BlackBerry devices were created by a company named Research In Motion (RIM) in the late ’90s. The first BlackBerry device was named the 850. Its initial release in 1999 was only made public in Munich, Germany, and it was used as a 2-way pager. Four years later in 2003, RIM released a smartphone that was capable of making phone calls, sending text messages, sending/receiving emails, and browsing the Internet. Dozens of new BlackBerry phones have been released overs years ranging from the Curve 8300 to the Porsche Design. In 2011, RIM ventured into the tablet market by releasing the BlackBerry PlayBook. BlackBerry devices have become so popular that even the US President, Barrack Obama, was known for using a BlackBerry during his 2008 campaign.

BlackBerry devices run on BlackBerry OS — a multi-tasking operating system that was created by RIM. In July 2012, version 7 of the operating system was released and is the latest version today. RIM has announced that major changes are underway in their labs, and BlackBerry 10 is scheduled to be released in 2013.

RIM has done extremely well with the sales of BlackBerry devices. As of the end of June 2012, RIM reported that the global number of BlackBerry subscribers had increased to 78 million. However, with the technological advancements made by the iPhone, iPad, Android phones/tablets, & Windows phones/tablets, the growth and popularity of BlackBerry has come to a halt. Nevertheless, with 78 million subscribers out there, emulator developers became interested in the BlackBerry OS and have ported over many good emulators.

BlackBerry smartphones do not work very well with emulators, but emulators run great on the BlackBerry PlayBook.

BlackBerry Emulators