Jimmie Geddes email: j.geddes@mobilenapps.com
The BlackBerry PlayBook hasn't seen much commercial success but RIM, now "just call me" BlackBerry, has still kept it in its lineup and now it will receive an upgrade to BlackBerry 10 OS, which is BlackBerry's next-generation mobile operating systems and saw its debut on the Z10 and Q10 smartphones.
There are also rumors that BlackBerry might announce a brand new PlayBook tablet with some higher end specs, like more RAM, faster processor, etc. in order to bring it up to the specs of its just announced BlackBerry Z10 and BlackBerry Q10, which both feature 2GB of RAM (the current PlayBook tops out at 1GB of RAM). BlackBerry 10's UI seems to benefit from the extra RAM since the new OS features heavy animations for a slick UI experience. It will be interesting to see how current PlayBook hardware will be able to run the OS.
I applaud BlackBerry for committing to releasing an upgrade as big is this to current PlayBook owners. It will be interesting to see if sales of the device increase with BlackBerry's official announcement that it will release a BlackBerry 10 OS upgrade to the BlackBerry PlayBook. BlackBerry did not mention any estimated time of arrival for the update, but at least Playbook owners have something to look forward to, something HP TouchPad owners would love the option of.
When RIM initially released its PlayBooks consumers and HP noticed RIM heavily borrowed from Palm's webOS - it offers webOS' card interface and flicking apps off the screen to close them - the PC giant went on to publicly say there were some uncanny similarities to RIM's new tablet OS and webOS. The PlayBook's current OS has turned out to be popular with consumers looking to get a cheap 7-inch tablet with an intuitive OS and it'll be interesting to see how well the new BlackBerry 10 plays on the large screen.
more stories from OS / Software
Microsoft has reportedly started talks with HTC to add its Windows OS to the phone maker's Android smartphones and HTC is apparently considering to make a Windows Phone/Android dual-booting smartphone.
ernest hamiltonA bug in Chrome for iOS 7 has caused Google's mobile browser to leak private searches made in 'Incognito' mode.
ernest hamiltonHTC has announced that Sprint has already started to roll out the Android 4.3 update to the HTC One, AT&T and T-Mobile will follow in mid-October, while Verizon will release it by the end of the month.
ernest hamiltonThe new Windows 8.1 has gone up for pre-order on the Microsoft Store, ahead of the official launch on Oct. 18.
ernest hamiltonApple has acknowledged the iOS 7 iMessage issue and promised to provide a fix in an upcoming software update.
ernest hamiltonSamsung Canada and French carrier SFR have confirmed the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean rollout schedule for the Samsung Galaxy S4, Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2.
ernest hamiltonThe unlocked, international HTC One is getting Android 4.3 Jelly Bean now, but the U.S. and Canadian versions will 'slightly miss' the end-September timeframe.
ernest hamiltonThe Samsung Galaxy S4, Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 are reportedly slated to get Android 4.3 Jelly Bean in the fourth quarter, by year-end.
ernest hamilton