The current version of Blackberry 10 can run Android apps, but only those compatible with Android 2.3 Gingerbread or earlier versions. It’s safe to say those apps are fairly outdated by now. Lots of updated features have been implemented in newer Android versions, including the Holo UI, better notifications, and enhanced animations.

Blackberry recently announced that the new software update (10.2) will include support for Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean apps. That means, Blackberry users will not only be able to use the most recent version of Android apps, but they will also be able to use more apps in general. Or, put another way, Blackberry users can now run pretty much all Android apps now.

Not much is changing in terms of development. A beta release of the Blackberry Runtime for Android Apps and the related plug-in for Android Development Tools was made available to developers. That means, things are cooking behind the scenes.

Blackberry 10.2 won’t be available to consumers and Blackberry devices until much later this year, however. Along with it, the new update will also include a whole slew of new features and enhancements for the platform like Unicode emoji support, multiple alarms, level 1 notifications and much more.

It looks like Blackberry is improving their platform considerably, and soon enough they may very well be a driving force in the industry. I’m a firm believer that Blackberry is on their way up. Personally, even being an Android fan I would love to see them back in the game. More competition only means more opportunities for innovation. It also means happy consumers, hopefully.

Are any of you dotTechies out there Blackberry users? Let us know in comments below.

[via BGR]