Yes, PlayBook Does Get BlackBerry 10 Update

judgecorp writes "Yesterday's BlackBerry 10 announcement did not mention the company's tablet, the Playbook, but users will be relieved to know it will get an update to BlackBerry 10. It's not a huge surprise, since BB10 is based on the PlayBook's QNX operating system, but PlayBook users may have been worried since the company did not even mention the struggling tablet in passing at the event." Hopefully the Playbook's camera is better than the one in the new BB10-based Z10 phone, the low-light performance of which Gizmodo describes as "four-years-ago crap."

Comments

A Date would be nice?

[GreyLurk]

When? I think it's interesting how BB touts to it's developers that 90% of it's users upgrade to the newest OS within a month of it's release. The reason seems to be because they can't download any good apps for it, so they're desperately hoping to get some functionality out of the Base OS.

Seriously - what is slashdot's agenda?

[Layzej]

Why does slashdot/timothy have such a hate on for Blackberry? They have just released a great new product with a revolutionary interface, hardware (including camera) that most reviewers are putting heads and shoulders above the competition. Slashdot just keeps slinging the FUD.

Re:Seriously - what is slashdot's agenda?

[CodeheadUK]

The balance concept is a pretty good idea. Whether it will work in the real world remains to be seen, but it addresses BYOD problems quite nicely.

Re:Seriously - what is slashdot's agenda?

[gbjbaanb]

and they've done a decent job with the overall design (not the looks), the predictive text works by putting the word you might want above the next letter you type, so if you type "the" then it will put "they're" above the y key so you just swipe up from that key. without having to look elsewhere and context-switch your brain to see a list of possible words. Someone sat down and thought about that, and that attention to software engineering detail gets a big thumbs up from me.

Re:Seriously - what is slashdot's agenda?

[Layzej]

Have you seen the new OS? It's quite slick. I have an iphone and it looks clunky next to the BB10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nt666iKTmw

Re:Seriously - what is slashdot's agenda?

[gutnor]

Overall BlackBerry have done quite a good job. They manage to have a distinct style, an OS with both familiarity and feature that set it apart both for home and office. As for the polish, the phone comes with loads of app (android port), complete line of accessories, and an OS that seems on par feature-wise with the competition. They also don't turn their back on their core market, the business,

I don't see how BB could have done a better launch, and if the phones deliver on the promises during the first round of reviews, they are in as best place as they could have been.

Obviously they have a loooong way to go and the odds are against them big time. But for the time being, well done BB engineers !

and ars says

[gbjbaanb]

ArsTechnica has a user comment (scroll down, its the 'editors pick') showing the problem with the camera:

I should also point out that the iPhone's applied far more contrast to the picture and, as a result, lost detail - look at the flat area of darkness in the trunk compared to the range of tones present in the pic from the BB. These are all post-processing problems, though, and (assuming both devices were on default settings) really just tell you that Apple's software is set to produce 'punchier' pictures out of the box as opposed to the lighter processing done by the BB, which ultimately retains more of the image.

so its not crap, it just doesn't aggressively sharpen everything like the iPhone does, so it appears less defined and misty. Its just appearance though, slap it through the same amount of software processing and you'll get the same result.

Anyway, they say the keyboard is excellent and can be used with 1 hand (or 1 thumb) which is a definite design win.

Re:Yay!!

[0123456]

Awesome, you'll be able to use the built-in calculator to your great benefit!

Most people I know use tablets for email, web browsing and e-book reading while traveling. So not having 50,000 fart apps isn't really a big downside. And, from what I understand, they've made porting Android apps much easier in the new OS so there should be at least 5,000 fart apps soon.

QNX and BB10

[frank249]

BB10 and the Playbook OS are both based on QNX which is also in 60% of all car infotainment units. Rock solid micro kernal OS that is also used in nuclear plants and medical devices. I have used my Playbook for over two years now and it has new crashed. Apps install without having to reboot. I think many people will be pleasantly surprised with how well BB10 and QNX just works. It also sets the stage for more integration between smartphones, tablets, and car systems.

As for the update to the Playbook, Crackberry.com says that a new version of the Bridge program is in Appworld now which means that the Playbook update to BB10 could be any day now.