May 3, 2011 19:51 GMT  ·  By

Today, mobile phone maker Research In Motion started to deliver a software update for its BlackBerry PlayBook users, providing them with a series of new features, including the previously announced Video Chat application, as well as support for BlackBerry Messenger, and more.

The new OS flavor arrives as BlackBerry Tablet OS v1.0.3 (1.0.3.1868), and should be rolled-out to all users out there in a matter of days / weeks.

As soon as the update is available for their devices, users will receive a notification on the BlackBerry PlayBook status ribbon, but they can also manually check for it through heading to the settings menu under Software Updates.

The entire update process should not take more than 15 minutes to completed, RIM announced, adding that users should download and install the new software via a Wi-Fi connection.

Those who will purchase a new PlayBook device after today will automatically upgrade as part of the BlackBerry PlayBook setup process.

“BlackBerry Tablet OS v1.0.3 brings a bunch of new features to the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, including a Video Chat application and BBM support via BlackBerry Bridge,” a recent post on Inside BlackBerry reads.

We already presented the new Voice Chat application for the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet PC, but we should have a look at the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) Support via BlackBerry Bridge, and at the Document Editing via BlackBerry Bridge capabilities the device has just received.

With the new update, the BlackBerry Bridge experience was expanded to include BBM, offering the possibility to mirror the smartphone BBM on the tablet's larger screen through a Bluetooth connection.

The features that BBM via BlackBerry Bridge brings forth include: - Full BBM Chat Functionality – Either one-to-one or multi-person chats. - BBM Status Updates – Let your friends know how you feel about your new BlackBerry PlayBook tablet! - Photo Sharing – Via the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet or your BlackBerry smartphone SD card. - BBM Alerts – New BlackBerry Messenger alerts will appear on the BlackBerry PlayBook notification ribbon.

At the same time, the new BlackBerry Tablet OS v1.0.3 brings document-editing support on the PlayBook, so that users can access their documents on the BlackBerry device straight from the new tablet PC in their hands.

The feature will allow users to access their files on the BlackBerry smartphone via either email over BlackBerry Bridge or the BlackBerry Bridge files application.

It also comes with a BlackBerry Internet Service Support, so that users could save the files on the PlayBook, or back on the microSD card inside the smartphone, as well as with BlackBerry Enterprise Server Support, which would have documents automatically saved on the smartphone.

RIM also notes that the new OS version comes with Home Screen Browser Bookmarks: “Users can now quickly save a BlackBerry PlayBook Browser bookmark to the PlayBook tablet home screen for easy access. Select the browser bookmark from the home screen, and the BlackBerry PlayBook browser will automatically launch the webpage you want to see.”

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