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I second that motion. It's already been more than a month since the last update. RIM, please don't leave us high and dry for the next 4 months without any updates.....10-27-11 03:36 AMLike 0 -
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Yes, I use the PB for a lot of day to day business, editing docs etc, these areas need to be improved now! Auto correct, improved spell check and better management of basic documents. Android and games i can wait for, this tablet was sold to me as a business tool to enhance my BB. So far it has failed!FF22 likes this.10-27-11 04:00 AMLike 1 -
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Superfly_FRRetired ModeratorI'll bet a note that we will seen soon some improvements.
I've been posting a reply to the official blog that was kinda "stating" what could be easily implemented, as it was about protocols and drivers.
While it never gets published, it could be bad or good news, but I wonder that the outing of the delay for OS2 ruined their communication plan, in which they had mandatory "bones to gnaw" ...
So will it be a 1.0.7.xxxx (which means very slight improvements) or 1.0.8/9 ...Last edited by Superfly_FR; 10-27-11 at 04:58 AM.
berrycops likes this.10-27-11 04:08 AMLike 1 -
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They're being a bit Vague:
From: View RIM's official word about Tablet OS 2.0'
From@tofu17:
Oct 25, 2011 08:38pm
@John
Will there be incremental updates between now and February that deliver some of the features that we were asked about in the survey?
John's Reply:
Oct 25, 2011 09:38pm
@tofo17: I can't say for sure, I'll try to find out.10-27-11 04:30 AMLike 0 -
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I'm guessin, of course but I do not think that RIM will be delivering any more updates until February. They are all working flat out the make OS2 work right. They have no time to keep upgrading OS1.0x
Here's a Reuters article detailing RIM's problems around the release.
UPDATE 2-BlackBerry maker delays tablet update in new setback
This is the full article.
UPDATE 2-BlackBerry maker delays tablet update in new setback
Wed, Oct 26 13:00 PM EDT
* No email, calendar, Android apps until February
* BlackBerry Messenger won't appear until a later update
* Research In Motion's stumble is latest in a long line
* RIM shares drop 6 pct by midday
By Alastair Sharp
TORONTO, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Research In Motion won't upgrade the software for its much-maligned PlayBook tablet computer until February, months behind schedule, and the new version still won't feature the popular BlackBerry Messenger application.
Shares of RIM dropped more than 6 percent on Wednesday as investors digested the latest in a string of disappointments as RIM struggles to compete with Apple Inc's category-defining iPad tablet.
"Management is under enormous pressure to deliver...so they articulate their plans as best they know them," Charter Equity analyst Edward Snyder said. "But the problem with the company and the reason they're on this downward slide is because they can't execute."
The Canadian company that makes the BlackBerry introduced the PlayBook last April. But technology writers, financial analysts and consumers alike scorned the tablet because it could not handle the in-built email, calendar and contact applications that made BlackBerry a household name.
At the time of the launch, RIM said it would add email and other features within 60 days. It later pushed that deadline back to the summer months and then to October.
The latest delay was announced on RIM's official blog late Tuesday.
"As much as we'd love to have it in your hands today, we've made the difficult decision to wait to launch BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 until we are confident we have fully met the expectations of our developers, enterprise customers and end-users," wrote David Smith, a senior vice-president for the PlayBook.
BBM DELAYED
Insiders and close watchers of the company say RIM may have hit roadblocks getting the PlayBook's operating system to link with RIM's secure servers and data centers, which push email and other data to users via carrier networks.
The PlayBook is RIM's first experience with the QNX operating system it bought last year, and a lack of familiarity among RIM's engineers and developers would have made sign-posting progress difficult, Charter Equity's Snyder said.
"When you're out on the edge it's very hard to do. This is one of the reasons why Apple doesn't talk about anything. ... They don't miss deadlines because they don't give you any."
Presumably RIM expects to have solved any email issues before the February launch of the upgrade.
The new version may also quell complaints that too few apps were available to run on the original PlayBook. RIM said the update would allow developers working with Google's Android software to move their games and other content onto the new PlayBook platform.
But the upgrade won't incorporate BlackBerry Messenger, an instant messaging service known as BBM. The free service has made the BlackBerry popular with young users, particularly those in emerging markets.
"We are committed to developing a seamless BBM solution ... and we're still working on it," Smith said.
RIM provided no reason for the BBM delay but pointed out that BlackBerry smartphone users could still use a bridge function to run BBM and other features on the larger PlayBook screen.
Shares of RIM dropped 5.3 percent to $21.08 on the Nasdaq by early afternoon. Its stock has tumbled some 60 percent this year after a series of profit warnings, product missteps and a sharp drop in market share.
LATEST SETBACK
The PlayBook highlights RIM's recent struggle to field products that match the technical specifications and consumer appeal of Apple's iPhone and iPad, as well as devices powered by Android.
The latest setback comes just two weeks after a global outage that knocked out service for tens of millions of BlackBerry users across five continents. The disruption was a blow to RIM's reputation for reliability at time when many its core business customers are beginning to follow the consumer side of the market into the Apple camp.
"Following prior product and software delays and the recent outage, this represents another execution stumble," RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky wrote in a note to clients, referring to the PlayBook upgrade delay.
A week after the outage, RIM announced plans to introduce BBX, which merges its separate smartphone and tablet operating systems, but it has not said when either smartphones or tablets running the software would go on sale.
The PlayBook upgrade that RIM now expects by February would serve as a stop-gap ahead of tablets incorporating BBX. The move is the tablet equivalent of a batch of touchscreen BlackBerrys launched in August.
The announcement late on Tuesday could mean the launch of BBX-equipped devices in both categories might face further delays, a potential setback to RIM's hopes to reverse its market share losses. As of now, RIM has no firm deadline, only saying BBX is due out sometime next year.Last edited by 4Q2; 10-27-11 at 04:46 AM.
10-27-11 04:43 AMLike 0 -
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As I awoke to yet another Software Update on my MacBook Pro, I was thinking about this too.
I'm not sure how things work within RIM, but I wonder if they are using the Waterfall model as their development and release strategy. The Waterfall model generally means that the team establishes a set of requirements and features, then things move steadily forward in development and testing until they spill out in a single major release.
The problem with this method is that it can lead to sliding schedules and frustrated users. If key "upstream" dependencies are not delivered on time, this can have a cascading affect throughout the project.
My department has been working the last few years with the Agile method and I have been truly impressed. Typically with the Agile method, the design team establishes a scheduled release timeframe, such as every two months, and "something" gets released every two months like clockwork. No excuses.
Exactly "what" is released is determined by prioritizing a complete list of everything that needs to be done, then further refining items into bite-sized chunks that are assigned to different release cycles.
With the Software Updates I get from Apple, I don't see them announcing the specifics of what is coming and when. You just know these updates will come like clockwork and that gives end users the "warm fuzzies."berrycops likes this.10-27-11 05:22 AMLike 1 -
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Superfly_FRRetired ModeratorAgree on that. Agile rocks.As I awoke to yet another Software Update on my MacBook Pro, I was thinking about this too.
I'm not sure how things work within RIM, but I wonder if they are using the Waterfall model as their development and release strategy. The Waterfall model generally means that the team establishes a set of requirements and features, then things move steadily forward in development and testing until they spill out in a single major release.
The problem with this method is that it can lead to sliding schedules and frustrated users. If key "upstream" dependencies are not delivered on time, this can have a cascading affect throughout the project.
My department has been working the last few years with the Agile method and I have been truly impressed. Typically with the Agile method, the design team establishes a scheduled release timeframe, such as every two months, and "something" gets released every two months like clockwork. No excuses.
Exactly "what" is released is determined by prioritizing a complete list of everything that needs to be done, then further refining items into bite-sized chunks that are assigned to different release cycles.
With the Software Updates I get from Apple, I don't see them announcing the specifics of what is coming and when. You just know these updates will come like clockwork and that gives end users the "warm fuzzies."
But as said before, I'm more thinking of a "windows update" process, that is separating core OS functionalities (provided by services packs) and peripherals optimizations (provided by drivers updates).
Sorry if some words are not specific enough, French trying to be clear and short here, hope you'll get it.10-27-11 05:36 AMLike 0 -
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Heh, the rim zombies in here assure us the tablet is just fine the way it is. We need no updates.
im with you guys, a huge 2.0 update in a few weeks would have been fine but another fiur month wait is a fail. I say return to working on 1 thing at a time, get it right and release it.10-27-11 06:02 AMLike 0 -
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Superfly_FRRetired ModeratorEverybody's tend to be a *little* excessive these daysHeh, the rim zombies in here assure us the tablet is just fine the way it is. We need no updates.
im with you guys, a huge 2.0 update in a few weeks would have been fine but another fiur month wait is a fail. I say return to working on 1 thing at a time, get it right and release it.
While we can do as-is, we'll all be happy of improvements.10-27-11 06:10 AMLike 0 -
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Microkernels are supposed to allow you to make major changes to sections without disrupting the other sections. I'm starting to wonder if these clowns are setting what equates to a monolithic kernel that would contain most of what is os2 on top of the QNX microkernel. In other words putting too much of the os in a single section instead of distributing it into more sections. Anyway they are too slow.10-27-11 06:35 AMLike 0 -
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I believe they are attempting to using agile approaches, and at various levels likely believe they are doing it.I'm not sure how things work within RIM, but I wonder if they are using the Waterfall model as their development and release strategy.
I also believe, however, that the bulk of the managers involved are new at this, maybe don't really believe in it (and in such cases there's often an unconscious desire to sabotage the project to "prove" agile doesn't work), or they simply don't really understand it and are making a mess of it.
I hear there are teams working very long hours and under stress: a clear sign of non-agile approaches, or a failure to do agile properly.
We don't see frequent releases at this point. They may be doing them internally, but ultimately we're the customer, and a truly agile company would be doing more frequent external releases at this stage of the product's life. To me it's a clear sign that higher levels of management don't understand and/or haven't bought into the agile mindset. The teams involved are probably prepared to do frequent releases, but I expect upper management, maybe just at the CEO level, have overridden them.
Quality has been somewhat lacking, though it's not nearly as bad in many areas as I've seen on some projects. There are signs of some regression problems, but no "smoking gun". Verdict: unclear... doesn't point to agile or non-agile in this area.
Communications: pathetic in general up until recently, and still failing in many ways even as it improves. Unless they don't consider us to be their customers (and they may not: witness the apparent re-re-re-focus on enterprise for the rest of the 2.0 beta) they are not communicating as well as an agile company would.CracklePot and Superfly_FR like this.10-27-11 08:25 AMLike 2 -
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One of the BB survey questions asked if we'd prefer frequent small updates vs infrequent big updates. I ticked the frequent updates box which I'd hope means that we see a 1.1 update fixing those silly "unfinished" aspects of Playbook - the autocorrect, cut/paste, bookmark management etc - before too long.
Unfortunately, I don't believe those updates will happen.
Instead of fixing those things, I suspect RIM are instead working 25-hour days trying to make QNX talk to the rest of their architecture and making the Android app play nicely. Those are the things that'll get them the applause, not fixing those irritating little bits of functionality they missed.10-27-11 08:37 AMLike 2 -
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CEO of RIM/Blackberry China has told the local reporter that the Playbook will arrive in China soon, before Q2 of 2011. It will be launched together with the whole world, and RIM has formed cooperation with China Mobile, China Telecom, and Digital China, which will help the promotion of Playbook in the country. but up to now PB don't support completely Chinese (displaying Chinese characters but don't support Chinese input, non Chinese iterface ).unbelievable marketing strategy of RIM.10-27-11 08:53 AMLike 0 -
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first make the halfproduct PB completely. Then launch PB2 with os2.Instead of fixing those things, I suspect RIM are instead working 25-hour days trying to make QNX talk to the rest of their architecture and making the Android app play nicely. Those are the things that'll get them the applause, not fixing those irritating little bits of functionality they missed.10-27-11 09:04 AMLike 0 -
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Superfly_FRRetired ModeratorThe related comment has been published today. Here it is.I'll bet a note that we will seen soon some improvements.
I've been posting a reply to the official blog that was kinda "stating" what could be easily implemented, as it was about protocols and drivers.
While it never gets published, it could be bad or good news, but I wonder that the outing of the delay for OS2 ruined their communication plan, in which they had mandatory "bones to gnaw" ...
So will it be a 1.0.7.xxxx (which means very slight improvements) or 1.0.8/9 ...
Well, I assume that it is now mandatory to deliver the high quality OS we deserve.
While it is quite frustrating, I quite do understand the means and whys.
But moreover, I'd better think future than past.
Some of us are wondering if the release of 2.0 will, in the meantime, froze the update of current OS, for some improvements that many are waiting for ... a long time.
For instance, I believe that implementation of several enhancements like (non exclusive):
- DLNA support
- Audio BlueTooth
- Spell Check
- Bridged & unified (Email)/SMS/MMS
- Network printing/browsing
- Remote access (citrix like, for simple personal use like RDP and SSH)
- USB host
Could greatly improve our (and future "Christmas" adopters) user experience, even if lot of us stated that current OS was perfectible, but met globally our usual needs.
These, from an end-user view, does not seem to need that much work, as they mainly are drivers and protocols implementation.
May RIM consider having this built-in (or apps ?) functionalities pushed to our tablet as updates before OS2 launch ?
On another side, some of us have been hardly committed to the OS2 developer beta launch, to the point of it making it their every day OS environment, with some work around and conscience of what a beta is.
Could you please precise if/how this developer beta will be updated and if those who signed in will be eligible to these updates ?
I sincerely hope that this "take my lost" action will result in an amazing solution, providing the best user and enterprise usage and make the PlayBook as unique and powerfull it deserves to be.
Waiting to read from you,
Sincerely,
Antoine (aka Superfly_FR, simple user @ crackberry.com)
P.S: I'm French (I guess this text denotes it, sorry for that) and this is extremely frustrating to be excluded from beta environment, could you explain this ? An old tradition made us 'cousins', don't leave us by our side, we may also help !berrycops likes this.10-28-11 03:50 AMLike 1 -
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Not so much zombies, just not as sensitive as some. My mom never gave me everything I wanted, when i cried for it.Heh, the rim zombies in here assure us the tablet is just fine the way it is. We need no updates.
im with you guys, a huge 2.0 update in a few weeks would have been fine but another fiur month wait is a fail. I say return to working on 1 thing at a time, get it right and release it.10-28-11 06:04 AMLike 0 -
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10-28-11 07:09 AMLike 0 -
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