BlackBerry Playbook update delayed for the fourth time, and won’t include BBM

In yet another act of self-flagellation, Research in Motion has delayed the Playbook’s new operating system until February and won’t include BlackBerry Messaging until a future update. “As much as we’d love to have it in your hands today, we’ve made the difficult decision to wait,” said David Smith, Playbook senior vice-president, on the company blog. The software upgrade will add a new video store, better tablet/smartphone communication and—most importantly—long awaited features like native email, contacts and calendar support. This is the fourth time those simple functions have been delayed: RIM promised to release them two months after launch, then pushed back to later in the summer, then to October. Now it won’t be released until next year, assuming the company isn’t crushed by then by that frivolous lawsuit (we have our doubts). It’s a good thing Playbook users are a patient bunch—hopefully their kids will see BBM integrated in their lifetime. Read the entire story [The Globe and Mail] »