14 DAY TRIAL // BlackBerry PlayBook, the tablet PC that Canadian mobile phone maker Research In Motion unveiled to the world about a year ago, is about to receive a major operating system update, which will bring the BlackBerry Tablet OS 2.0 on it, with a wide range of enhancements and new features.
Important changes are expected to be made on the PlayBook as soon as the next operating system version is out some of which would affect the services available for the tablet's users.
Some leaked screenshots that allegedly show what the next version of the platform will be all about unveiled the fact that, while Exchange/Active Sync, IMAP, POP, CalDAV and CardDAV accounts would be available to set up on the device, any BES options might have been removed from the device.
Apparently, RIM has removed any options to sync with the Blackberry Enterprise Server or with the Internet Service, which comes as a surprise, considering that all BlackBerry devices usually offer these capabilities.
One possible explanation would be the fact that RIM was considering the adoption of integrated email, contacts and calendar solutions available for other mobile operating systems out there as well.
However, there is also the possibility that RIM has decided to exclude its BES/BIS offerings from the device that was photographed here, and that the actual OS 2.0 will include the two options as well, along with the aforementioned ones.
The Tablet OS for RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook is based on QNX and, with future BlackBerry smartphones headed for the market with this platform on board too, it would not come too mush as a surprise if Exchange/Active Sync and other options will be included on them as well.
Some suggest that RIM might actually have difficult times making the BlackBerry Enterprise Server work on QNX, which would explain its disappearance from Tablet OS 2.0.
One of the other interesting aspects of RIM's future OS release that was unveiled in the newly leaked shots was the fact that the PlayBook might get Android apps soon.
In the second screenshot attached to this article (courtesy of MaxPDA, via CrackBerry) users will be able to see a green icon that represents, apparently, the Android robot. The text beneath it seems to read “Android Apps.”
This is not the first time we learn of a connection between RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook and applications built for Google's Android operating system, so it does not come too mush as a surprise that Tablet OS 2.0 will finally offer expanded options for enjoying applications on the go.
