[theegoldenone]

Grow up and admit that the browser is not great, it's ok. Occasional crashes, slow speeds even with flash off. Admit that not everything is perfect and having good wifi has nothing to do with checker boarding. No OS is perfect whether it's IOS Android windows etc. and just because one thing is great for you doesn't mean it is for everyone.

And just because it's bad for you doesn't mean it is for everyone

[Stewartj1]

??? I thought 2 months ago they said that it would be out by the end of July ???

I don't recall that. Do you happen to have a link? I thought they only made a commitment fir the Beta, which they met.

[BB10FTW]

This thread seems to be less about OS2.1 and more about the Playbooks browser quality. I use the browser all the time, infact it is used 99% of the time I am on my Playbook. Which is alot. My personal opinion of the browser is that it is not high enough quality. Now I know for a fact that the BB10 browser is amazing but, the Playbook lacks the same quality. I have used my mother in laws iPad and I will admit that it was alot more fluent than my Playbook. However that being said I have an entirely new appreciation for my Playbooks multi-tasking abilities. When I think of the Playbooks poor performance in some areas I am reminded of fact that the Playbooks OS is very much unfinished. I used to hate whenever anyone would speak poorly of the Playbook because I loved it and I still do but, I can't defend its lack of quality. BB10 will be a completely different story, having the higher quality and a fluent UX. The Playbook as it is now lacks refinement. I use mine daily and although it does practically everything I need it to I always find myself getting frustrated with checkerboarding or having to click a link 6 times before it responds.

Anyway just thought I would throw my own opinions into the mix because I'm bored at work. BTW did we ever figure out where 2.1 is? Has anyone checked behind the couch?

[louzer]

Am I the only one who has come to realize that the PlayBook browser is garbage?

Honestly, try browsing with 3 or 4 tabs for awhile and see how often you manage to switch a tab without the browser going completely bat**** crazy.

So it has flash, great, so do most Android tablets.

Jellybean and onward won't have Flash. But I agree with you about multiple tabs.

[kae77]

2.1 is not coming today. Michael Clewly (PB Product Manager) posted on Twitter today: "Hey guys, there's no silence but you know I cannot partake in rumors and speculation. 2.1 is in beta right now and will launch when ready"

Aka... you all got yourself worked up over nothing confirmed. Hard to be let down when nothing was actually stated.

In regards to the browser: RIM has clearly stated that all the current PB apps are written in AIR. You'll likely not see too much improvement in them because it's a dead end -- new ones from the ground up are being written in native code for BB10.

You knew (or should have) this when you bought the PB. I bought one because I support RIM, the price was right, and it does what I need it to. The bonus is that it is an actively supported piece of hardware (even if it's not as quickly as you'd like), and it WILL be getting BB10. I get to use it now, and see BB10 when it comes out. Bonus.

For those complaining about the lack of micro-updates, they've also stated that it was a problem. They need big splashes to get attention, not smaller increments, which tend to go under the radar, so it was a change from the previous management style.

Sucks, but you can imagine RIM would announce and make some fanfare about 2.1 prior to it's release, to get some 3rd looks from news media and a temporary boost in sales.

[anon(2757538)]

Someone, SHOW ME where RIM officially said (not some tweet from an employee)...but where RIM officially announced 2.1 to us, the general consumers, and it's release date.

[anon(2757538)]

They said early summer. By all definitions it is past early summer.

Who? When? Where?

[antiRIM]

Who? When? Where?

The thing is that even if they didn't say early summer, its been way to long to wait for a Official freaking update!

[anon(2757538)]

The thing is that even if they didn't say early summer, its been way to long to wait for a Official freaking update!

Yes...but then people can't say RIM missed a deadline

[kb5zht]

Who? When? Where?

Public Version For PlayBook OS 2.1 Will Have An Early Summer Release : TheTabArena Blog

[dynot]

2.1 is not coming today. Michael Clewly (PB Product Manager) posted on Twitter today: "Hey guys, there's no silence but you know I cannot partake in rumors and speculation. 2.1 is in beta right now and will launch when ready".

I'm curious: what's the big secret about a minor .1 update that he can't talk about? Its not like Apple or Android are shaking in their boots and affraid of a maintenance updte.

In regards to the browser: RIM has clearly stated that all the current PB apps are written in AIR. You'll likely not see too much improvement in them because it's a dead end -- new ones from the ground up are being written in native code for BB10.

You knew (or should have) this when you bought the PB.

You don't really think the average consumer knows about this or cares about what software was used to create a browser. At the end of the day, its all about performance and features.

Unfortunately having used an inferior development product to write this dead-end browser, the PB now has a bad reputation and it'll be an uphill climb convincing consumers that the BB10 version is better.

[JeepBB]

Someone, SHOW ME where RIM officially said (not some tweet from an employee)...but where RIM officially announced 2.1 to us, the general consumers, and it's release date.

RIM told a room full of developers at BB World in May that the OS2.1 Beta would be out by the end of May and the OS2.1 public release would be out "by early Summer". Key details of what would be in OS2.1 were shown as a slide during part of a presentation.

It was reported on every BB fansite at that time. Here's a link for you...

PlayBook OS 2.1 Launching By Early Summer? - BerryReview

Now, whether you accept that a public statement by RIM employees/presenters at a BB World event constitutes an "official announcement", I'll leave you to decide.

There was no actual date mentioned of course - this is RIM!

"by early Summer" for OS2.1 is as specific as RIM ever gets with these things... ("soon", "when it's ready", "just around the corner", "towards the end of 2012", "Spring", "Summer" "Fall", etc, etc)

[antiRIM]

Yes...but then people can't say RIM missed a deadline

so then were in a situation of either they missed a deadline or they are taking unbelievably long bathroom breaks.

[anon(2757538)]

Public Version For PlayBook OS 2.1 Will Have An Early Summer Release : TheTabArena Blog

That was a behind closed door slide show leaked....no where near an official announcement.

That slide is the same as the 4G PlayBook Bell slide...which was false.

For all we know, 2.1 is being used by a select group of Enterprise customers.

Nothing is official unless a direct quote either from Press Release or interview with RIM employee.

[BBPandy]

Positive thing about that is RIM will also be late for their own funeral....

haha yea I hope they miss it completely

The media has been talking about their death for almost 2 years now, & yet they are still alive & kicking

[kae77]

I'm curious: what's the big secret about a minor .1 update that he can't talk about? Its not like Apple or Android are shaking in their boots and affraid of a maintenance updte.



You don't really think the average consumer knows about this or cares about what software was used to create a browser. At the end of the day, its all about performance and features.

Unfortunately having used an inferior development product to write this dead-end browser, the PB now has a bad reputation and it'll be an uphill climb convincing consumers that the BB10 version is better.

I don't think 2.1 is as 'minor' as you think. No more than OSX gets 'minor' updates once a year. A .1 stepping can be a major thing, it doesn't necessarily just have to be bug fixes. I would imagine (and it is just my opinion) that they also realize that anything they release at this point has to be a step forward. If you want facts, you'd have to ask Michael Clewly. He's the only one who can answer that for you.

As to the browser -- yes, obviously. However, if you're posting on the CB forums and complaining about the browser at that, you're likely a step above the 'average consumer.' I think we can all write the PB OS off as a stepping stone to BB10. They're holding their cards close until that's released, which means it's unlikely the current browser will see any significant updates. I'd rather they spend the time making THAT browser fantastic.

[dave_h_946]

I was so sure that the 2.1 would come out on 31st July. But a friend of a friend told me that his cousin form his mother side has a sister in law who has a son (but he is actually her step son) who graduated from California University and who married a hippie woman in Woodstock who has a granny who chews some strange "aromatic" leaves and when once she was high she said that many years ago she gave birth to guy who is now known as M Lazaridis who once visited her in her dreams and told her that RIM will release the OS2.1 update on 31 July 20....(the granny couldn't remember the year).

And I am wondering if this isn't inside information then what is it?

[anon(2757538)]

Direct quotes dont matter either. A rim rep said the playbook would be launched q1 of 2011, and it wasnt. A rim rep said bb10 phones would be out this year. Now we know they wont.

I'm not questioning BB10 release or PlayBook initial launch...I'm referring to the "announcement" of PlayBook 2.1

[jonno_atamaniuk]

Checkerboarding shouldn't be happening at any time in this day & age. Saying the browser is a piece of garbage is being nice to RIM.

And don't get me started with the other shortcomings and missing features. They've been mentioned ad nauseum here so I won't won't list them again.

At best, the browser is a very basic one not unlike what we used in the early days of internet browsing. Doesn't come close in performance or features to IE on my laptop, since some want to compare them.

The worst part of all this is that it is symptomatic that nothing has changed at all at RIM. They missed the BB10 deadline, and they'll probably miss their next one. They just don't listen to their customers and couldn't care less cause they already know its game over for them.

Checkerboarding is something that, you're right, shouldn't happen after a page has loaded up. That said, even an iPad will still have checkerboarding while a page is loading. I've actually got 3 different web pages open, each fairly graphic-intensive. Each is currently running fine with no checkerboarding unless I do a majorly fast swiping scroll to hit the bottom of the page in a serious hurry.

The browser lacks certain features, yes, but none the less it still is one of essentially five variations that is capable of running Flash. Going forward, Android will no longer support flash in Chrome, which is the new default web browser in 4.1, so it will be losing some funcionality in that capacity.

Pretty much the only thing I can't do with my Playbook on the web that I'd appreciate is listen to Rdio, and that is because the Playbook's webkit browser makes the Rdio website realize that it's dealing with a mobile device (read: not a full-on computer) and
displays a message to look into an app (which does not exist yet, have already sent a request to Rdio on an app and I'm sure they're quite busy).

If you're not happy with the browser, I'm sorry to hear that. But for the majority of normal people, the browser does the job with little to no issue, and does it quickly too, so...

[dbmalloy]

Why is this update so important?????? t is just an update.... PB will not cesase to work because it is not released.... Would I like sms bridge.... better Android Player... which is what interests me most..... would i like it now... Yes ... but am not getting excitted because it is not here......... As for the Browser issues... I have none... Did have checkerboard issue but had to do wth my router...reconfigured it at home..... never get a checkerboard.... funny how when an internet connection has many components.... ( speed, rouiter, connection metod, ISP data mangement etc. ) It is always the browser that is at fault though....as for features of the browser... all personal taste... I find the current browser great for what I do.... Point for me is that you do not always get what you want.... time to move on.... Maybe the Playbook is not for you....

[FF22]

I was so sure that the 2.1 would come out on 31st July. But a friend of a friend told me that his cousin form his mother side has a sister in law who has a son (but he is actually her step son) who graduated from California University and who married a hippie woman in Woodstock who has a granny who chews some strange "aromatic" leaves and when once she was high she said that many years ago she gave birth to guy who is now known as M Lazaridis who once visited her in her dreams and told her that RIM will release the OS2.1 update on 31 July 20....(the granny couldn't remember the year).

And I am wondering if this isn't inside information then what is it?

You do know that if you act on that and buy stock, you could join Martha Stewart and go to jail for insider trading!

[Bobcat665]

The Crackberry team have been fairly silent about this... Hmmmmmm...

[kb5zht]

The Crackberry team have been fairly silent about this... Hmmmmmm...

If by crackberry team you mean the crew that does the podcasts, its because over the last few months even their enthusiasm has been tempered down somewhat. They have been flying the rim flag and been their private, free, cheering section but for the last few years have been getting bloody noses for it. Now even they are saying "rim, time to talk is over. Put up or shut up."

I think the delay in bb10 really hit them hard.

[rcm1301]

RIM told a room full of developers at BB World in May that the OS2.1 Beta would be out by the end of May and the OS2.1 public release would be out "by early Summer". Key details of what would be in OS2.1 were shown as a slide during part of a presentation.

It was reported on every BB fansite at that time. Here's a link for you...

PlayBook OS 2.1 Launching By Early Summer? - BerryReview

Now, whether you accept that a public statement by RIM employees/presenters at a BB World event constitutes an "official announcement", I'll leave you to decide.

There was no actual date mentioned of course - this is RIM!

"by early Summer" for OS2.1 is as specific as RIM ever gets with these things... ("soon", "when it's ready", "just around the corner", "towards the end of 2012", "Spring", "Summer" "Fall", etc, etc)

We should also remember the southern hemisphere is now in winter, so their early summer is Dec '12.

[rcm1301]

If by crackberry team you mean the crew that does the podcasts, its because over the last few months even their enthusiasm has been tempered down somewhat. They have been flying the rim flag and been their private, free, cheering section but for the last few years have been getting bloody noses for it. Now even they are saying "rim, time to talk is over. Put up or shut up."

I think the delay in bb10 really hit them hard.

Totally agree. Just look at the type of news items/blogs since the BB10 delay announcement and the tone of their blogs and writing tone. There is no more joy and hype and excitement. It is just business as usual to fill the blog pages. Somehow depressing! It's like a close family member died.