BlackBerry Playbook

‘BlackBerry Playbook’ Stories

PixelMags demos BlackBerry 10 magazine app

Ben Kersey, May 1st 2012 Discuss [0]

Aside from general functionality and gaming, RIM also showed off some other aspects of BlackBerry 10, notable magazine functionality. PixelMags took to the stage to talk about its mobile app that it would be creating for Blackberry 10. On top of that, every BlackBerry 10 user will receive 10 minutes of free reading per month. After that, you’ll need to fork over some cash. Read The Full Story

RIM focusing on gaming with BlackBerry 10

Ben Kersey, May 1st 2012 Discuss [0]

You’d be forgiven for thinking that RIM would want to play it safe with BlackBerry 10 and stick to what it knows best, enterprise support. That’s definitely important, but the Canadian company is also placing a heavy emphasis on games for its next-gen platform. Several developers took to the stage at BlackBerry World in order to extol the virtues of BB10’s APIs and ease of use. Read The Full Story

BlackBerry PlayBook gets fully working PlayStation emulator

Ben Kersey, Apr 26th 2012 Discuss [0]

If Angry Birds Space doesn’t satisfy your BlackBerry PlayBook gaming needs, how about original PlayStation games? An enterprising developer on the Crackberry forums has created a PlayStation emulator for the PlayBook, allowing you to play a myriad of 1994 games on the 7-inch tablet. It’s still a work in progress, so some games may fail to load, but hey: it’s PlayStation on your tablet. Read The Full Story

BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.01 update improves Android app support

Rue Liu, Apr 17th 2012 Discuss [0]

RIM has released an update today for its BlackBerry PlayBook OS, bringing the platform up to version 2.01.358. Although it's not nearly as big of an update as when the company released version 2.0, which finally brought the long promised native email, calendar, and contacts apps as well as Android app support, this new update does bring some welcome performance improvements and bug fixes. Read The Full Story

RIM blocking sideloaded apps for PlayBook

Rue Liu, Apr 9th 2012 Discuss [0]

RIM is planning to disable support for sideloaded apps on its BlackBerry PlayBook with a forthcoming update. The company's vice president of Developer Relations, Alec Saunders, made the announcement via Twitter, saying that the move was to avoid the rampant piracy of apps, or in his words, the "chaotic cesspool of the Android Market." Read The Full Story

RIM pushes HTML5 apps amid Canada user exodus

Chris Davies, Mar 23rd 2012 Discuss [0]

RIM has turned to courting HTML5-curious developers as a stopgap solution to slumping BlackBerry sales in Canada and elsewhere, arguing the case for universal webapps to counter coder apathy. BlackBerry marketshare in Canada - not RIM's biggest single market, but meaningful as it is the firm's home turf - has dipped below iPhone levels this week, hand in hand with decreasing levels of developer interest as BlackBerry 10's late 2012 launch looks unpalatably distant. That's prompted a charm offensive by RIM code champions, pushing HTML5 development as preferable to native code. Read The Full Story

RIM says no to BlackBerry PlayBook jailbreaking

Rue Liu, Mar 21st 2012 Discuss [0]

RIM addressed its stance and future policy on BlackBerry PlayBook jailbreaking in a post to the company's blog today, officially confirming that jailbreaking the PlayBook would void its warranty. RIM's opposition to customers using jailbreak tools, such as DingleBerry, isn't surprising, but it also outlined a policy of continually and aggressively patching any root access exploits. Read The Full Story

RIM: PlayBook BlackBerry 10 update locked in

Ben Kersey, Mar 15th 2012 Discuss [0]

The BlackBerry PlayBook recently saw an update to the OS, hitting version 2.0. It finally added the crucial native email application, as well as Android app support. But what does the future hold for RIM’s lacklustre tablet? Will the PlayBook see future updates despite the generally poor reception it has received? According to RIM, yes, going so far to say that BlackBerry OS 10 will be coming to the PlayBook when it’s ready. Read The Full Story

BlackBerry PlayBook appears with 4G LTE and HSPA+ at the FCC

Chris Burns, Mar 14th 2012 Discuss [0]

After more than a year of waiting, BlackBerry users will finally be able to purchase an HSPA+ or 4G LTE PlayBook here in the USA. The FCC has revealed these two versions of the one and only BlackBerry tablet to the world before RIM has formally had a chance to show it off in the wild, and not one whole heck of a lot more than that is known as the moment. This version of the tablet has been tipped perviously to be coming with an upgraded series of specs such as NFC and a dual-core 1.5GHz processor under the hood. Read The Full Story

iPad dominance dips but Android still playing catch-up

Chris Davies, Mar 14th 2012 Discuss [0]

Apple's tablet market-share has dipped but the iPad looks set to continue dominating the segment over the next four years despite the best efforts of Android rivals, according to research firm predictions. The iPad held 54.7-percent of the worldwide tablet market-share in Q4 2011, IDC's figures suggest, down from 61.5-percent in the previous quarter, though those figures disguise the fact that Apple shipped more than 4m units more in Q4. By 2016, meanwhile, the iPad is set to ship 94.7m units per year, for 48-percent of the overall tablet market. Read The Full Story

BlackBerry PlayBook Mini Keyboard gets official

Chris Davies, Mar 13th 2012 Discuss [0]

Frustration with text-entry on the BlackBerry PlayBook probably hasn't been the main cause of the tablet's commercial shortcomings, but it's the challenge RIM has taken on with its new BlackBerry Mini Keyboard. Hooking up via an encrypted Bluetooth connection, the Mini Keyboard also has a touchpad for navigating PlayBook OS 2.0 without reaching up to the touchscreen. Read The Full Story

PlayBook’s Android app support explored

Chris Davies, Feb 21st 2012 Discuss [0]

RIM's PlayBook tablet has finally taken off its training wheels - after ten months of suckling at your smartphone - and it's PlayBook OS 2.0's newfound Android abilities that are coming in for the most attention. The updated platform supports select Android apps, and efforts have been underway for some time figuring out which of the popular titles for Google's platform will also play nicely on RIM's tablet. Read The Full Story