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BlackBerry Playbook OS 2.0 (now available)

19K views 92 replies 34 participants last post by  tripod 
#1 ·
We know that many of you are looking forward to BlackBerry® PlayBook™ OS 2.0, and we wanted to provide you with an update on the progress that we’re making.

As much as we’d love to have it in your hands today, we’ve made the difficult decision to wait to launch BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 until we are confident we have fully met the expectations of our developers, enterprise customers and end-users. And here’s what we’re doing to accomplish that.


This must have been a tough decision for RIM, though if it means a release that doesn't feel rushed, then it may benefit them in the long run.

The article does mention that BBM won't be available as a native client, and given that the service relies on a separate PIN for each device, it kind of makes sense. What I think would have worked better is if a native client was made available that would benefit non-BlackBerry users, but still allow the Bridge function for those who already have a BlackBerry and want to keep using BBM on their Playbook.
 
#2 ·
Full copy of post

We know that many of you are looking forward to BlackBerry® PlayBook™ OS 2.0, and we wanted to provide you with an update on the progress that we’re making.

As much as we’d love to have it in your hands today, we’ve made the difficult decision to wait to launch BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 until we are confident we have fully met the expectations of our developers, enterprise customers and end-users. And here’s what we’re doing to accomplish that.

First off, we have decided to defer the inclusion of the BBM™ application to a subsequent BlackBerry PlayBook OS release. We are committed to developing a seamless BBM solution that fully delivers on the powerful, push based messaging capabilities recognized today by BlackBerry® users around the world and we’re still working on it. In the meantime, BlackBerry smartphone users will be able to continue to use BlackBerry® Bridge™ to securely access BlackBerry® Messenger™ on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet’s high resolution display.

Secondly, we are excited to now be providing developers with the gold release of the native SDK for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet as well as a beta of BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 (launched last week at BlackBerry DevCon Americas). The developer beta allows developers to begin porting their native apps to the PlayBook platform. In the following months, the developer kit will be updated with the full Cascades animation and UI engine that was first demonstrated at BlackBerry DevCon. We expect that the developer beta will generate thousands of new applications for BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0.


Shortly we will also be starting a series of closed betas of BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 with select enterprise customers from our Early Adopter Program (EAP). These betas will be rolled out over the course of this year and are an important next step to bringing our unmatched enterprise app deployment, device manageability, security and email integration capabilities to the tablet category. The betas will be conducted within global enterprise environments and will test the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet solution from end-to-end within corporate IT infrastructures. Feedback and improvements from these betas will benefit the overall BlackBerry PlayBook customer experience.

We believe BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 will deliver a great experience for our customers, building on the powerful performance introduced with BlackBerry PlayBook tablet earlier this year. The software update will add advanced integrated email, calendar and contact apps, a new video store, as well as new functionality that will allow your BlackBerry smartphone and BlackBerry PlayBook to work together even better.

For the enterprise, we’re addressing many barriers to tablet adoption, including device manageability and enterprise application deployment. Enterprises will uniquely have the ability to manage tablets from a centralized server, while BlackBerry® Balance ensures a seamless user experience for personal and professional needs and gives CIOs the peace of mind that corporate data is secure. Plus BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 will provide dedicated shelf space inside the BlackBerry App World™ storefront to make approved enterprise applications easily available to an organization’s end users. Together these features will help change the way enterprises view and use tablets.

So when could an end user get the new update? We expect to deliver the new BlackBerry PlayBook OS to customers in February 2012 and we’ll continue to keep you updated as we progress to the launch.

- David J. Smith, SVP, BlackBerry PlayBook, Research In Motion
 
#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
The article does mention that BBM won't be available as a native client, and given that the service relies on a separate PIN for each device, it kind of makes sense.
The one thing they have going for them will be deferred :rolleyes:

The reliance on PIN is the biggest drawback of BBM and BB IMO. I lose a lot of messages every year because I upgrade handsets very frequently and BBM and PIN messaging can't handle the change effectively.

If this is any indication of what we can expect from BBX, it looks like we will have the same small-minded thinking on a more robust OS.
 
#5 ·
As badly as I feel for those people who bought a Playbook, RIM really doesn't have a choice. They need to pour all their resources in to their bread and butter, the smartphone. The Playbook has been nothing but a huge distraction that has cost them time and money and resulted in nothing more than bad press and a falling stock price.

They made a huge strategic mistake thinking that the tablet market was something that it is clearly not. A fresh new market that you could just waltz in to and score big bucks. Especially if you're going to do it with a half-hearted effort which is what the Playbook clearly was.
 
#7 ·
The Playbook has been nothing but a huge distraction that has cost them time and money and resulted in nothing more than bad press and a falling stock price.
I disagree. I suspect (or hope) that they've learned a lot about QNX from the Playbook experiment and will be able to deliver a more polished phone experience as a result.
 
#9 ·
Again, I disagree. I think in this market any company that's not willing to experiment and take risks is going to get left behind. Isn't sticking with the safe, tried and true technology what got RIM into this position to begin with?

Their core market is smartphones. If taking a bath on a tablet launch will allow them to launch a significantly improved smartphone next year then I think it's a potentially worthy risk.

Of course it could all end up a disaster, but not trying something new would be even worse.
 
#10 ·
They should've done all that with the first playbook. Now hardly anybody cares. The "experiment" they had with the first Playbook (not providing stand alone email support) should've never happened. Now many companies are moving away from anything RIM. My employer has 8000 people worldwide and starting in 2012, all BB phones will be replaced.
 
#11 ·
I quite like my PlayBook, and I don't really care about OS2, in fact I think it's a few steps backwards in the UI.

RIM never properly marketed the PlayBook, and most stores you go into with a PlayBook on display haven't bothered to teach their employees how to demonstrate it, if they've even bothered to set it up properly.

It's a great piece of hardware with a pretty solid OS. I think RIM made a bit of a mistake pushing OS2 when what they should have done was improve the development tools, make it easier and cheaper to develop for it and concentrate on getting it into the hands of consumers.

There are new apps showing up all the time in App World.

I understand RIM's wanting to market the PlayBook to people who already have BlackBerry phones, hence the lack of native email, contacts, etc... but reviewers and the media quickly jumped on this and claimed the tablet to be a half-baked device and consumers rapidly jumped to the conclusion that they "couldn't email" with the PlayBook, which really isn't 100% true.
 
#12 ·
Waiting until February could give them time to unload the rest of the playbooks they have in stock and develop some new hardware to go with the new OS release. It doesn't have to be a whole lot better, just "new".

If they want to have another advertising campaign, they don't want to be selling the same hardware they were heavily discounting a few months ago.
 
#15 ·
Then you have a very unique circle of friends. We have had a situation where our company will pay for a PlayBook or you can buy your own iPad. There are far more iPad users than PlayBook users. Several folks have borrowed a PlayBook for a few days and given it back.

Unlike an iPad a PlayBook has few benefits for people that already carry a BB - at least not until he new OS is released..

Out in the public you almost never see a PlayBook. I was just on a trip to South America and on this trip about 75% of the people had iPads and there was not one PB. Walk through an Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge and you will see tons of iPads and pretty much no PBs - unless you come across a RIM employee. Soon you may even see Lazaridis and Balsillie in such places as it won't be long before they can no longer afford a jet.
 
#14 ·
I agree that the delay could mean they also want to announce new hardware. Several people thought RIM wants to exit the tablet market but I don't think so (otherwise why would they even be working on OS 2.0?)

One other possibility is there could be further integration they are looking into with BBX phones and Playbook OS 2.0.
 
#17 ·
I'm probably one of the "lucky" few :rolleyes: that have a PlayBook. The good news is that it's from work (right around launch time) so that I didn't have to pay for it...

The primary usage for me is to become paperless at work (i.e. no need to print decks or materials for the endless stream of meetings). In fact this has become the only use I have for the PB!

At first it took some getting used to compared to my personal iPad, but eventually I've come to prefer many of it's features (vs iPad 1) - sharper PQ, multi-tasking, border touch etc so the thing definitely had the potential but RIM lacked proper execution…

PB definitely has many many drawbacks... the obvious one is hardly any apps worth having. The tethering capability and BB Bridge (which works through Bluetooth) seemed neat at first. The problem is that it never seems to work properly. Most of the time the connection is slow (although BB and PB are side by side), and most annoying of all is that it keeps loosing BB Bridge connection on an almost daily basis for no clear reason. Getting the BB and PB to reconnect is typically a long process of trial and error (reboots, re-try setting up the connection in various ways) and doesn’t always work before I end up giving up.

Anyway, I’m now fed up with it!! Coupled with my doubts about RIM’s future and it’s (IMO lack of) ability to compete with Android and iOS, I’m jumping ship to a work provided iPad that I’m in the process of ordering now. Most if not all my collegues who've had PB are also jumping ship.

For the record I would have preferred an Android tablet (as I have my own doubts as well about iOS's future against Android) but they are not supported yet where I work.

The funny thing is that I don’t think they will even take the PB back :rolleyes:
 
#18 ·
If you are having bridge problems, don't pair with bluetooth then set up bridge.

Delete the bridge pairing on the phone and playbook, then the BT pairing on both the phone and PlayBook. Then let bridge set up the BT pairing.

It's never given me any headaches except for once. Other than that it's been a solid pair.
 
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