Research In Motion has just released version 2.0 of their QNX-based PlayBook operating system. This long-awaited update could be seen as making the PlayBook feature-complete, bringing things like a native email client to RIM’s 7″ tablet.
As a former QNX desktop user (during the dark, dark days after the BeOS’ demise), the PlayBook has always been an interesting device. The device runs QNX, and that alone makes my geek heart tingle – but at the same time, it doesn’t make it tingle enough to shell out (at the moment) €300, especially since the device didn’t even come with a native email client.
Well, it just became a little harder for me not to set aside some money for the PlayBook, because version 2.0 of its operating system has been released. One of the prime features of this new release is the brand-new native email client, which comes with tabs for keeping multiple messages open, a rich text editor, and several other goodies.
There’s more, though. Documents To Go has been updated as well, and it comes with Print To Go, allowing users to print documents wirelessly. BlackBerry Bridge has been extensively updated, adding the ability to use your BlackBerry phone as a remote control for your PlayBook. In fact, with this update, you can use your BlackBerry to remote control Android tablets or even a PS3.
I’d really love to write a review of this thing, since its more alternative nature (compared to Android and iOS) fits well on OSNews. I obviously can’t justify spending €300 on a tablet when I already have an iPad 2, but if an opportunity arises, I’ll be sure to grab it with both hands.
The hardware for these devices are Really nice. To be honest, of all the features im looking forward to its the browser improvements. It had more than a few quirks in it
The positive publicity isn’t easy to come by for them. Especially among US tech press predictions (wishes?) portraying RIM as a dead man walking in wake of West Coast ecosystem onslaught.
Contacting companies like this directly about these things is pointless, I’ve learned that much. We’re just not large enough
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Edited 2012-02-21 12:39 UTC
I have a Playbook and love the hardware and OS. Haven’t done the update yet but those who have are somewhat disappointed with it. They were expecting more changes. It is a bit difficult to get excited about new features that every other platform has had since day one. That said, it is still worth looking into if you are in the market for a 7″ tablet. You might not find every app you want though. As for price, they can sometimes be found for as little as $150 for the 16 GB version. That is not a lot of storage but you can augment it with a 50 GB Box.net account.
Edited 2012-02-21 12:35 UTC
http://supportforums.blackberry.com/t5/BlackBerry-PlayBook/Playbook…
Mine won’t even update (just hangs at ~45%, just after the download is complete). I’ve cancelled the update and I’ll try from my home Mac tonight.
Shame really – a colleague here also has a PlayBook and his update when fine. The differences were:
He has a 16GB PlayBook and it already had OS 2.0 beta on it.
Mine is 64GB and has OS 1.0.8
Hope RIM get back to you soon with a solution.
64GB 1.0.8 for me too.
Hope you don’t mind, I’ve added an entry to your BB support forum thread to include this info, maybe it will help them identify the issue.
It worked for me when downloading directly onto the PlayBook rather than trying to use the Desktop software. Cold comfort for you I know. But at least we can discount the 64GB OS 1.08 combo as the cause.
Just been playing about with the new OS, and I must say I love what they’ve done. Makes me glad I bought a PlayBook – I only really wanted it as a cheap media player initially, but it has quickly replaced my iPad as my go-to device for browsing etc now too.
I just want Kindle and Skype and I’ll be happy.
Sorry to hear that. My 16GB updated first thing this morning – no problems! It’s frustrating that some worked well, but some didn’t. Overall, the look/feel is a little more polished. Still testing out apps. Bluetooth a little better, but still won’t transfer files to my Ubuntu laptop. Room for improvement!
PlayBook should be reduced in price now, I paid £169 for mine. I’ve only had it a few weeks but the PlayBook OS 2.0 update is much appreciated. I don’t know what took them so long though. The e-mail client is pretty sleek but seems to be missing support for IMAP folders. It works properly with push updates on Dovecot, which for some unknown reason K9 on Android doesn’t (it used to work, but then stopped working after an update).
The system and browser feel a bit snappier now. They haven’t fixed the awfully low framerate of the animation when you swipe down the browser toolbar. Still missing password remembering, which is a pain for sites like eBay which ask you to log in again every day.
They compressed the keyboard to use less screen space, but at the cost of making it much harder to type fast on. When you go to a password field in now shows a row of buttons on top of the keyboard. There doesn’t seem to be an option to make the keys nice and big again. Sigh…
Still wishing for a decent Twitter client. Using the website is good enough for now. An eBay app would be nice too. Maybe they will bring the Android one over to App World.
At last they added a basic file manager. Before there was no way to delete music files without connecting to a PC.
Try Blaq. It’s a pretty impressive Twitter client.
Thanks, I’ll check it out.
Also take a look at Blackbird. My preference for Twitter on the PB.
Actually, there have been several file managers capable of deleting music files (as well as any other type of file for that matter) for ages. A good free one is AirBrowser (the new File Manager seems to do render that one redundant though).
For more advanced options (eg access to the full filesystem, not just user account folders), I use one called “File Browser”.
But it’s good to see that RIM have listened and added their own (limited) one in with 2.0
Does anyone know what, if any restrictions exist with regards to doing homebrew development for these?
I’m reading that the playbook 2 natively supports open source android packages? Can anyone confirm this? Are there any disadvantages to programing it this way?
http://www.androidcentral.com/android-app-player-blackberry-how-wil…
I’m also seeing other unofficial playbook sideloading utilities for windows. Is it necessary to jailbreak these devices or is homebrew app development/distribution supported out of the box? (I’m not sure if these sideload utilities are for convenience or are necessary to jailbreak)
http://www.berryreview.com/2012/02/14/free-vnpbutils-utility-lets-y…
The official website is too buggy to use and so I’m not actually able to view the specs, but I found some of the details I needed on wikipedia in case anyone else is looking…
http://us.blackberry.com/playbook-tablet/tablet-specs.jsp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlackBerry_PlayBook
There are no real restrictions. You can “sideload” (I hate that word) signed apps officially by using the development tools. No jailbreak necessary. It’s actually the only way to test your development projects on an actual device.
There have been several open source ports of programs like ScummVM, SNES9x, Dosbox and others.
I don’t know much about Android apps, but if the source code is available you should be able to make your own bar file. You need a developer account to sign your app, though.
I updated to OS 2.0 OTA and had no problems at all. Everything is running well. Calendar and Contacts are great pieces of software. A2DP works very well. The Playbook is finally able to compete with other tablets.
Updated my 16GB device over the air in about half an hour. No apparent issues! Still getting used to the new home screen layout, though it seems more sensible. I’m “meh” over the addition of email, contacts, and calendar – in the minority, I’m sure, but I already get email on my home system, my netbook, and my phone. I don’t need yet another place for all this information. I’m more interested in seeing what Android apps become available. Also, the new remote control feature on the recent Bridge update is very nifty.