Blogging Techstacks

BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 Now Available

Version 2.1 of the BlackBerry PlayBook OS has been released. The Inside BlackBerry blog has posted "New BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.1 Update Now Available: 3 Reasons to Download", which details some of the new features while an Inside BlackBerry for Business blog post details some of the others that may be useful to enterprise users.

A quick list of new and changed features in the 339MB v2.1.0.1032 update include the following but please refer to the posts linked to above for more information:

• Portrait Orientation for the Messages, Calendar, and Contacts apps
• Folders within an email account connected through ActiveSync can be synchronized individually
• WiFi can be used for bridging data between your blackberry phone and the playbook
• SMS Messages can now be bridged to the PlayBook
• Print to Go will now work across different networks
• Android apps will now be run in separate windows instead of one window for every Android app
• Android apps can now use the PlayBook camera
• In-App Purchases will now work in Android Apps

And, for folks keeping score, my PlayBook running OS 2.0 scored a 373 (+9 Bonus Points) on The HTML5 Test while PlayBook OS 2.1 scored a 393 (+9 bonus points). For comparison, Safari 6.0.1 on my OS X 10.8.2 Macbook Pro scored a 376 (+11 bonus points) but, in all fairness to Apple, Safari executes the test very quickly while there is a bit of a lag getting results from the PlayBook.

Finally, what looks to me like a regular bonus whenever a new PlayBook release comes out, two new games compliments of RIM and Union have been posted to App World: CreaVures and Shadowgun, both of which usually sell for $4.99.

A New BlackBerry PlayBook OS Update Seems Imminent

An update to version 2.1 of BlackBerry Bridge was offered up to my Torch 9850 today. Notable changes outside of the usual bug fixes is that this version will allow you to view and respond to text messages on the PlayBook and Wi-Fi can now be used for data transfer if your BlackBerry phone and PlayBook are connected to the same access point. Grab it from BlackBerry App World.

PlayBook OS 2.0.1.358 Issues

Not sure if anyone else is experiencing them or not and the thought or searching through the forums tonight doesn't seem like a fun idea, so I'm documenting these here so I have something to refer to later.

Subsequent to updating to PlayBook OS 2.0.1.358, I've run into the following issues:

1. Wi-Fi connection drops and profile becomes disabled. This usually occurs after some period of inactivity and requires I re-enable the profile, then click the Save and Connect button. Sometimes this is not enough to maintain the active connection. Drops are frequent.
2. Messages App:  unable to connect to Twitter or my secondary Gmail Account. Displays "Unable to connect to server. Please try again later." Blaq for PlayBook, a twitter client, connects fine during this.
3. When selecting one of the accounts having an issue, Messages App hangs indefinitely resulting in an unusable mail client.
4. Accounts preference tab will not display as it is, presumably, unable to connect to Twitter and Gmail to verify those accounts. Unsure of this, however, since no errors actually get displayed. Spinner icon that is supposed to denote "waiting" isn't spinning.
5. Wi-Fi connection browser can only find one of two connections in my home--even when the PlayBook is sitting right in front of the router. (This may not be specific to this os version since I believe it started occurring after the 2.0 upgrade) Interestingly, even though the playbook can not see this wi-fi connection from 6 inches away from the router, every other device in the house works fine including devices separated from the router by floors, walls, and closed doors.

Update (May 22, 2012): Oddly enough, many of these issues vanished after I powered off and then powered on the playbook. A restart wasn't enough—it had to be powered off. Specifically, the Messages and Accounts preferences issues went away after a power off/power on.