Research in Motion (RIM) has now confirmed that it will not be blocking Android app side-loading on its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

TechRadar heard yesterday that Alec Saunders, VP of Developer Relations, tweeted; "Piracy is a huge problem for Android devs, and we don't want to duplicate the chaotic cesspool of Android market."

This sent panic through the ranks, with the suggestion that Android app support was about to be ditched on the PlayBook, but fear not as this isn't the case.

140 characters doesn't allow for nuance

Saunders has written a blog post to clarify his tweet and states that RIM will not be removing side-loading from the BlackBerry PlayBook after all.

The post goes on to say that the side-loading feature will be updated to provide better protection for developers, allowing only the user who purchased the app to load it onto their PlayBook.

Although Google Play (formerly the Android Market) was not named in the blog post, it is clear that PlayBook users will still be able to load Android apps onto their tablet and Saunders defended his now infamous tweet by saying "140 characters doesn't allow for nuance".

We did find it odd that RIM would remove the side-loading feature, as the PlayBook has failed to capture the hearts of the tablet market and it needs all the help it can get - but is this news enough to keep BlackBerry in the tablet game?

From BlackBerry Dev Blog via PC Mag