[conix67]

Given that the beta seems to be working well, why would you doubt that the official release will be forthcoming in February? It must be very depressing to be so cynical.

I don't know why everyone keeps harping on Skype and Netflicks. I don't use Skype on my desktop anymore because of the delay feature and spotty reception. As for Netflicks ... in Canada Netflicks is a waste of money. Nothing offered is current. As a Canadian I don't care if the PB ever gets it. Now if Netflicks Canada began offering movies that were newer than a year old ... or TV episodes that are actually in the current season, I might have a different take on it.

Current Beta is terrible besides the Android player with limited compatibility. The release 2.0 is going to be much better according to some people on this forum. I'm hoping it is.

Netflix in Canada offers Top Gear, doesn't it make it worth it?

[lesarmitage]

I personally think OS2 is great save for spellcheck and I would like Skype too.. I am on MS exchange so I suppose that's better. Those that judge on the lack of silly apps perhaps need a toy store.

[nada_surf]

I personally think OS2 is great save for spellcheck and I would like Skype too.. I am on MS exchange so I suppose that's better. Those that judge on the lack of silly apps perhaps need a toy store.

so you basically said you want skype but you dont care about apps? umm..skype is an app.

[anon(757282)]

Worthless thread. I am looking forward to the improvements in OS2. Based on the developer beta (it is not a public beta, so not feature complete) the improvements look very promising.

The release isn't even scheduled for over 2 months from now. Why not wait until OS2 is released... Or until the end of Feb... and then breathlessly proclaim the next "missing native email" snipe hunt meme.

[nada_surf]

Worthless thread. I am looking forward to the improvements in OS2. Based on the developer beta (it is not a public beta, so not feature complete) the improvements look very promising.

The release isn't even scheduled for over 2 months from now. Why not wait until OS2 is released... Or until the end of Feb... and then breathlessly proclaim the next "missing native email" snipe hunt meme.

what improvements are actually coming? i mean besides the much talked about native email client. android player is obviously probably the one most people will be clamoring for. that is, if android devs will actually bother to port their apps into the blackberry app world.

I personally think OS2 is great save for spellcheck and I would like Skype too.. I am on MS exchange so I suppose that's better. Those that judge on the lack of silly apps perhaps need a toy store.

i'm on the beta right now. dev tools are still very lackluster and i hope you realize that its Very "toy-focused". no sign of cascades but adding game centers instead first in the NDK shows playbook is more interested in becoming a gaming device than anything.

[lesarmitage]

so you basically said you want skype but you dont care about apps? umm..skype is an app.

I did use the operator 'silly' - some apps are very good indeed. PB good; Bridge good; OS2 good; non-silly apps good; MS exchange on PB good; MP4 converted films good; Youtube; good - hoping for the early arrival of Skype..

That hopefully brings clarity

[D_Whatley]

I think the term app is used in two ways and it is not always clear which concept the poster has in mind. Technically, an "app" is an application, a program, that allows the user to do something with the computer. The trendy connotation refers to leisure programs, games, and small, single use data collection tools but tends to exclude the hard core business like, media and communication programs we are accustomed to having on a PC.

The PB definitely needs more apps, but which definition is most important to its success?

[nada_surf]

I think the term app is used in two ways and it is not always clear which concept the poster has in mind. Technically, an "app" is an application, a program, that allows the user to do something with the computer. The trendy connotation refers to leisure programs, games, and small, single use data collection tools but tends to exclude the hard core business like, media and communication programs we are accustomed to having on a PC.

The PB definitely needs more apps, but which definition is most important to its success?

well i think all you have to do is look at whats selling in the blackberry app world and no surprise, #1 is angry birds. in fact pretty much ALL the top 5 are games minus a book reader.

that being said, i think this disparage has to do with the fact that obviously angry birds is new to the platform, BUT a huge part of it is because there hardly any good productivity/media apps at all yet.

for me, i rely on teamviewer, various VNC apps, media streaming, more video codec support, social networking apps, etc etc etc.

right now, the playbook is pretty lax in all of those fields. either it just doesn't exist in the app world or the versions on there are very very badly written/designed/non-usable. just look at that free VNC app in the blackberry app world...compare it to free VNC apps on android and iOS and the difference is night and day.

also, if you look at the way the current playbook NDK is coming along, pretty much the MAIN focus has been for game developers. instead of implementing cascades and useful things for other devs, RIM decided to implement game center instead. that should also tell you a bit about how RIM is trying to steer this 'professional' tablet.

[omniusovermind]

well i think all you have to do is look at whats selling in the blackberry app world and no surprise, #1 is angry birds. in fact pretty much ALL the top 5 are games minus a book reader.

that being said, i think this disparage has to do with the fact that obviously angry birds is new to the platform, BUT a huge part of it is because there hardly any good productivity/media apps at all yet.

for me, i rely on teamviewer, various VNC apps, media streaming, more video codec support, social networking apps, etc etc etc.

right now, the playbook is pretty lax in all of those fields. either it just doesn't exist in the app world or the versions on there are very very badly written/designed/non-usable. just look at that free VNC app in the blackberry app world...compare it to free VNC apps on android and iOS and the difference is night and day.

also, if you look at the way the current playbook NDK is coming along, pretty much the MAIN focus has been for game developers. instead of implementing cascades and useful things for other devs, RIM decided to implement game center instead. that should also tell you a bit about how RIM is trying to steer this 'professional' tablet.

I just got the ITM(?) VNC app working with Tight VNC tonight and it's been pretty smooth, and both were free. I can't realy agree with you. I own a recent android phone and I find the PB OS experience a lot more polished than android so far. Android for all the hype still has that amateur underground basement developer feel to it for me, I've always had that vibe from the whole linux world. Yeah apps are nice but not as needed on a larger screen. That being said, I'm pretty happy I have the best of both worlds.

[ichat]

Lets hope this one comes on time. If it doesn't, RIM has officially suicided and homicide all of PB customers.

[BBThemes]

i`ll just leave you with this thought, i know whats coming to OS2, as in stuff that isnt in the `dev beta` but is in the RIM internal builds, and due to that i booked myself into devcon europe. that should say it all

[palmless]

What are the KNOWN upgrades and what are the upgrades that you HOPE to see?

Wait, I thought all we had was a promise/goal?

RIM does not keep promises or meet goals, do they?

Has there been a co-CEO upgrade that I missed, or is this just hopeful na�vet�?

[conix67]

I did use the operator 'silly' - some apps are very good indeed. PB good; Bridge good; OS2 good; non-silly apps good; MS exchange on PB good; MP4 converted films good; Youtube; good - hoping for the early arrival of Skype..

That hopefully brings clarity

How can you say YouTube app is good? It's the crappiest YouTube app I've ever seen, with no support for favorites, channels, etc you come to expect when you log into your account. YouTube on the browser, on the other hand, works like charm although I prefer a full featured YouTube app!

How do you use PB on MS exchange by the way? I couldn't find anything other than Andorid apps to support MS exchange.

[MiataMike]

60 days, 600 days, 6000 days.....
stopped caring when the (insert foul language) at RIM broke all their earlier promises about Android. Thought for sure they would get a real tablet Business OS out before the holidays. Instead they made it impossible for me to sell my overpriced tablet ( full price almost at release) by flooding the market with $199 tablets. Shows me their real goal all along was for gameing tablet - the one thing it does really well. Got me addicted to Modern Combat 2, but cant get my emails or edit/search my DOC files, search PDF files, organize files, run most spreadsheets etc. So picked up a second PlayBrick for 199 and can at least video chat with my wife between lobbing a few grenades.

[kbz1960]

I think too many are thinking that the dev beta is what 2.0 will be exactly like. WRONG.

If you read the warning it states many things will not and do not work. It is for developers to test android apps and nothing more. It isn't a beta release like MS puts out for windows.

But yes if email, pim, calendar universal spell check/word substitution and the like are not in it I think that will kill it more than the lack of apps that has been getting much better.

[DD1968]

i`ll just leave you with this thought, i know whats coming to OS2, as in stuff that isnt in the `dev beta` but is in the RIM internal builds, and due to that i booked myself into devcon europe. that should say it all

sounds promising

[DD1968]

But yes if email, pim, calendar universal spell check/word substitution and the like are not in it I think that will kill it more than the lack of apps that has been getting much better.

Too right... this is what I need most of all - and the ability to STILL sideload the android apps and not having to rely on the ones RIM OK.

[BBThemes]

spell check/word substitution

thats so 2011

dont mean to be so cryptic, but theres no other comment i could make, even hint, without giving the game away

[kbz1960]

thats so 2011

dont mean to be so cryptic, but theres no other comment i could make, even hint, without giving the game away

LOL that's OK. I love my PB now so anything is a plus.

[BBThemes]

LOL that's OK. I love my PB now so anything is a plus.

im in the same boat as you, but i can see the benifit to others, plus, PB OS updates are a window to BBX.

[BBThemes]

- WAY better native facebook apps and more official apps from big players like twitter, etc. the current facebook app sucks horribly. you can at least FINALLY look at groups on facebook with the last update, but you still can't 'like' a lot of things making facebook a very static experience on the playbook. right now i have android's version of facebook installed which is definitely way better.

personally i dont have any issues with the FB app, although being able to post to pages and such would be nice i guess. either way theres touch.facebook.com which works awesomely in the browser and thats basically the HTML5 app on android and iOS. or ya could just use the full desktop site. so many choices, yet ppl still complain.

- better keyboard overall. you can't even copy/cut/paste in web form fields in the browser. huge oversight.

what?? that feature is already available, granted im on OS2 dev beta, but pretty certain i could do that on 1.0.8

[eds817]

37 days until the 1st and 65 days until the 29th.


Will they meet the February promise?

[kb5zht]

Will they meet the February promise?

Without giving my biased opinion based on my own perspective (which is all any of us can do), the question to ask yourself is this; What is rim's record over the last few years on keeping promises and deadlines?

I wont even list them in this instance, as that alone would demand certain conclusion... you must come to your own decision yourself.

[kbz1960]

personally i dont have any issues with the FB app, although being able to post to pages and such would be nice i guess. either way theres touch.facebook.com which works awesomely in the browser and thats basically the HTML5 app on android and iOS. or ya could just use the full desktop site. so many choices, yet ppl still complain.



what?? that feature is already available, granted im on OS2 dev beta, but pretty certain i could do that on 1.0.8

Yes it is in the official also. I guess someone doesn't know their PB.

[nada_surf]

I just got the ITM(?) VNC app working with Tight VNC tonight and it's been pretty smooth, and both were free. I can't realy agree with you. I own a recent android phone and I find the PB OS experience a lot more polished than android so far. Android for all the hype still has that amateur underground basement developer feel to it for me, I've always had that vibe from the whole linux world. Yeah apps are nice but not as needed on a larger screen. That being said, I'm pretty happy I have the best of both worlds.

i'm going to guess that you have never used any other VNC mobile client.
teamviewer? logmein? iteleport? screens?

the fact that the ones i mentioned use a completely different scrolling technique (while that crappy IMT VNC or whatever relies on direct taps which is completely inefficient and prone to errors) makes a world of difference in usability. the latter was meant for touchscreens. the former tries to emulate your exact tap as a mouse tap which is ridiculous.

plus, you are complaining about amateur underground basement developing? have you LOOKED at IMT? its very reminiscent of the worst android apps available.