Blaq for BlackBerry PlayBook v1.5 - Massive update, full of improvements now available

Since the v.1.1 update of Blaq for the PlayBook Kisai labs has been rather quiet about further updates or so it would seem. Truth is, Kisai labs has been beta testing release after release for a while now with each version getting significantly better. Now, the time has come for Blaq for PlayBook v1.5 to finally be released to BlackBerry App World and ultimately to the masses.

The update is huge and brings along with it plenty of changes and bug fixes. Seriously -- the change log is so big we have to put it past the break for you because if we don't itl will the whole front page. Jump on past to see the full change log or you can just head over to BlackBerry App World right now and grab the latest Blaq for PlayBook v1.5 update.

So, what’s new?

Application

• Refreshing new icon - Crisp lines, bold colors. Baselime has done it again.
• Native notifications – Native notifications provide an easy way of knowing when you need to get back to Blaq. It’s also configurable. More on that later.

Main View

• Real-time Indicator – To make it easy to understand if your tweets are updating in real time, we’ve added a convenient indicator.
• Read without interruption – Timelines (Home, Mentions and Direct Messages) now pause once you being scrolling so you have a chance to catch up without new tweets pushing you down.

Tweets

• Link Bar Code – now you can scan a bar code of a link in a tweet with two taps.
• Translate – Sometimes you just need to know what was said by another user in another language.
• Solid states for retweet and favorite – Now you’ll know for sure.

View Tweets, Followers, Listed and Following

• Now you can tap on tweets, followers or following for any user. Just click a user’s name or search for it and tap on the tweet count, follower count or following count to check it out!

Options

• Keep screen on – It is now possible to keep the screen on while reading tweets. Don’t forget to charge, though.

Notifications

• Toggle all – Turn native notifications on or off with one tap or toggle the following:
• New Tweets
• New Mentions
• New Direct Messages
• New Followers – Yep, notification of new followers – right within Blaq

Accounts

• Add a new account
• Set the current account (account switch)
• Delete account

Appearance

• Font - Make Blaq yours. Customize your font to change things up a bit.
• Font Size – Default font too small? Make it bigger? It’s that simple.

Bug Fixes

• White screen encountered when device time is incorrect (DST workaround)
• User can only tweet 139 characters instead of 140
• Increase tweet count in lists (now at 75 tweets)
• WebView pops up when no link in tweet
• Convo view height not restored after pull down on tweet card
• Performance sluggish when scrolling timelines
• Times on display and in timelines are not updated
• Search results are cleared and public timeline shows. Previous results are kept and updated.
• Compose Tweet character count inaccurate
• Report and Block buttons sometimes not functional
• Friend picker shows below tweet card when composing a new tweet
• Direct Message icon showing as new for direct messages sent outside of application
• Tweet card pulls down for compose when scrolling convo list
• Keyboard disappears when selecting a friend from friend picker
• Timelines randomly scroll to the bottom
• Application does not reorient itself when device is upside down
• Conversation view takes a long time to load
• Minor internal issues 

Phew! With all that out of the way, make sure you grab the latest update from BlackBerry App World. If you're not seeing it as of yet, just wait a little bit longer. It's appearing for most folks but a small handful of others are still waiting for it to show up. One other thing to note, is that if you currently have Blaq installed, make sure you delete it. Due to the vendor name changing you will end up with two different icons if the first version is still installed.

Download Blaq for PlayBook today from BlackBerry App World for only $1.99