Reason for delay in RIM Playbook mail client explained

When the Playbook came out, people were surprised to find out that it does not carry the flagship feature Blackberry handsets have - highly secure native push-mail email service. This is a feature that has contributed largely to Blackberry's brand image as a true business phone, and just did the opposite to the Playbook's reputation. But why was it not included, even after it surely must have been on the list of priorities? Thanks to Business Insider, we have the answer now.

A source of Business Insider told the site that the real reason behind skipping of native email support on the PlayBook was because its architecture couldn't support two devices with one person's account at the time of the launch. The source apparently learnt this particular PlayBook problem from a director of product management at BlackBerry World.

The Blackberry email client is connected to an email server they call BES that works on the logic of one user = one device. This PIN, as they call it, prevents a user from connecting to both his/her Blackberry device and the Playbook separately – the reason why the tablet has to depend on a handset for organizer. The migration from this logic to the one where a user can be supported by multiple devices is believed to have been taking significant time, mainly because the company is trying to switch from its current platform to a new platform, QNX.

Having said that, there is a possibility that RIM will bring the service to Playbook this summer.