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RIM PlayBook with native email support coming this September?

Teaser
A relatively minor update could be coming next month that would fill in one of the biggest missing features of the PlayBook

According to Bloomberg, RIM is currently planning to issue a software update for all PlayBooks this September that will add native email support and BlackBerry Messenger. The PlayBook was heavily criticized for the lack of built-in email support following its April 19th launch.

Unfortunately, the promised Android App Player may not be included in the update. Sources close to Bloomberg made no mention of the Android player as part of the rumored September update, although the software “may come later on in the year.” They did, however, claim that certain BlackBerry smartphones starting 2012 may have their own Android App Player. If true, this would greatly benefit users as they would have access to most Android Apps in the Android Market as well as the entirety of RIM’s App World.

Analyst Steven Li from Raymond James Ltd. states the obvious benefits of having both app markets in the palm of the user:

“If you get the tonnage of Android apps and the top 50 apps through BlackBerry’s App World, that addresses many of the concerns people have about RIM’s ecosystem.”

If the September update becomes official, it would counter previous rumors about a massive “PlayBook 2.0” OS update where even the Android App Player was said to be included.

The 7-inch RIM PlayBook runs on a dual-core 1GHz TI OMAP 4430 CPU with 1GB RAM, micro-HDMI, up to 64GB SSD and front and rear cameras. The 16GB model is currently selling on Amazon at $445.

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Allen Ngo, 2011-08-25 (Update: 2012-05-26)