RIM has just made a press release detailing their new SDK specifically for blackberry widgets. This has been in the works for awhile, so it’s exciting to finally see it. Check out the press release:

A BlackBerry Widget uses the BlackBerry® Browser engine to render an application’s user interface using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Developers are able to use existing web content to create BlackBerry Widgets and extend the capabilities of their web applications using BlackBerry Widget APIs.

Using the new BlackBerry Widget APIs, developers can, for example, create seamless interaction between a widget and the BlackBerry email and calendar applications, create widgets with the ability to view or edit files and documents stored on the smartphone, access location-based services or the media player, and more. Developers can also take advantage of RIM’s unique push technology, enabling dynamic widgets that can run in the background and provide proactive alerts to users in a timely manner.

“BlackBerry Widgets open up a world of opportunities for developers to build and bring to market web applications for BlackBerry smartphones that offer advanced, integrated functionality and an always-on user experience,” said Alan Brenner, senior vice president, BlackBerry platforms at RIM. “We are very excited by the prospects of this new widget development platform which combines the ease of development of standard web languages with the rich functionality of Java development.”

This really expands the possibilities for app developers, so it will be exciting to see what widgets pop up in the weeks to come.