Most enterprise and business class users have been waiting for the Blackberry Playbook. Although it was released a little bit too early in some people’s minds, RIM intends to update their device bi-weekly.
Since the Playbook was initially released on April 19th, there have been 3 different firmware updates. These updates have addressed bugs within the operating system and didn’t really add too many new features. RIM has been mysteriously silent about all of the enhancements packed into each upgrade. There are no developer notes or an end user summary on the new features being implemented.
In the next few weeks RIM will be ushering in two new applications: Facebook and Video Chat. The Playbook actually launched with a Facebook application, but in essence it was a glorified shortcut to the web browser. The new Facebook application will be a standalone version.
The Video chat is one of the most exciting new features. It will allow you to chat via the front facing or rear facing cameras. Considering the Playbook has the best cameras in the current class of tablet computers, it will give you a better experience then the Xoom or iPad 2.
RIM expects the new video app to launch in the first week of May and Facebook is expected to drop towards the end of the month.
Update:
Today Blackberry issued an update that is around 290 MB and allows you to now video chat! You also get access to BBM via the Bridge software that rides your smartphone to chat.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
