Blackberry Playbook OS v2 Update Due Today

It’s been delayed and delayed further, but despite no official confirmation from RIM the long-anticipated version 2 of the company’s QNX operating system for the Blackberry Playbook is due to be released today.  AMong the features on offer are native email and calendar apps, something that’s taken for granted with any other tablet operating system.  When the Playbook was first released, Rim saw the principle way to get email and calendar on the tablet would be to pair it with your Blackberry smartphone via bluetooth.  This approach wasn’t entirely successful however with a great many Playbook users being non-Blackberry phone owners.

RIM finally showed off the native email and calendar apps last month but they have still been surprisingly cagey about this operating system update, seen as a major milestone for the platform despite being mostly intended to fix and patch bugs.  The Facebook app is also rumoured to get an update however.  It’s said that the update will be availble to download from 4.01am in the USA, which would mean lunchtime or early afternoon in Europe.

The Playbook has suffered trememdously in the battles against the iPad and Google’s Android operating system, despite the poor uptake of the latter’s recent Ice Cream Sandwich OS update.  In recent weeks the price of the Playbook has dropped in many markets with many people suspecting that it was to go the same way as the HP Touchpad with a fire-sale followed by oblivion forever.  So far RIM have managed to avoid this fate with the Playbook though the company’s own market share overall is dwindling significantly, with many predicting the death of company before too long.

Other new features in the OS update reportedly include Blackberry Balance, which allows users to use their tablet for both home and work, while seperating the two when they’re either working or at home.  The feature will also apparently include additional security to protect work and business data and keep it seperate from your personal data.  This will also allow corporate users to deploy bespoke apps to users personal or work devices, with the user safe in the knowledge that while their activities online and with apps can be restricted during business hours, they are free to do whatever they like outside of work hours without their business data and files being in danger from online activities.

There will also be a Citrix client that will give users remote desktop working, even with Windows or the Mac.  Finally the Playbook will be usable as a programmable remote control for the home or in the workplace.  The aim here is to make the tablet a useful presentation device in the workplace.  As I mentioed earlier, the rest of the OS update is essentially bug fixes and patches.

If you are planning to install the operating system update when it is released, assuming the information that’s been leaked from RIM is accurate, then you should first make sure you have your device backed up.  You can do this in the Blackberry Desktop Software for the tablet.

So will you be downloading and installing the Playbook v2 OS today?  Are you looking forward to the native email and calendar apps or perhaps another feature?  Why not tell us in the comments below.

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About the Author:Mike Halsey is a Microsoft MVP for "Windows Expert". He is also the author of Troubleshooting Windows 7 Inside Out from Microsoft Press and the Windows 7 Power Users Guide, a how-to guide for non-technical Windows users on how to get the best out of Microsoft's new operating system, with step-by-step and quick guides. You can follow Mike on Facebook, Twitter or on his own website The Long ClimbAuthor: Mike Halsey MVP, Tuesday February 21, 2012 -
Tags:blackberry, operating system, os, playbook, rim, update

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Viruses: The Best Thieves Today!

Viruses have become a direct route to quick/easy money by hackers and thieves alike. By confusing end-users into thinking that they are more infected than they actually are, viruses manage to extract money from innocent computer users that they most likely will never see again. That being said, in this article I would like to provide some basic information about these threats in order to build awareness in general computer users.

First, if a message or pop-up on your computer asks for money, you should always do research before doing anything. In fact, a safe habit would be to never send money online unless you're on a trusted website that you know is legitimate from experience. This should be in the back of your mind as you approach the rest of the information in this article.

To provide a brief overview, viruses can affect all sorts of levels of functionality on a computer. The viruses I am addressing in this article inform the end-user that their computer is infected with viruses that are not actually present (other than the virus itself!) in order to cause panic. The end-user is offered a solution for some amount of money, which will provide them with nothing in the long-run except for a continuation of the virus they already have. This is not a virus cleaning

If a virus is named for a specific function, it is more than likely fake. Viruses are not usually named by the specific thing that they target, so if a pop-up informs you that an "identity.theft.virus" has infected your computer, it is most likely fake. Some of these virus names are very comical, so approach them with a sense of humor for the best results.

"Many viruses now falsely tell users that their hard drive is dying or another hardware problem is present," said a representative from a Southfield computer repair shop. In my years of experience, I've very rarely, if ever, experienced an accurate assessment of hardware condition from within the operating system. If the errors are very specific, it's probably a fraud. Even further, if something has misspellings or just plain doesn't look right, it's also probably illegitimate.

While there are plenty of other ways that viruses affect computers today, this is probably the most common way that I've witnessed in my line of work. The most important thing is to be careful whenever something unfamiliar pops up on your computer. If you get infected, do not panic and immediately shut off your computer and take it to a trusted computer repair store. You risk losing money and time if you attempt to fix something you're not comfortable with. In future articles, I'll address safe-surfing habits to avoid viruses altogether.

I have been a technician for over 10 years, focusing on efficient, easy-to-understand computer repair. I strive for people to have at least a minor conceptual grasp of how their computers work in order to permit the best possible computing experience. I currently perform computer repair for a company in the Metro Detroit area.

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