Big PlayBook update coming October, adds Video Store, Android, email and more

New features promised

Big PlayBook update coming October, adds Video Store, Android, email and more

16 September 2011 0:07 GMT / By Stuart Miles

RIM has promised a "big update" for its PlayBook tablet in October as it moves to try and improve lacklustre sales over the last quarter.

In a conference call following the company’s latest earning report, that saw revenue down 15 per cent and profits down by 47 per cent compared to the previous quarter, the company told those listening that rather than trickle out small updates it would, instead, be opting ones which will have a bigger impact in the future.

The update, due in October, would include the long promised native email, calendar, and contacts as well as the Android App Player and BlackBerry Balance; all previously promised for the "summer".

RIM has also promised improved BlackBerry Bridge support, enhanced web browsing, and the launch of a BlackBerry Video store that would offer over 10,000 films and TV shows playable on users TVs via the HDMI out socket on the RIM tablet.

The new BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 update would come after the company’s annual DevCon conference in San Francisco in October, where RIM has said it will be showing the next generation of QNX smartphones. Sadly, unlike the PlayBook update, it has hinted that those phones won’t be available until 2012.

Full tags

Tablets, BlackBerry PlayBook, RIM, BlackBerry, QNX, Operating Systems, Updates