Research in Motion this week is debuting the new features of its BlackBerry Playbook tablet computer at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The company anticipates that the BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 software update will be available next month as a free download for all PlayBook users.
Some new features include updated document editing capabilities and a unified inbox that allows users to manage their personal and work email accounts as well as the messaging capabilities of social networking sites like LinkedIn and Twitter. The update also features capabilities that unite BlackBerry smartphones and tablets, including capabilities that enable a person's smartphone to function as a keyboard and mouse for the PlayBook tablet computer. For example, someone can use the QWERTY keyboard on a BlackBerry smartphone to compose a message or document on the PlayBook. Another feature lets BlackBerry smartphone users open documents, emails, multimedia pages and web pages that are found on their smartphone on their PlayBook for a better editing and viewing experience, RIM said.
At the 2012 CES tradeshow, the Canadian company also is displaying a range of software improvements for BlackBerry 7 smartphone customers as well as updates to the BlackBerry Messenger, BlackBerry Traffic and BlackBerry travel apps. For example, the BlackBerry 7.1 OS features a capability that lets BlackBerry users exchange contact information, documents, photos and other multimedia content by tapping together BlackBerry smartphones that are enabled with near field communication (NFC) technology. RIM said it will begin rolling out BlackBerry 7.1 through carriers around the world beginning today and in the coming weeks.
RIM is showcasing the above improvements at the Las Vegas Convention Center's South Hall 3 Booth, #30326.
