Disqus
RIM’s on a roll filling in function gaps they should have a long time ago. The developer beta for the BlackBerry PlayBook has been updated to include a stereo Bluetooth profile, so you can stream tunes stored on the tablet out to your stereo system wirelessly. I’ve tried a few apps, like the native media player, the updated YouTube app, the preloaded NFB app, and the music store, and they all pump music out to the big speakers just fine. Voice notes don’t work, but who uses that anyway? The hardware media keys also don’t work just yet, but the big disappointment for me is two-way stereo Bluetooth support.
Most of my music is stored or played through my BlackBerry smartphone, and most of the time I’m wearing headphones plugged into it, but the speakers on the PlayBook are actually really good. For the times when I’ve got the tablet and phone, but no stereo system to connect to, it would be great to be able to beam my tunes from the handset to the PlayBook. Fortunately, there’s already a decent solution through Jeeosuite for that sort of thing, but that requires a Wi-Fi network to work with.
Poking around, I’ve also noticed that the Sound menu has been expanded to Sound and Notifications, so we’ll see PlayBook 2.0 offering a bit more use of that LED – an important addition if it’s going to handle e-mail on its own like a big boy. App World has a new drop-down menu for Help and Payment options, plus some vague Bridge and multimedia enhancements. Those of you that have taken the leap and rooted your PlayBook in order to get Android Market access should be safe to upgrade, though you’ll have to reinstall your .APKs.
Want to give the BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0.0.6149 a whirl? Sign up over here. Just keep in mind that this is more for developers testing their apps, but who can resist an Android app player?
[via bbin]
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
