The imminent BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 adds the missing messaging apps to RIM’s tablet, but it also marks a big shift in how BlackBerry devices handle email.

RIM is moving on from the proprietary email system that’s been the foundation of its success in business and is joining Google and Apple in adopting a mobile email protocol from Microsoft. But that doesn’t mean BlackBerry is abandoning its trademark security or long battery life.

With the PlayBook 2.0 – and future BlackBerry 10 handsets – you won’t have to run a wizard on the device and connect to the BlackBerry service to set up your email any more.

Instead, you just fill in the email address and password for your email account, like any other device. If it’s a common email service – or any server you’ve used with a BlackBerry device before – that’s all you need to do.

If you’re connecting to a work email account, you can click Advanced and fill in the details of the server, but it’s still far simpler.

EAS support

But the PlayBook doesn’t connect directly to the mail service. BlackBerry software head Vivek Bhardwaj told TechRadar that PlayBook and BlackBerry 10 still take advantage of the BlackBerry infrastructure and servers but things are a lot easier.

“I can put in my Gmail account and what we do in the background is take the username and read the domain [from the email address] and we do all the heavy lifting to get the settings and do all the configuration and send that back down to the device.”

The PlayBook works with standard mail protocols such as IMAP and POP3, but it also supports the popular EAS protocol.

This was developed by Microsoft (originally for Exchange; it stands for Exchange Active Services) but it’s been widely licensed, and is used by Gmail and Yahoo as well as Hotmail. It’s already supported by the majority of smartphones – Android, Windows Phone, Windows Mobile, Nokia, Palm and even iPhones.

In fact, RIM has been the only holdout, and currently you have to install third-party email tools such as AstraSync to use EAS on a BlackBerry handset or tablet.

Switching to EAS instead of RIM’s proprietary push email transport is a major change, and it’s something of a coup for Microsoft, especially when Bhardwaj praises it as an open standard.

“This is a shift in architecture, based on what we want to deliver as a company. The BlackBerry Internet Service and the BlackBerry Enterprise Server have served us well for the last decade.

“Over time, more consumers have latched on to smartphones, and enough of the industry is at that tipping point so we do need to be about standards. It’s about open standards and an open ecosystem.”

Get email faster

EAS has some major advantages. It’s a proper push protocol that copes with multiple email folders. Mail will arrive on a device using EAS when it arrives on the server. That’s a big improvement over the 15 minutes you wait to check for new emails you get with BIS today (the way any BlackBerry that’s not managed by a business gets email).

Emails you read and delete on your phone will be marked as read or deleted if you look at your mail on the web. This happens with BlackBerry devices today, if you have it set up correctly.

But messages you read in webmail or with another client will be marked as read on your BlackBerry as well, which doesn’t always happen using the current system.

And while there will probably be a setting to choose whether to download the whole of really long messages, you won’t only get the first 2K of each message. That should mean no more scrolling down to the More prompt and waiting for the rest of the message to arrive.

You’ll finally also get your contacts and calendar details synced from your email or calendar service directly to the PlayBook or BlackBerry 10 smartphone, even if you’re not connected to an enterprise BlackBerry system.

Secure and energy efficient

But what about the real advantages of BIS and BES: the security and power efficiency?

Mail will be just as secure, promises Bhardwaj. “The device talks EAS but we wrap security around it. The messages go through a secure tunnel that’s created by BIS or BES, but the transport inside it is EAS.”

Businesses still get to manage BlackBerry devices and control settings on them as well.

And it’s the connection between the server and the phone that keeps power use low (and compresses the data sent back and forth), which still uses the BlackBerry system. If battery life changes for BlackBerry 10, we wouldn’t point the finger at the mail connection.

Loosening the connection between BlackBerry devices and the BlackBerry servers might have other advantages too. It’s no longer one person, one BlackBerry, talking only to a BlackBerry server. PlayBook is going to get BBM (just not in this update).

Could this open up the possibility of BBM coming to other devices that aren’t BlackBerry? We don’t know, but it’s a tempting idea.

RIM has stayed true to its word and released BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 on time, bringing email, social integration and Android apps to the struggling tablet.

The updated software, which you can download for your BlackBerry PlayBook today, features a unified inbox which means you can access your Facebook, Linked In and Twitter messages alongside your email – yes, your actual email!

Other highlights include an update to BlackBerry Bridge that makes document sharing between your PlayBook and BlackBerry phone quicker than ever, as well as allowing you to use the phone as a keyboard and mouse for the PlayBook using a new remote control feature.

If you can’t beat ‘em…

There’s more social integration to your calendar and contacts apps too, but it’s the inclusion of some Android apps that will pique most users’ interest as RIM tries to bolster its generally poorly-stocked App World.

“Building on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet’s proven web browsing, multimedia and multitasking strengths, the new BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 introduces a range of new communications and productivity enhancements as well as expanded app and content support,” said David J. Smith, SVP mobile computing at RIM.

The news of the update will be welcome to those of you who have managed to pick up the PlayBook for a song over the past few weeks, with many retailers slashing prices to shift otherwise stagnant stock.

Shipping PlayBook OS 2.0 on time was new CEO Thorsten Heins‘ first challenge: clearly he passed. So what next? Something new at MWC 2012, perhaps? We hope so. Meanwhile, stay tuned for our hands on BlackBerry PlayBook 2.0 review which is coming very soon indeed.

Samsung may be plotting the launch of a 10.1-inch iteration of its Galaxy Note phone/tablet hybrid device later this month at MWC.

Reports suggest that the company will release a larger version of the stylus-equipped, 5.3-inch Android device at the annual mobile expo in Barcelona.

The reasons for those suspicions are two-fold. Firstly, the Galaxy Note 10.1 name appears on a Samsung MWC Developer Day invitation.

Secondly, a casting call note requesting a “Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 user” for a commerical shoot in early February has emerged.

Neither provide concrete evidence for a launch, but they’re pretty solid hints.

Note to Galaxy Tab

Of course Samsung already has a pretty stellar 10.1 inch tablet, in the Galaxy Tab 10.1, although sales of that device remain under threat from a host of Apple lawsuits, which allege that it copied the iPad.

The question begs, if the Koreans decide to launch a larger Note, would it still bear all of the same hallmarks, including cellular capabilities? If so, it’d be the largest mobile phone this side of the 1980s.

It’s also worth mentioning that Samsung has no press conference planned for MWC, so any launch is likely to be relatively low-key.

The long-awaited version 2.0 update for the BlackBerry PlayBook OS will finally be released on 21 February according to reports.

The news comes from n4bb.com sources who confirmed the release date for the PlayBook 2.0 OS.

When the BlackBerry PlayBook was launched last April there were a number of short-comings with the tablet which RIM promised would be resolved in a software update.

Still waiting…

We’re now in February 2012 and the update has yet to materialise but this latest news will bring some comfort to the PlayBook’s long-suffering fans.

The PlayBook 2.0 update is set to feature native email, calendar and contact apps, meaning users will no longer have to bridge their BlackBerry phone with the tablet just to work these trivial apps.

Unfortunately there will not be a native BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) app so a BlackBerry mobile will need to be connected via the BlackBerry Bridge for access to be gained.

Find out all the info on the update in our ‘PlayBook 2.0: what you need to know‘ feature.

The United States Department of Justice (USDoJ) has approved Google’s takeover of Motorola Mobility but made it clear that patent abuse would not be tolerated.

The news comes just hours after the European Union approved the buyout, also stating that it would be closely monitoring patent activities to ensure fairness in the market.

Google still need approval from Taiwan and Israel before the takeover can happen, but with the EU and US now on board the end is very much in sight.

Let’s talk patents

As with the EU, the USDoJ has clearly stated that it will be keeping an eye on companies in the wireless device industry regarding patent acquisition and use.

Companies have been warned that the USDoJ “will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action to stop any anticompetitive use of SEP (standard essential patents) rights”.

What this means in short is companies will not be allowed to force others out of business with anticompetitive patent usage.

The USDoJ went on to say that Apple and Microsoft have made “clear commitments… to license SEPs on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, as well as their commitments not to seek injunctions in disputes involving SEPs”.

Google has not been quite so black and white with accepting the terms, so expect a beady eye to stay focussed on it for the time being.