14 DAY TRIAL // If you thought the BlackBerry Playbook was a device headed for extinction, think again. Apparently, reports are coming in saying that there’s a BlackBerry Bridge update being rolled out through BlackBerry World packed with a few improvements and fixes.
That means that the BlackBerry Playbook hasn't been forgotten as we thought and the company is still actively working on Playbook OS updates (download it here).
Crackberry also says that the new OS version, 2.1.0.1895, has received its certifications, so good things will be coming to BlackBerry tablet users. The only caveat in the story is that we don’t know for sure when the new build will start appearing in the wild, but we can guess it’s going to be pretty soon.
Now for a little bit of history. The original Playbook tablet was the company’s first and only tablet effort and was unleashed back in 2011. Three years ago, the device was considered to be a pretty solid offering, but users eventually got discouraged due to the lack of dedicated apps and native BlackBerry support.
So far, the company has gained notoriety because of its line of smartphones aimed at business/enterprise users, so BlackBerry is really a noob when it comes to slates.
At some point, it was actually suggested that BlackBerry would be abandoning the tablet race altogether, alongside other companies that haven’t seen growth in the tablet sector, like HTC and Motorola.
That speculation crumpled soon enough, when a BlackBerry official made it clear in an interview that the company was not ready to renounce tablets yet. Actually, he said they were being considered pretty avidly.
Even so, his confirmation doesn't necessarily mean that we’re going to see the tablets arrive on retail shelves any time soon. On the contrary, BlackBerry is far from ready to release a competent tablet into the wild, especially since the competition is spurting out capable models by the week.
Anyway, the fact that the Bridge app has been updated is certainly good news and a clear indication that tablets continue to be on BlackBerry’s mind. For those who aren't in the know as far as the Bridge app is concerned, this is a piece of software allowing users to pair their BlackBerry smartphone with their Playbook tablet.
The app will also bring about a little nifty trick, turning the BlackBerry phone into a virtual mouse to be used in concert with the Playbook tablet, and can even be used for typing, if you find that more intuitive.