Research In Motion showed off a major update to the QNX-based software running its poor-selling PlayBook tablet and unveiled minor improvements to its legacy BlackBerryphone software at the Consumer Electronics Show on Monday.<\/p>\n
But the Canadian company’s products were left off the list of hot new devices being touted by AT&T, the second-largest U.S. carrier, highlighting the challenges for RIM in reinvigorating its flagging fortunes in that hyper-competitive market.<\/p>\n
Instead, AT&T featured high-speed devices from such RIM rivals as Samsung Electronics, Nokia, HTC Corp and Sony at the Las Vegas gadget show.<\/p>\n
RIM last month delayed the expected launch of its next-generation phones using QNX software, widely seen as a make-or-break overhaul for a company that once dominated the smartphone market.<\/p>\n
At the time it said the delay was necessary so it could make use of more powerful and energy-efficient chipsets expected to arrive in mid-2012. The chipsets would enable the phones to operate on high-speed networks using a technology known as Long Term Evolution (LTE).<\/p>\n
The U.S. carriers are racing to build LTE networks and heavily promoting devices that can handle the emerging standard.<\/p>\n
RIM’s PlayBook 2.0 software adds in-built email, calendar and address book functions and the ability to run Android applications.<\/p>\n
RIM’s tablet was launched last April to scathing reviews complaining about its inability to handle email and other features associated with the Canadian company’s smartphones.<\/p>\n
RIM also added a video store in the PlayBook upgrade with thousands of films and television shows available for purchase or rent, and said a BlackBerry smartphone paired to the tablet could act as a remote control or wireless keyboard and trackpad.<\/p>\n
RIM did not provide an update on when it would make the free software update publicly available, repeating a planned February launch.<\/p>\n
The Android advance – which RIM did not highlight in a statement but did confirm later – may be the most popular feature with consumers wary of a dearth of apps for the next-generation software, which will also run RIM’s future phones.<\/p>\n
But the integration of core BlackBerry functions is arguably more significant – proving that QNX works with the RIM infrastructure that crunches and encrypts data sent out to its BlackBerry smartphones.<\/p>\n
RIM says it will have a QNX phone by the latter part of 2012, after initially saying it would be ready by early in the year. The PlayBook software update was also delayed; it was initially due some time in the summer of 2011.<\/p>\n
RIM sold just 850,000 PlayBooks from the tablet’s launch in April to the end of November, and took a $485 million hit to write down the value of unsold inventory it has discounted sharply.<\/p>\n
The smartphone software upgrade – to version 7.1 – adds a function called BlackBerry Tag that allows two BlackBerry phones equipped with a near-field communications (NFC) chip to share information and content by being tapped together.<\/p>\n
The upgrade also means a BlackBerry smartphone can be used as a mobile hotspot to share its Internet connectivity with up to 5 other devices including laptops and tablets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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