RIM delays BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 update till 2012

RIM is delaying the next update of its PlayBook platform until 2012, saying that the company wants to wait until it can meet the expectations of buyers before delivering the final release.

BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 is now expected to be delivered in February 2012, but this will not include the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) application which has been deferred to a later release of the PlayBook OS, RIM said.

David Smith, RIM's senior vice president for PlayBook, said in the official BlackBerry blog that the company pushed back the release of the BBM app to ensure that it will run without incident.

"We are committed to developing a BBM solution that fully delivers on the powerful, push-based messaging capabilities recognised today by BlackBerry users around the world and we're still working on it," he said.

PlayBook users who also own a BlackBerry can still use BlackBerry Bridge to access BBM from the tablet's larger screen.

In the meantime, RIM will kick off a series of closed betas of BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 with selected enterprise customers.

"We believe BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 will deliver a great experience for our customers, building on the powerful performance introduced with the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet earlier this year," said Smith.

Developers were given access to a beta of BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 at last week's BlackBerry DevCon and, with the new PlayBook SDK now available, this will allow them to start readying applications for the launch next year, according to RIM.

The update is expected to add native support for email, calendar and contacts, plus further integration with BlackBerry smartphones.

The news follows a tough period for RIM, after falling sales in September and a prolonged outage affecting its services earlier this month.

The firm announced on Tuesday that it will begin offering support for Microsoft's Office 365 platform to allow mid-sized firms and large enterprises to use the productivity suite on BlackBerry smartphones.