BlackBerry maker offers PlayBook software upgrade

Research in Motion released a long-delayed software update for its PlayBook tablet on Tuesday, hoping to give a fresh start to the unloved device and pave the path for its next-generation BlackBerry smartphones.

RIM's PlayBook 2.0 software, unveiled last month, adds a in-built email function to the device, addressing what critics says was a big shortcoming of the original version, launched in April to scathing reviews.

It also gives the tablet the ability to run applications written for devices powered by Google's Android operating system, a tacit acknowledgement by the company that developers have not created enough RIM-specific apps.

The device, which runs on RIM's new QNX-based operating system, sets the blueprint for the first QNX-based BlackBerrys, due to launch toward the end of this year.

The Waterloo, Ontario-based company hopes to the upgrade will lead developers to create more apps for QNX before the launch of the new BlackBerrys, something that analysts consider crucial if RIM hopes to make up lost ground to devices made by Apple