Following the BlackBerry DevCon keynote, I grabbed my free BlackBerry PlayBook and opted for a unit preloaded with the developer version of PlayBook OS 2.0. First thing to note here is the name change. BlackBerry Tablet OS will be dropped for PlayBook OS, at least for now until we see how all the newly announced BBX Platform branding carries out in the months ahead.
Firing up the PlayBook for the first time, I had Michael Clewley, Sr. Product Manager on the PlayBook team, walk me through PlayBook OS 2.0. As I previously predicted, 2.0 makes a departure on the homescreen user interface from version 1, featuring a experience that's a little more iOS-like in the app tray. Instead of the homescreen panes (All, Favorities, Media, etc.), you now have non-labeled panes. You can move apps between panes, put your favorites into the top portion of the display and group apps into folders which you can label. Makes a ton of sense, especially knowing that this OS will make it's way into phones that have a narrower portrait orientation. Another noticeable change was the enlargement of open apps on the homescreen. The preview of open apps is now bigger, with only thre apps showing vs. 5, with a much clearer subtitle and bigger close button.
Check out the video above for a CrackBerry first look at PlayBook OS 2.0 and let us know what you think in the comments!
Reader comments
First Look: BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 Developer Beta!
Wait for Final Release and OS 2 running well :p
- Pepen Indianto is Arround the World -
Buahahahahaha JUST GET A IPAD 2 with ios5 Game over when will BB LEARN
hey does anyone know if i install OS2, will my pictures and files get erased after the update?
The bbx os 2 is better than the tablet os 1
i hated the homescreen of the playbook os 1
Where can I find wallpaper?
not a fan of the bigger panes, i liked 5, if i could reorder my open apps at will, then it wouldn't be a big deal though..
Does anyone know if Docs to Go be integrated with Google Docs or Dropbox? This is a very handy tool.
I'm torn because I like the new features coming with 2.0 but I also like the tabbed layout in the current PB OS. I just wish that 1. we could add/delete/rearrange the tabs and 2. rename them. With the current OS, RIM could also use a right or left bezel swipe to bring out a small tray of quick launch apps. Just my 2 cents.
P.s. The layout of OS 2.0 kinda reminded me of iOS.. which is a little disturbing on some levels.
Watched the Samsung/Goolge event last night, and ICS has the exact same folder creation scheme as Playbook OS 2.0, as well as allowing you to fling apps off the screen to close them (to the sides instead of up top). As a current BB user I felt a little more confidence in the bold statement that the upcoming "super" phones are going to leapfrog the competition.
The one thing I would like is the ability to add widgets to the home-screen, like weather, and different rss feeds (behind the app carousel area).
great to have all this but sadly all this should have launched with the playbook last year. you can't expect a product to gain the momentum needed in the marketplace to compete, especially when you are one of the last ones to enter the market. RIM needs to break this habit of realising what to bring to market a year later. Doesn't help their case. But anyway can't wait for OS2 to be released officially
Should have been a closed beta. It's obvious that too many people don't understand what they are doing.
I downloaded the 2.0 version, but my blackberry bridge dosent work. How can i uninstall the version??? I want to have the old version.
How long i have to wait until i can install the old version???
Any Help Please???
I am not a developer and of course downloaded this OS (as many people did I guess). Some issues: browser cracks down many times, sometimes when I try to open a new window it simply does not work. I use the Kindle Cloud Reader and it does not work. Probably I wll downgrade the OS until the final version be released
Is this all we got from DevCon?... That sucks!
Still not support chinese language input support!
Yesterday updated to 2.0, upgraded my existing Installation.
All / Most of my apps remained but for example bb bridge did not work, it made the bridge connection but could not access BBM for example. Gave me some encryption error.
Did a downgrade, so PB became Factory default 1.0.0.xxx and updated again too 2.0.
So now i have a Fresh V2.0 running, created the Bridge again, guess what...bb bridge now working!!
Give it a try in case of troubles. Of course backup your important stuff first.
im really disappointed with them, they've had so much time to make something magical, what theyre showing us is barely mediocre.
Downgrade procedure not working like it should,
Turn off your device.
Open BlackBerry® Desktop Manager.
Connect your device to your computer via USB.
Enter your device password.
Enter your email address or uncheck “Yes, email me when updates are available”.
Click Install.
This all works... but then in the startup wizzard it starts to download 2.0.0.3778 again and cant seem to bypass or cancel this....??
anyone with the same issues.
The same for me! I need a big Help because i want to get back the old version...
Devcon 2011 - another big outage for RIM. No QNX phones announcements, no release of OS 2.0 for Playbook (only developer version). RIM is really doing stupid steps one after another.
No doubt! RIM is exactly on schedule with what they promised regarding 2.0 and Devcon...
Where is all the anger and disappointment coming from? Android developers are converting .APKs to .BARs *right now* in preparation to take our cold hard fanboy cash; it's been demonstrated that TAT is alive and well *AND* productive inside RIM, enabling slick UI creation for the development community, and that all things Playbook are gaining momentum!
Non-developers are disappointed with the preview development release? Honestly ;-)
Did anyone els check their phone after the notification went off in the video -________-
yes! :)
Can't believe the whining on here! People - get it into your heads: This release was NOT meant for US! It is NOTHING like the finished article and only meant for developers to work with! I will not go anywhere near it. My PB works perfectly and nothing is going to make me ruin that. Yes the wait has been long, but I'm a patient guy and think we'll be rewarded handsomely!
Why is everyone whining so much, this is a terrific update. First, it runs more smoothly (particularly the browser). Second, it finally has a spell checker. Third, it has proper cut and paste functions. Fourth, if you browse a little more you will notice that the Android apps will soon start rolling but developers need to check functionalitiy, ergo the developer release. Fifth, bridge works great, flawless so far! Why is everyone complaining they have to wait 6 more months - 2.0 its here and it works.
Just noticed that you can now add a custom RSS URL to the revised Podcast app :-)
Watched the demo, okay 6 months since PB release, only demonstrates larger cards, neat folder creation, no tabs, no carousel, all I can think of is 6 month wait for demo of a BETA. No demonstration of Android player, native email, calendar, spell check, or new native apps. Yes six months for a BETA demo and I yawned....
DevCon is 18th to the 20th so we might expect more announcements
You have email and calendar (provided you tether). You have spell checker and Android apps are around the corner
Looks interesting.
Hey Kevin, now that you have the playbook from Devcon, you can send your old one my way!
just wondering anyone having issue getting into bbm?
So, I may have missed this posted alrady, but are they going to adress the issues with copy and paste between programs, spell check, notification resolution? I am excited about the new things, but getting some of the basics right that are so far off would be nice. Just let me spell check and copy and paste and I will be much happier.
I get the distinct impression that they've deliberately limited the "obvious" changes here. Even so, the UI looks cleaner and more flexible (folders FTW!!).
Since there's little in the way of new features, and RIM is not claiming full compatibility with current PB apps, I think I'll pass on the beta for now (though perhaps on my emulator...)
This has been a rough few months for RIM, but I'm still hopeful. The content announcements, the TAT demo, and the release of the native environment are all promising signs. Fingers crossed!
I think your patience will be rewarded. I can't believe these posts about losing faith, etc. Everyone bought the Playbook knowing what it was. Are they going to take them back? Put them on eBay? I'll buy ANOTHER one for the right price.
Feature requests : keep the NAMED TABS and make the KEYBOARD SIZE user selectable.
1. What was wrong with the home screen? I liked it a lot. I only wished I could put my own labels in lieu of Favorites, Media and Games. The new "dots" aren't quite satisfying! Try taping closely spaced dots rapidely, you probably need to be more careful than when casually taping the names of the categories.
2. What was wrong with the keyboard? Ok, I know. Sometimes it bothered me too, but it certainly made my typing easier most of the time, and I do a lot of typing. Can we please chose (on the fly) wether we want the new size or keep the old one? Typing fast requires space for errors.
Hopefully, full blown bluetooth keyboards are now supported, including the accented characters and front delete.
i agree. the new homescreen is less than impressive. i like having all my apps grouped into tabs so i don't have to go through 3 panes to get to the one that has the app i want. this interface resembles too much like iOS, inefficient. it would be nice to be able to create our own tabs though.
i hope the new 2.0 keyboard will also capitalize my first letters of the sentence like my torch does. i've grown too lazy do it myself. and to place a period when you press spacebar twice.
hi guys,i am not sure why people are complaining about OS2 not release for all, but RIM already stated that OS2.0 will be release on DEVCon for developers not US.
second, I download and installed OS2, and using it now , here's what i noticed , I haven't use it for my development purpose yet.
- very smooth scrolling
- loading apps are fast
- music player now have delete option beside add to playlist
- Specially browser , its fast and foreign language its fixed.
- Video playing smoother
- Gmail problem is fixed
overall i noticed performance improved so much
music player does not multitask with browser sounds :/
hope this get fixed with the non-Beta release
I am really close to buying a Playbook. I just wish that RIM would actually come to this site and read each and every comment posted here and see what we want. I also wish that it had a usb port. That would be awsome.
Can I downgrade back to the OS1 if i do not like it ?
Yes, there are instructions on the download site.
hi all,
my wife decided to go ahead and register for this update. i then pointed out that it's a dev beta and she really doesnt want it.
but now, her playbook has a pending update to download the beta, and we dont know how to make the pending update go away.
any suggestions on how to remove a pending update, short or doing a full wipe on the playbook?
appreciate any help you might reply with.
Just ignore the update as it will never go away. It does not affect your use of the Playbook, so why worry about it.
Hey - there's a READER MODE IN BROWSER that makes articles reading much more comfortable. Look for the little book-like icon in the topright corner of your browser.
We're also expecting something as basic as text search in a web page!
nice to see that os 2 supports blue tooth stereo headphones
You had me going there... No it doesn't.
i don't know what the big deal is about seeing only 3 open apps in the carousel as opposed to 5... you can barely see the edges of #s 1 & 5 (left to right) as it is. what are you losing?
Has any one at DEVCON has said a word about the Java Player or Java SDK?? seems that this has been sent to oblivion, this was announced at the same time than Android Player months ago
Wow, Kevin you need to hide you displeasure. I see you were underwhelmed like alot of us were. Home screen looks amazing! LMAO
So I'm guessing no one saw my comment earlier today. I could not watch the live general session on the playbook. It told me to go to my desktop. Damm BB failed on that poist
I watched it live, on my PlayBook. Tuned in part way through the first half.
It worked on my PlayBook, but I didn't tune in until later in the stream.
Quite a good facelift and i am more concerned with what goes under the hood really. will it randomly close applications for me when it goes low on memory or would it give me some sort of warning because currently I dont have any warning before my apps close on me...
One more thing I would like to see in the future is the ability to run apps in the background? no, not multitasking per se. as in keep certain apps persistently running in the background without having its whole big window on the carousel instead they have a bar with the small icons kinda like the right portion of windows' taskbar. This is useful if we want to see apps like BeBuzz, alarm app and hell Evernote could use that too. It would prevent user from accidentally swiping off to close them and make it faster swiping through the carousel with only 'active' apps in it.
that makes a helluva lot of sense... even choosing to hide them all together would be good. could bringing them up again in an advance tab. a tab showing all the running apps and you could easily force close apps.
again something that probably will never see the light of day. Doubt they ever listen to their users.
I've personally seen some performance improvement with Flash enabled..
Being ready for thousands of apps is great. creation of folders, more panes but really I really thought the tabs were great now we just get an endless array of panes? Looks like webOS / iOS / less original then it should be.
the glowing dots are just a rip off of every other pane in existence but at least there's a visual cue to u know, not have to swipe everywhere. The bigger windows just crowds eveything. Do I really need to see a larger preview of an app im not using? when it was visibly understandable the firs time around. Much prefer seeing more app. overall there's a lot of visible changes but it just seems like there's nothing new in the UI layout even though it is NEW on the playbook.
Love to see a write up on the differences on the UI from playbook 1.0 to 2.0.
How long until the real deal is released.
ok it is a developer beta release, but then again, keep it between development walls.
This 2.0 release, using it right now would not even be worth waiting a day for.
besides the bridge function with my 9700 not working like it did, i dont like the big carousel windows. the smaller windows looked better with multiple apps open.
the browser feels and behaves like the one in the previous os version.
oh yeah, we have this folder option now, hmmmm... so what.
speed has increased a bit. but i had no speed complaints yet..
so what have we been given. a incomplete beta OS with a android runtime inside so u can test apk files and fill up the app world as fast as aprovetechnical possible.
still beta dev software, no more no less, not impressive at all at this point.
For the love of the sweet baby Jesus and sweet potato pie....ITS A BETA!!
They didn't force you to download it and they clearly stated that bridge and some apps won't work.
I agree. That was an unnecessary rant.
I think this dude was expecting native BIS email, angry birds and the other 300 best seller apps.
please allow us more than 3 icons on the dock. please!
I was able to add 6...?
yep 6! or none at all! :)
If you're not a developer you might just want to hold off. you get some new stuff but you actually lose video calling.
You lose Bridge too!
I'm not DL'ing this...
very nice os,so far
Downloaded, have been using it for a while. There have been some other small changes in the user interface. One thing that bugged me in OS1 was that Flash ads on the side would prevent scrolling - they fixed that. Also they made it so when you select the address bar on the web browser, it doesn't automatically select the entire address - I'm not sure why they did this or if they realize this.
Also it seems like there are a few stability issues. I encountered a bug where my app seemed to shrink, with black margins filling the rest of the screen, but touch input still worked, though the buttons in the app were small and hard to press. It seems that this might allow Playbook apps to be run on BBX phones without the developer having to create a lower-res version.
Well Bridge is essential feature of PlayBook and it doesn't work. Are you kidding me Laz and Bas? :-)
Advice for shareholders of RIM: Don't be shy and don't worry to say: "Time's up, screw you boys" ;-)
My 9780 Bridge works fine, and it looks like AD2P bluetooth is now there...
Opinions will vary, but the icon management is welcomed here.
My 9800 Bridge works also fine. But when I open browser, messages, BBM, etc., fail message appears (Error - can't connect to server). I'm BIS user.
then it does not work fine... lol ... I'm getting the same Error with my 9800
It works untill.... ;-)
This version is really piece of shit' In face of developers (who will try Bridge with their own BB) RIM disgraced itself.
Laz and Bas, thank you, but if you want to save RIM, leave please!
Can you name any bridge functionality that can be used by a developer in their apps?
This is not intended to be a complete beta and they clearly state this point, which would be why they don't include a large number of apps nor a new version of bb bridge.
thats the best thing ive heard so far. im dying to be able to use my bluetooth headphones w the PB
Me too! But still nothing?! Odd thing is my laptop and phone show up, marked, as A2DP devices... Obviously it's on it's way - hopefully it's only a matter of days.
Looks a little more bland but it is just the dev release. I'll hold final judgement until it comes to us. Things always look nicer when you have your own background. would love to see an option to scale the window size of the apps that are minimized yourself.
Who came up with the grand idea of moving from six icons to three icons in the dock..I mean seriously what joy does RIM get in moving a step backward??? What is wrong with you people at RIM....why change something that is good and to something crap...WTH. How does this freakin help...at least for Gods sake give us the ability to have the same setup with six icons...PLEASE.
i've installed 2.0 and as per your rant i decided to tweak it and i found out that the dock can still hold up to six icons, difference is now you can customize it from having six app icons on it to none at all. pretty cool.
I am complaining for the sake of complaining! The dock is toi big and too small! Why can't they make it perfect, I mean all the other tablets are perfect.
I like it. I hate when i open ALL and i have 100000 million apps. its retard!!!! I ahve a dam playbook how do i have sooo many apps. scrolling down is hell!!!!
So i have a nice plan with the new OS.
5 Folders on 3-5 pains. So i never have to scroll down.
just open folders from the top line ALWAYS.
has anyone been able to get bridged apps to function? is this even a real option? anyone?
and yes...hororifing and Amazing and interesting like allways..equaly to my co-worker's sister-in-law makes $79/hour on the laptop. She has been without work for 8 months but last month her check was $7238 just working on the laptop for a few hours. Here's the site: qikr.co/84v27
Is this a virus???
Please don`t hurt me, but that´s a 1:1 Iphone copy!
You press the a icon until all of them start to shake, then you move them.
:(
Where are the native mail and calendar apps?
Well obviously you're not following the discussion. This is a developer release and they specified that none of those will be included when you install this update.
No I'm not following the thread...that is good to know.
Installed Playbook OS 2.0! I love the new homescreen it's cleaner and as from demo above removes the app panes. The multitasking previews are bigger and they don't pop out anymore when you scroll through the several open apps. One thing I LOVE is when in portrait mode you're not stuck with 4 rows of apps staring at you in the face, only the quick launch pane that you can customize to having 3 apps (or more i'm not sure) to none at all! i can now appreciate my wallpapers a little bit more.
Playbook OS 2.0
Blackberry Bridge is not working on OS2 Beta...
I have OS 2.0!
Biggest difference I've seen so far is the Keyboard is shorter in landscape, and Docs to Go is all One app now, no longer separate for sheets, word and PowerPoint. The whole UI is also smoother, and apps load much faster now.
Kind of annoying, but my Webworks app no longer displays properly. I'll have to resubmit it.
Adobe Reader has been updated. Uses new Docs to Go Filepicker to open PDF files. Everything seems to be rendered at better quality, makes it much more useable. It doesn't seem to have bookmarks or any new features though. Unfortunate.
If you have multiple apps open and use the side bezels to switch apps, you cannot swipe up on the app to close it. You must go to the "homescreen" with an upward swipe, and then close it, with either an upward swipe on the app, or pressing the "X"
Dead Space crashes soon after it is opened. Tetris, NFS, Bejeweled all work.
What's the point of having multiple panes you can drag icons around to if you can't name the panes? Hideous new interface.
Are there any changes within the bookmarks (customise names, group folders) available in the web browser at the beta 2.0 OS? Thanks
Is there any talk about the browser? I want to be able rename and re-order book marks bookmark. I also hope the new Docs-to-Go is improved so it's at least as good as the one on my Phone.
Seems like they aren't talking about any of the new features in OS 2.0 during this DevCon. Makes sense, as this is all about getting developers tools to create apps, not hype a product.
They'll probably introduce 2.0 when it is done or maybe with a new product during a separate event so they can hype all the new features.
Browser looks & feels just like the 1.0 one.
May see some changes in the real 2.0 release.
i'm jazzed about it! just hoping they've added spell check and copy/paste.
The big windows look like app world on the phone, not good. Good for the phone but not the Playbook. Also it makes the UI more crowded/claustrophobic. You need some feeling of space in this device.
I completely agree with the above comment. It's better to see more windows so you can pick it. More scrolling is annoying over the long-run.
And again, it needs the human touch, that dot looks unfinished and minimalist in a plain way.
Downloading it now using the Desktop Manager ... could probably do wifi but still at work.
How long should consumers wait to have a fully functioning tablet, its really ridiculous. RIM will be behind the competition for a very long time. Too bad, I love blackberry but I am so tired of hoping for RIM to get it.
I had to wait almost an entire year for my iPad, and even now, it still does less useful things than my PlayBook, which came out like 5 months ago.
Maybe because I own a PlayBook, Asus Transformer, and iPad, I'm not fretting about RIM, but it's easy not to worry when the PlayBook is the one I carry everywhere and use the most. Out of the box it did so many things right and has so much potential, which I can see is being acted on by RIM. I like my Android tablet just as much -- technically nothing is holding it back, as it's open, but It stays at home in favor of my PlayBook. And the iPad would be gone, if not for development, as it's really no more useful than my iPod Touch, which makes it a pretty useless device for its size.
RIM. . . PLEASE do not make the cards/windows larger. Just use webOS on the HP TouchPad to find out just how annoying it is to only see one full window at a time--with part of two others.
The carousel with multiple smaller windows with one-touch access is a unique feature to the PlayBook OS and increases multi-tasking beyond any other mobile OS currently out there. . . please don't mess that up.
****
let's think about this for one second, please.
I can swipe left/right to access the next/previous app. What good/benefit do I get when I go to the window/card view in 2.0? NONE! I get to see the app in focus and part of the one on the left & right--I don't gain anything. It just slows me down and gives me a redundant view.
Might as well have the app drawer open fully on the first swipe--at least that way I'm getting something different instead of a redundant selection of open apps that I could have gotten to quicker with a left/right swipe. . . now I'll get to swipe all over the screen to find the app I want to bring to focus. Wonderful waste of time! Obviously the designer hasn't used a TouchPad enough to realize how stupid this is--just check precentral forums for all the hacks to make the cards smaller.
Seriously, does anyone actually use this stuff before they make the changes?
"Seriously, does anyone actually use this stuff before they make the changes?"
nope, that's why we have app world 3.0 looking the way it does :P
but yeh its so redundant the enlargement of the windows that I doubt i would want to bother with it.
If they gave us an option to enlarge it ourselves then sure but at this stage, this is just trying to fill the space and it really isn't needed.
I detest the UI changes. I really like the existing tab approach. All I've wanted was the ability to create my own tabs and would have been quite happy.
Also not to keen on the wider display of the apps; to be honest, the "squareness" of it looks cheaper to me and less eloquent then what is currently on the Playbook. Yes, I know it's still square, but the smaller width of them looks nicer than the larger width as this video shows.
And I'm sorry, but if I wanted an iOS style OS, I would have gone with an Apple product. I want my OS to be distinctly RIM not a cheap imitation of iOS.
Seriously, companies need to get over their apple fixation. When apple has 90% of the market then they should copy them. Until then they need to innovate and think or new & more efficient ways to do things and I really like the current PlayBook UI. . . so much so I had to register today just to comment on PB OS 2.0 UI changes. . .
The tabs are great, folders are great, being able to rename and add new tabs would be great. Making it into a love-child of webOS & iOS = stillborn.
totally agree with you! this is looking more iOS/webOS then it should.
tabs looked a lot neater and professional to be honest. I liked having my stuff grouped in tabs.
when you can create folders, there's really no need for extra panes or tabs but at least the tabs were laid out logically and I knew what they were for. Im not just throwing around apps in all sorts of directions.
a day in the life of 2.0
let me just go to click on this glowing dot (which is totally unique btw ;) )which will take me to pane 3 where I keep some random apps away from the 4th pane which is just a random pane for me to slide my finger around for those times when I get lonely and need to swipe away.
+1 Entirely with you on this one!
I much prefer the smaller display of the open apps. It's not like we need to interact with them, we just need to recognize which is which, and the name below is a pretty good indicator should visual recognition fail! Let us create and name the tabs, that's all we need on the home page!
Amazing and interesting like allways..equaly to my co-worker's sister-in-law makes $79/hour on the laptop. She has been without work for 8 months but last month her check was $7238 just working on the laptop for a few hours. Here's the site: qikr.co/84v2
The only thing that worries me is that I have the 16 gig playbook. I'm wondering how much memory will 2.0 hog up? I'm looking forward to it but if I don't have enough room for pics and music the new os will render useless to me.
what will happen to current apps on PlayBook?
Some will work just fine, others will need an update or rewrite just like any os update to bbos, ios or android.
were the hell is the EMAIL SPELL CHECK BBM SERIOUSLY 60 days past 120 days ago wtf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is just a developer beta for developers to try their apps on... all the end user features like calendar contacts email etc.. will be available in the final release
The UI updates look pretty good to me so far. Looking forward the the (eventual) production release. Thanks for the closer look Kevin... enjoy the rest of the event!
It is a step in the right direction. All they have to do is aim to release it to the masses with a decent app selection atleast a week before the Fire tablet comes out. I personally don't feel that the Fire tablet is a viable competing tablet ,but, it has created some buzz.
Why do people act like this device should be able to make the coffee?
Seriously, the device does work and it does work well. Ipad is not able to handle native texting (these are apps) and email is kind of redundant as your Blackberry phone should already be doing this rather well.
The Playbook is a solid device! With the enhancements to the developer environment we will more then likely start seeing a large influx of apps=WIN!
I don't care if it does mail, text would be nice but my phone does this rather well. Why complain? If you wanted a device that does all these things you are complaining about, ummmmm, look in your other hand/pocket/pouch and you will find a phone, it does indeed have you covered!
Bingo!
Exactly!
Why do folks have such low standards?
For $499 for the base model you bet you a$$ it should do more than it is now.
This is whats wrong with the world today. Low standards and expectations.
I don't care if you don't care if doesn't do text, many more do!
I want to sell these folks a car! Wheels optional!
Geesh!
Tim
NO! This is not what's wrong with the world today.
The problem with the world today is that the people that run us don't know how to run us and instead run us into a debt we can't possibly pay. But you and I know this is another subject.
Low standards huh? Nope, I didn't have high unrealistic expectations to begin with. The problem that arises is you have the select few that are never happy! So you give these few texting then they complain they don't have XXXX then you give them XXXX and they then want XXXXX and this continues.
As a tablet the Playbook can go toe to toe with any other device on the market. Somehow you select few feel you are owed a 7 inch cell phone rather then a tablet. And since RIM offers services like texting/BBM/Email whatever, you select few think they are obligated to offer you these services on a device where these services are redundant and make little sense.
While we are at it, let's complain that BBM is not available on my home computer, why don't we just add texting to that as well, I am also going to complain I can't carry my monitor around and use it as a computer as well (even though the computer power comes from my tower).
Some people just can't be happy and that is the way it goes! I however love my Playbook and I am very happy the way it is, sure it is not perfect... I do challenge you to name one device that is perfect???
Well said.
My phone does email, but if I'm on the computer why should I have to get out my phone to check it? Oh that's right, I don't! The same should (and thankfully will) go for my Playbook, which I'm typing this on right now.
my PlayBook came with a browser that renders gmail.com quite well.
Congrats on being more satisfied with the email situation on your Playbook than I and many people have been. I hope to join you soon.
Thank You!
Downloading Tablet OS2 !!! Cant wait!!! (3%) i know its just a preview but I'm really excited :)
Holy Bobble head batman!
Awesome changes. Cant wait!
At first glance I don't like the large windows, I like having 5 instead of 3. It just means more scrolling. I hope they give us the option of sizing the windows.
At first glance I also don't like the dot. It looks unfinished. Please make it more attractive or give us the option to make it some kind of handle. Let's have some fun with it. Dot not hot!
The other things talked-about look interesting.
I'm uneasy with the guy stating thousands of apps are coming. I don't want to wade through a lot of garbage apps from the Android universe. RIM, please be selective. Limit us to cool things like what was demoed so far. Don't give-it-up to just anyone.
I agree about the larger cards/windows.
I had an HP TouchPad and you had the same situation--"3" cards that you could view. In reality you could only see one full card and part of two others--you'll notice it's the same on the PB OS 2. It's very annoying. You end up swiping all the time.
One of the very unique things the PB OS had going for it was the carousel with multiple cards for quick assess. . . it's one of the best things about it and they are going to mess it up so we can all swipe a lot more and waste more time fiddling about with slower multi-tasking. . . it was THE most annoying thing about webOS on the TouchPad.
Agreed, the carousel was good ...they shouldn't be messing with it.
the tab approach was nice. I like being able to make other panes but not for the sake of having swipe endlessly without any visual cues.
i did like how they had it the first time but would have liked more customisation.
a home dock is nice and all since it cuts out one extra step but when you have specific folders that's almost as good with more ROOM!. e.g favourites folder.
Assuming its allowed, combine both by putting your favourites folder onto the dock.
The "home dock" is actually pointless.
Why would anyone want a persistent row of icons? Am I so stupid that I'll swipe away from my first row of icons that contain the item I want?
It seems like someone just copied webOS & iOS without a single thought as to why and how people get around the home screen to access things.
yeah I agree with this. why do I care how big the window is really? when it states right under it that its say the browser or camera etc.
Having it larger seems pointless to me.
I found it hilarious when he was trying to sell us that feature.
so im getting 3 instead of 5 now? Awesome!
I'm really only getting 1 and 2 half apps really. seems like someone told these guys that we wanted more swiping!!
I much prefer to see more of my apps then this crap. hello playbook WebOS 2.
Why can't the dock size be adjustable - like on MacOS?
On the current Playbook OS you can barely see open apps #1 and #5 (from left to right). I always scroll to the right or left when I want to tap on app 1 or 5 as it is - maybe I'm in the minority with that. I don't think I'll be losing anything, but I don't see why they can't make that an optional setting rather than fixing it at 3 or 5.
This is seriously disappointing. first there is no mention of official release date which given RIMs history with the Playbook means it is ages away. Also i don't see any native email or bbm or did i just miss it. i changed over to an android phone but am hanging onto my Playbook but if this is all the update is i might reconsider.
This is just a developer beta for developers to try their apps on... all the end user features like calendar contacts email etc.. will be available in the final release . Don't worry, things will get better :)
If they're willing to release it to the open developer community it can't be far from full release.
They just needed something to announce exclusively for developers to justify the expense of DevCon.
The Android player is live, and other devices in the keynote had a messages app, so I'd guess its no more than a month or two. Just time to get a few Android apps loaded into App World for testing before launching on the public.
A month or two is way to late. This thing had to be out by the end of october or too many people will have lost faith.
That could be true but if they give us a good taste of 2.0 to feed our hope again, maybe, just maybe, we can wait a little longer.
No no no sir! They gave us a release date: Summer/60days. You didn't get it then? :p
Kevin, you can't be serious?! Where's the mail, contacts & BBM services?! Nobody cares about folders or extra pages. That contradicts what the CEO's said the original releases functions were for. Every chance they get, RIM tries to confuse the hell out of people. Makes NO sense at all!
I believe that for this version (2.0 beta for developer) the comercial apps such as mail and contacts (not sure about BBM) wont be available.
That's correct sineco. That is the first thing they say in the download screen.
...which apparently people aren't reading.
lol people like to write stupid things before they read what is and is not included in the beta release.
And where is the Java Player that anyone has said a word???? we don´t forget this, Android Player and Java Player were promised!
Finally, a proper home screen with icon management. Well done.
Now, let's polish it off and get it to the masses ;)
I liked the panes :(.....Though I wish you could customize them. When 2.0 comes out maybe there will be an OS1 theme you can install.....
Though I agree that this OS looks like it would work better on a smaller screen
Any word on when the commercial 2.0 will be available?
Porbably in 60 days...Just like the Co-Jerk promised for the email client......6 or 7 months ago
that twitter icon is enticing although i'm willing to bet it's another browser launcher....bleh
2.0 is Pretty Awesome!! The UI is very cool! :) Looking forward to it
Has anyone been able to get the bridge to work? it connects but then no bridge apps will load. It just says error couldn't connect to the server.
I believe some features are disabled, including Bridge apps.
They should've had this guy walk through the what's in the developer OS and the full OS 2.0
hmm tempted to tried to side load andriod app market on it again
Very nice. I'm debating on if I should download this or just wait for the finished product.
me likes the new UI..
me don't like the "only 1 and two-halves" running applications showing on the home screen. I like better the "three and two-thenth" currently in effect. The smaller size is also more pleasant to my eye when scrolling.
i like the bigger panes. it helps me see whats going on within the windows when I'm moving from app to app. Plus i like the bottom banner on the app too.
I don't see how you can say it gives you more information and allows you to see what's going on in the panes.
What you will see is the same as the TouchPad--the window you were currently using which you already know what's going on, and only part of two others on the side = no real information whatsoever in either of those panes.
Having used a TouchPad that does it this way I can tell you that you will not see more information. You will get less info and take longer to navigate between open apps.
Right now, you can quickly scroll between many open apps and see whats going on--they are big enough to view the information generally.
I wanna download this! Signed up over 30 minutes ago but nothing yet :(
Im downloading it already... you should try checking for updates again :)
Yessssss omg downloading too :DDD
Yeah...it said you could download it within an hour of registering for the beta, but its been over 3 hours for me :(. I wonder if it will let me download before the registration expires after 24 hours.
lol and here I thought 30 minutes was too long. looks like its gonna be a looong night for me!
me too at first, but re-registered and it came down right away. browser seems faster, like the UI, the way the bridge is bundled, and documents-to-go looks way better now
I registered on my computer and it did not go through after waiting for 2 hours so i re-registered from my playbook and I got the download in about 15 minutes.
Really its just minor layout changes so far. All the big apps and stuff are withheld but Everything that is different has enhanced my experience. Pretty positive feelings so far.
awesome!! now i just need to get this on my playbook....
Geez. He really wobbles his head around! o.O
He sounded a bit drunk to me. Needed a little liquid courage, perhaps?
yes .... yes .... yes ..... folders! I'm loving it!
Nice blue background ..... loving it even more !!!
Keep going RIM. You are on the right track !!!!
J.
I think we found a new face for a Blackberry Bobblehead. :)
lol... it's nice to know it wasn't just me that noticed that.
Tablet OS being changed to Playbook OS?? Hmmmmmm. I have a feeling that the Playbook is going to be replaced by a tablet with a completely different name running BBX. Hence the fact that OS 2.0 is being branded as Playbook OS 2.0 and not for all BlackBerry tablets. Yes BBX is the future as we all know but adding "PlayBook" to OS 2.0 and removing "Tablet" suggests to me that we might expect a new tablet with a different name. Just a thought.
Good observation. Hopefully we will get a new tablet that doesn't resemble a kindle fire.
I think you have that backwards...
I think you are probably reading too much into this, it is most likely just down to tablet os being too generic a name.