[UrbanGlowCam]

It appears to be a native file manager that was spotted in the video from The Verge today. I'm thinking it will be used in conjunction with USB OTG.

[kingbernie06511]

good find! might not be native though...

[UrbanGlowCam]

good find! might not be native though...

That's what I was thinking, but searched App World for any third parties with the same title and icon. I don't see it there. That's why I think it might be native. Plus, it's right next to other apps that default to the OS like Kobo, Docs to Go, and YouTube. It could have been downloaded and moved there but I somehow doubt it. Doesn't seem like that device has been reorganized much.

[peter9477]

good find! might not be native though...

Which definition of "native" are you thinking it might not be?

[UrbanGlowCam]

Here is another shot of what seems to be a pane of default/native apps. You can also see some other new icons like Print To Go and Video Store. Both new I believe have been confirmed for 2.0

[dejanh]

If USB On-the-Go realizes and this is why there is a "File Manager" there this will be most excellent news! I remember all of the promises of USB OTG and almost a year later we have nothing of the sort

[taylortbb]

If USB On-the-Go realizes and this is why there is a "File Manager" there this will be most excellent news! I remember all of the promises of USB OTG and almost a year later we have nothing of the sort

RIM has never promised USB OTG or made any sort of mention of it. The "promises" were from people like me who looked at the PB and saw signs it was in the works, that's not much of a promise.

[anthogag]

I'm think they will give us a native file manager, and hopefully with the type of integration shown in the email/calendar/contacts apps

[mandony]

Op: There has been no indication from RIM that File Manager = USB.

There are several FM's in appWorld. It would be worthwhile for RIM to put their own FM on the desktop.

[UrbanGlowCam]

Op: There has been no indication from RIM that File Manager = USB.

There are several FM's in appWorld. It would be worthwhile for RIM to put their own FM on the desktop.

I never said that File Manager = USB OTG. I said it's likely they would be used together. For all we know, File Manager might just come alone. USB OTG could come in a point release for all we know. I just meant it may be a step towards it.

[MobileZen]

Looks to be a native file manager. If it's anything like the native e-mail/calendar/contact apps, it should be quite polished - more so than the 3rd party ones. I guess we'll find out ourselves when 2.0 is officially available or someone at CES tests it out!

I don't know about USB OTG being available at the moment. Companies looking to introduce the Playbook in their pilot test cases (especially if using 2.0) probably would like to see ports (host) locked down. Similar to how RIM launched using Blackberry Bridge tethering when the Playbook first came out. Extension of existing security and certified infrastructure and devices to the Playbook.

[BuzzStarField]

Which definition of "native" are you thinking it might not be?

I was thinking the same thing. Native seems to have so many meanings that it has no meaning at all:
1. written in assembler or machine code
2. written in c
3. "comes with the os but perhaps developed by a 3rd party " as opposed to"3rd party app from App World"
4. RIM supplied application
5. "compiled with a RIM SDK(Air/NDK) " as opposed to "compiled using a Google SDK (Android)"
6. ??

[ralfyguy]

Well with that upcoming movie service itwould be helpful to have USB for external storage, especially if you only have 16GB like me. There is only 10.7GB left now. Not much left to store movies and videos.

[peter9477]

RIM has never promised USB OTG or made any sort of mention of it. The "promises" were from people like me who looked at the PB and saw signs it was in the works, that's not much of a promise.

We know of at least two mentions of it by RIM at this point.

One is the very early talk by Mike L that you'd eventually be able to connect Ethernet adapters. We also know there's lots of code in the beta relating to this, with support for a half dozen or more different chipsets.

The other is the more recent "tease" with the alien milk theft detector... an actual working demonstration of ... something. Some undefined sort of connectivity via USB. With a promise that some more details and code would be shared shortly

[si_chindo]

A "native" file manager that is polished would be great.

Also can someone explain what usb otg is? Will usb otg allow the PB to read usb flash drives? That would be awesome.

[blackjack93117]

A "native" file manager that is polished would be great.

Also can someone explain what usb otg is? Will usb otg allow the PB to read usb flash drives? That would be awesome.

Looks to be a native file manager. If it's anything like the native e-mail/calendar/contact apps, it should be quite polished - more so than the 3rd party ones. I guess we'll find out ourselves when 2.0 is officially available or someone at CES tests it out!

I don't know about USB OTG being available at the moment. Companies looking to introduce the Playbook in their pilot test cases (especially if using 2.0) probably would like to see ports (host) locked down. Similar to how RIM launched using Blackberry Bridge tethering when the Playbook first came out. Extension of existing security and certified infrastructure and devices to the Playbook.

Not polished?
Blasphemy! You mean the free ones right?

It can't possibly be as polished as Files & Folders, if it is, that app has raised the bar!

[mahen915]

Nice! I bet there are still some more things RIM would like to show off as the week continues. I'm defnitely looking forward to sewing that Print To Go app as well.

Sent from my BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps using Tapatalk

[cathulu15]

FFS give us USB OTG RIM!

Don,t buy the locked down . And with cloud storage, no reason not to give it because of tablet memory options. There is enough of a convenience factor for those that care to pay for the 32 or 64GB versions. There is no excuse imho.

[laterBB]

Not polished?
Blasphemy! You mean the free ones right?

It can't possibly be as polished as Files & Folders, if it is, that app has raised the bar!

Agree! Files & Folders is great, gonna be tough to beat. My PB would be way less useful without it.

Edit: There is no reason RIM can't restrict USB OTG for enterprise users. This is common practice in business environments.

[si_chindo]

Not polished?
Blasphemy! You mean the free ones right?

It can't possibly be as polished as Files & Folders, if it is, that app has raised the bar!

yes polished compared to the free ones. i use air browser and that app is pretty lacking in features.

p.s. that icon in the screen shot is the same one as the one for tje file manager for os5...i believe its the same...so perhaps a native file mgmt app is coming from rim.

[peter9477]

Also can someone explain what usb otg is? Will usb otg allow the PB to read usb flash drives? That would be awesome.

For purposes of this forum, it basically means that you could have the ability to connect devices, including flash drives, via USB. For now USB is used only to communicate with the PC, but this would go beyond that.

It's just a marketing label though... saying "has OTG" doesn't mean it necessarily supports each and every possible type of device that you could connect that way. RIM could provide support for six different brands of USB-Ethernet adapters, and nothing else, ever.

We do know they have code in the beta that does what you want, but that means nothing for certain. You will only know that 2.0 (or a later version) will have support for reading flash drives when you hear that people have been downloading an update that actually adds it, or try it out yourself. (Of lesser reliability would be promises from RIM that it will be coming, such as in a press release or demo.... we're close to that with the tiny tidbits of info we've picked up, but no guarantees yet.)