The Runtime being available for DL from BB World has nothing to do with Google Play.

Every BB10 device has the Runtime built in. This is a (minor) update to it for devices running 10.2.



What does your friend do? Why does he think this is happening?



I think he's mistaken, but would love to hear more and be proven wrong.

Actually you're incorrect and I can confirm the legitimacy of the OP and I'm not associated with the OP. I don't even know who the OP is or his friend.The runtime has been released in BB World so that BlackBerry can now update the runtime outside of carrier's control to enable access to Google Play and whatnot when this hits. It's not a minor update, there is more to come.Google and BlackBerry has recently entered an agreement to bypass the Open Alliance relationship so that BlackBerry can deploy Google Play onto BlackBerry 10 as well as enable the currently disabled Google Services Framework (GSF) embedded into the runtime. Meaning not only in the future will users be able to download apps directly from Google Play on device, every single native functionality will be available for use. In plain English, every single Android application will work without the need to sideload, without the need for a debug token or any form of method to enable functionality to work. But you'll need to be on a 10.2.1 build or higher.All native functionality of Android is fully in the runtime right now. It's just disabled or blacklisted by BlackBerry. It's not difficult to reenable and now they have full permission to.This is the reason the leaked 10.2.1 builds have ceased. Current builds and radios are currently PIN-Locked meaning if you try to load them onto your device without your PIN being whitelisted, your device will brick. In the higher 10.2.1 builds the new functionality has been added in so users now have access to Google Play and a new runtime that unleashes the potential of Android apps. As far as I am aware, widgets and other applications will continue to not be able to work but applications such as Google Maps will have full access to GSF and other frameworks required for the application to function at 100%. They have curbed the leaks with the intention to hide the fact this is forthcoming. The explanation for hiding it is the sale of the company, fixing the app ecosystem would obviously cause the stocks to raise when BB10 users could download thousands upon thousands of more applications where they work exactly like they do on a native android device and the stock holders would obviously reject a lowball deal if the stock is at 12? 15? 17? dollars after such an announcement. Select BlackBerry employees are now internally testing it.He's not mistaken. I have personally seen it running and I have a number of BlackBerry employees on my BBM who have told me about it. Michael Cowley on Twitter confirmed 10.2.1 is coming sooner than what the normal timeframe is and that's because of them enabling Google Play and full runtime functionality. Furthermore when I talked to Brian Zubert about ways to fix the Google Maps API usage in Android apps so I could successfully port my banking application, he told me to wait because "something big is coming that is right up your alley and to watch the BlackBerry blog" which translates to "you wont need to remove Google Maps because soon your application will work without problem"Brian is not my source of the information nor has he leaked anything.I mean, go ahead and say I'm BSing or lying but it's no coincidence that 10.2.1 leaks have magically stopped occurring and that random people other than myself are getting the same information leaked to them where our stories match one another. The 10.2.1 builds are up to four digits now and we only have early stage full builds.