RIM Confirms PlayBook OS 2.0 Feb 2012 Release

Rumors were flying this week that RIM was pushing the much anticipated PlayBook OS 2.0 update out to early 2012. At the time, the rumor was making rounds there was no official word from RIM on the fate of the OS update. PlayBook OS 2.0 is the update that will bring with it support for native email, PIM access, and Android apps.

RIM has officially confirmed that the update to version 2.0 for the Playbook will not be offered until February 2012. RIM says that it would like to get the OS into the hands of users today, but that it won't launch the OS until it's confident it has met the expectations of the developer community and end users. As much as PlayBook owners will hate to hear this, it's a good thing. If RIM launches the new OS for the tablet and it doesn't work the PlayBook is dead.

Another big piece of bad news is that RIM announced that it has decided to not include the BBM application with version 2.0 and will push that feature until a later version of the OS. The rumors had pointed to RIM having difficulty integrating multiple user devices into a single BBM account. The bright spot in the announcement is that RIM is ready to provide developers with the gold release of the native SDK for the tablet and a beta of the OS 2.0. This will allow the devs to port their apps to the PlayBook in native form.