OTTAWA: Research in Motion, the company that introduced wireless email to the world, on Tuesday finally brought email to its tablet computer, the BlackBerry PlayBook.
The email application is one of several additions to the second version of the PlayBook's operating system, which became available as a no-cost download early Tuesday morning. There was considerable surprise last April that the PlayBook, the company's answer to the Apple iPad, initially could send or receive emails only by being connected to a BlackBerry phone.
The much-delayed upgrade that corrects that omission also allows the PlayBook to run some apps developed for devices that use Google's Android operating system. And it includes some novel features for automatically integrating information and messages from social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, with its email, calendar and contact apps.
With the software upgrade, owners of BlackBerry phones will also be able to use the familiar keyboard on their handsets as a physical keyboard for the PlayBook through a wireless connection.
While several analysts welcomed the arrival of the new operating system, they were also skeptical that it would make RIM a significant force in the tablet computer market or inspire consumers to wait for a new, and also delayed, line of phones that will use similar software.
"It probably puts a couple of fingers in the dike," said Mike Abramsky, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, a unit of the Royal Bank of Canada. "While many of the updates are nice, albeit late, there isn't much to differentiate it from Android and iPad tablets."
The email application is one of several additions to the second version of the PlayBook's operating system, which became available as a no-cost download early Tuesday morning. There was considerable surprise last April that the PlayBook, the company's answer to the Apple iPad, initially could send or receive emails only by being connected to a BlackBerry phone.
The much-delayed upgrade that corrects that omission also allows the PlayBook to run some apps developed for devices that use Google's Android operating system. And it includes some novel features for automatically integrating information and messages from social media sites, including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, with its email, calendar and contact apps.
With the software upgrade, owners of BlackBerry phones will also be able to use the familiar keyboard on their handsets as a physical keyboard for the PlayBook through a wireless connection.
While several analysts welcomed the arrival of the new operating system, they were also skeptical that it would make RIM a significant force in the tablet computer market or inspire consumers to wait for a new, and also delayed, line of phones that will use similar software.
"It probably puts a couple of fingers in the dike," said Mike Abramsky, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, a unit of the Royal Bank of Canada. "While many of the updates are nice, albeit late, there isn't much to differentiate it from Android and iPad tablets."
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