As The Mobile Indian reported earlier, Research In Motion (RIM) has announced a major update of its QNX operating system which runs its PlayBook tablet. Along with that the Canadian company has also announced some minor updates for its iconic BlackBerry smartphones at the Consumer Electronics Show at Las Vegas, USA.
The new PlayBook 2.0 operating system comes with in-built email, calendar and address book functions. Notably, RIM has some time back released the Software Development Kit or SDK of PlayBook OS2.0 OS for App developers. With this, PlayBook owners can now expect popular application from various different platforms like Android to be made available for their devices.
“BlackBerry PlayBook is already recognised for delivering powerful performance, true multi-tasking, advanced web browsing and HD multimedia in an ultra-portable design,” said Mike Lazaridis, president and co-chief executive officer at Research In Motion. “With BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 we are building on this strong foundation, as well as leveraging our strengths in communications, social integration and productivity, to allow people to use their BlackBerry PlayBook in new ways throughout the day.”
The BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 software update will be available as a free download for all BlackBerry PlayBook users and is expected to be available in February this year.
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PlayBook was launched last April, at the time some features such as ability to handle emails natively was missing from it, and thus had not received much success. With the new update, RIM must be hoping in wooing more consumers. For a detailed review of the tablet, you can see its review on The Mobile Indian.
New BlackBerry 7.1 OS
Meanwhile, RIM has also announced an update of it BlackBerry 7 operating system. The company has also announced updates to the BlackBerry Messenger, BlackBerry Traffic and BlackBerry Travel. 
“BlackBerry 7.1 will begin rolling out from carriers around the world beginning today and over the coming weeks. The new releases of BBM, BlackBerry Traffic and BlackBerry Travel will be available on BlackBerry App World beginning today,†RIM announced in a press release.
Meanwhile, the newly announced BlackBerry 7.1 operating system will come with a new feature called as BlackBerry Tag which will enable NFC enabled handsets to share content by just tapping with each other.
“They (users) can instantly invite a friend to BBM, exchange contact information, documents, URLs, photos and other multimedia content, and they can also pair their BlackBerry smartphone with an NFC enabled Bluetooth device,†said RIM in the press release.
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As of now, the BlackBerry Tag can be used on NFC-enabled BlackBerry models like the Curve 9350, 9360, 937 and, Bold 9900 and 9930 handsets.
Besides, BlackBerry 7.1 would enable users to use their handsets into mobile hotspots allowing them to connect to five WiFi-enabled devices.
“BlackBerry 7 delivered a next-generation platform for our customers around the world and the range of software updates announced today build upon the strengths of that platform to further enhance the mobile experience and make life easier, from managing daily tasks to planning big adventures,†said Mike Lazaridis, president and co-chief executive officer at RIM.