Research in Motion is giving all BlackBerry Playbook users a present this morning, update 1.0.3.1868. This update brings the much awaited BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) to the playbook along with video chat and saving bookmarks to the homescreen as shortcuts. Another goodie the update brings is the ability to rearrange homescreen icons like the iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. In similar fashion to other platforms press and hold and icon until the behavior changes then start moving.
Despite all these advancements the ability to attach files to bridge email is HUGE edition in this update. Finally you can email pictures, video, and screenshots from your playbook without the need to use webmail or tether to a computer.
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If you created a list of features users wanted to see come to BlackBerry Bridge at the top of the list was BBM. The guys over at CrackBerry just posted an image of BBM running over BlackBerry Bridge. Better yet the posted the OTA install for AT&T users. Grab your BlackBerry smartphone and update the BlackBerry Bridge software. Blackberry Bridge 1.0.0.83 and access to BlackBerry Beta Zone is required to get this working. Here is hoping you signed as registration for Beta Zone is closed
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For many a native Facebook app on your tablet is a must and for those users RIM has announced Facebook for the BlackBerry Playbook. The experience of Facebook.com on the playbook is flawless so I cannot say this was a much needed feature. What you will get is an easy way to upload all the photo’s and video’s from your BlackBerry Playbook to Facebook. The app should be available later this month.
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It is not Qik or Skype Video chat, rather BlackBerry has released a Video Chat Application for the BlackBerry Playbook. With a single click you can get into a chat with another BlackBerry Playbook user. The software is not expected to hit devices until May 3rd so get ready to check for updates tomorrow morning.
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Sony announced two Android tablets at a press event in Tokyo today. The S1 Media Tablet which is a 9.4 inch tablet with front and rear facing cameras powered by Android 3.0 (Honeycomb). Sony has also added integrated infrared so you can control the tablet via remote.
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The lack of a huge ecosystem of native applications is not a big deal if you have a great web browser that supports Adobe Flash. Research in Motion has made many great design decisions with the BlackBerry Playbook. However, some of those battery conserving decisions have unanticipated side effects that make for a negative experience.
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If you have not received the latest software update for your BlackBerry Playbook, version 1.0.1.1710, there is no shortage of sites showing how to force the update via desktop manager. I resisted, as I wanted to see how long it took to be notified of the OTA update and what the process was like. This is a minor update mainly to fix minor bugs. Unlike the update required out of the box this update went as smooth as silk.
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The BlackBerry Playbook packs a rear-facing 5 megapixel camera that can produce rather stunning images in the right light conditions. Like any phone camera or camera with smaller image sensor, images in lower light situations can be pixelated or slightly blurred. The real challenge is the delay you experience when taking pictures. I am not expecting to take pictures at an NFL game, however we all know that in a second you can miss that funny picture of the kids.
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You know that funny look a dog gets where there is a high pitched noise, yeah that is what I felt when I realized there is no way to email pictures you take on the Playbook. I should say there is no way to email pictures over BlackBerry Bridge currently. I had not problem sending pictures from my Windows live or Gmail accounts.
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Initially I thought the screenshot capability was removed when I updated the BlackBerry Playbook to 1.0.1.1690, however it is only disabled when in BlackBerry Bridge Mode. I can only suspect screenshots are disabled to prevent you from taking screenshots when email is connected. I know I am not the only person seeing this issue. Maybe it is by design.
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