and free BlackBerry Travel account. You can later choose to import your existing WorldMate trips into BlackBerry Travel by following these simple steps:

1. Log into your BlackBerry Travel Web Portal account at www.travel.blackberry.com
2. Go to ‘Profile’ and select ‘import trips from WorldMate’
3. You can also send your trips to trips@blackberry.com

Andreas also recommend that you uninstall your existing WorldMate app after installing BlackBerry Travel. This will avoid duplication and provide you with an overall improved experience – for free!

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

Mobile World Congress 2011 is a pretty interesting event from a BlackBerry developer perspective, because it actually contains a mini-DEVCON inside it: BlackBerry Developer Day. With BlackBerry Developer Day taking place tomorrow, we sat down with Director of Developer Relations, Mike Kirkup, to get a high-level overview of what attendees can expect. For those developers in Barcelona, make sure to read our previous BlackBerry Developer Day post for detailed session schedule information. If you’re not attending, don’t worry! The Inside BlackBerry Developer’s Blog will be uploading videos tomorrow with each of the BlackBerry Developer Day session leads, so you can get the info you need to build the next great BlackBerry Super App.

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

We wanted to kick off our Mobile World Congress 2011 coverage with a blast, and there’s no better way to do that than with the first ever hands-on demo of Need For Speed Underground by Electronic Arts running on a BlackBerry PlayBook. Along with Tetris, the full version of Need for Speed Underground will come pre-loaded with the BlackBerry PlayBook (for free!).

Fellow blogger and Director of Developer Relations, Mike Kirkup, provides an excellent demonstration of the game and the performance of the BlackBerry PlayBook while playing (and winning!) a race in the video above. Some additional points on the game you should know: you can upgrade and purchase additional cars; Need for Speed Underground was built natively using the BlackBerry Tablet OS SDK; there are multiple driving modes; it’s free!

Post a comment and let us know what you think.

With a little over a week until Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, it’s time to work out your agenda to make sure you get to see and hear all the things that Research In Motion (RIM) will be doing at the show. Here’s an overview of some of the things you won’t want to miss:

• Co-CEO and Founder of RIM, Mike Lazaridis, will be giving a keynote at 09:00 CET on Tuesday 16th February (hall 5). If you’re not attending, be sure to check out our live blog of his keynote here on Inside BlackBerry.
• BlackBerry Developer Day at App Planet (hall 7) being held on Tuesday 16th February. The day starts at 09.45 CET and is packed full of sessions to provide current and prospective developers with the information and the tools they need to make amazing BlackBerry apps. Check out the Developer Day agenda for more information be sure not to miss the event’s keynote at 10:30 CET. Don’t forget that you need to register your place at the BlackBerry Developer Day to guarantee entry (developers with an entry pass to MWC can use the following registration code for the BlackBerry Developer Day: G2dSuMxzjA).
• Tyler Lessard, VP Global Alliances & Developer Relations of RIM,  will be part of a panel taking place at 11:00 on Monday 15th February (hall 5) on the topic of ‘Unlocking application revenue through billing and payments’.
• The BlackBerry stand is located at position 8B178 in hall 8. On our stand this year, we’re pleased to be showcasing solutions and apps from over 60 partners, plus visitors will be able to test out the latest BlackBerry smartphones, accessories and solutions.

Pack your bag, grab your BlackBerry smartphone and catch that plane! While you’re in Barcelona, make sure you keep an eye out for what’s happening at the show – news will be posted right here on Inside BlackBerry.