Blackberry Playbook upgrade fails to impress

By Triska Hamid

The Playbook was created with the traditional Blackberry business user in mind, intended as an extension of the Blackberry smartphone, rather than as a standalone device. It was therefore always going to struggle against Apple's iPads and the more-affordable Android-enabled tablets.

The delayed launch, lack of native email, and small number of applications has rendered it an embarrassment for manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM).

But with the new 2.0 OS, RIM claims to have ironed out the faults. And it has, just.

The original OS had no integrated email system, making it impossible to email files across from the Playbook. This has now been rectified and a calendar and contacts list has been added that works across different social networks. There is also a more sophisticated Blackberry Bridge app, which enables users to use the Playbook remotely through their Blackberry phone. The application store has improved as Blackberry continues to pursue developers in order to boost its offerings.

Yet despite the upgrade, the Playbook still suffers from a lack of uniqueness. There is also growing fear among the developer community that the Blackberry store is not worthwhile, which could cripple its success.

As for the keyboard, at $119.99 it is worth close to half the Playbook itself. The case, which doubles up as a stand for the tablet is bulky and heavy, taking away from the portability of the device. The keyboard connects to the PlayBook via bluetooth and has a battery life of 36 hours. It takes a while to get used to the small keys, which lack the responsiveness of the native touchscreen keypad. The predictive text however, is reliable and can cut typing time significantly.

The changes are a welcome, but they have come late and RIM is unlikely to win over many consumers.