Research in Motion has taken some considerable abuse in the last year over its highly anticipated and ultimately dismissed BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, but owners of the device can finally hold their heads high -- a version 2.0 update is now available which finally brings native email, Android app support and other features to the tablet.
The Verge is reporting that RIM’s much-touted BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 software update is finally pushing out to end users on Tuesday, only weeks after being shown off at the Consumer Electronics Show. Judging from screenshots, the 505MB version 2.0.0.7971 aims to get beleaguered PlayBook owners excited about their devices all over again -- assuming they were excited about them in the first place, of course.
“The biggest new feature is that RIM is finally including a native email client on the PlayBook, which features a unified inbox, tabs, and a rich text editor,” the report said. “Along with the email client, the PlayBook 2.0 OS will also pull relationship and event information from multiple sources into built-in Contacts and Calendar apps. RIM has updated Documents To Go, added Print To Go, and fully integrated the necessary hooks to let IT managers provision PlayBooks with BlackBerry Fusion.”
The update also introduces a new BlackBerry Video Store to U.S. users, as well as access to “thousands of new apps” in BlackBerry App World -- “new” being a relative term. They’re Android apps, so if you’re already familiar with that platform, the apps won’t be new to you, but they’re certainly new to RIM’s tablet.
The Verge noted that their update installed in about 45 minutes from a previous developer beta version 2.0.0.7111, so your mileage may vary. Given that there are still plenty of places users can pick one of these up for $199, the new update might inspire some fresh new sales for those averse to the iOS and Android tablet offerings already in existence.
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(Image courtesy of The Verge)
