Waze app provides real-time traffic alerts from community drivers

As I got into my car for my daily commute to work, my latest iPhone app tells me there are 25 other drivers nearby ready to assist me with real-time traffic reports and commuting information.

The commuting information is from Waze, a traffic and navigation app that I have been testing over the past few weeks. I can truly say that it works and also has very impressive GPS capabilities.

The technology behind the Waze app is based on a community of other drivers with the Waze app, or "Wazers" as they like to call themselves. The beauty of the concept is that these drivers are local to your area and drive some of the same routes that you would take every day.

Once in your car, just fire up the Waze app, type in your destination and leave the app open. You'll notice right away that your location is accurately displayed and a little icon tracks your route on a three-dimensional map, or 2D if you prefer. As you drive along, you might notice alerts on traffic jams or simply slow traffic, accidents, road hazards and other information – all in real time. These alerts are coming from other "Wazers" traveling the same route and have submitted alerts along the way.

On my particular route to work, I was alerted of a "car on the shoulder" a few miles down the road. Sure enough, a few minutes later I came upon a stalled vehicle on the right shoulder of the interstate. Amazing.

If you see a need to report the location of an accident or other road hazard alert to share with other drivers, just tap the "report" icon and choose from several options, such as a Traffic Jam, Police, Accident, Hazard or Closure. After choosing which side of the street or interstate, you'll simply choose "submit" and the apps marks the location of where the report button was first pressed. For a traffic jam report, there are "Moderate, Heavy and Standstill" options. A photo can be taken to share with the report.

During another four-hour trip on a major interstate, I came upon slow traffic and knew something was wrong ahead. I fired up the Waze app to discover an accident had been reported a few mile ahead by a fellow Wazer.

The GPS features of the Waze app is amazingly accurate, with the location of my vehicle dead-on in relation to the map on the display. The icon for my vehicle passed through intersections on the map display as I did in real time. When stopped at a red light a few vehicles back from the intersection, that's where my location was on the Waze map. The GPS technology of the Waze app is very impressive, with functions similar to a genuine GPS unit, complete with day and night modes for the display.

As you drive along with Waze, the map automatically zooms in and out, based on the detail being shown on your smartphone display. All gas stations and public landmarks are displayed, such as parks, rivers, lakes and dreams.

Some of the additional features of the Waze app include adding your home and work addresses, as well as Facebook integration to interact and coordinate your trips with your Facebook friends. A tap of the "Gas" icon displays a list of gas stations and fuel prices nearby.

According to the company, Waze is being used by around 50 million people and I would imagine this is growing, as each time I log in, the number of Wazers nearby seemed to have grown. A team of seven developers from Silicon Valley, Israel, the United Kingdom and other locations are responsible for this innovative use of crowd-sourcing with traffic reports and other commuting information.

Waze is free at this time and is available for the iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows Phone devices, with the latest version being 3.7.6, which added a voice-based search for finding addresses and places. Maybe a version for the BlackBerry platform is on the drawing board.

In the latest twist of Waze marketing, Comedian Kevin Hart is lending his voice for turn-by-turn navigation in the app.

I'm sold on the technology of the Waze app and its community-based traffic reporting. I won't leave home without it.

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A lost or stolen iPhone is bad; a good data recovery plan is good

If you ever lose your iPhone, it's really a bad feeling and more than likely, you'll replace with it another iPhone. Then your thoughts will quickly turn to recovering all your contacts, calendar, notes, photos, videos and even a log of text messages that were on the iPhone that is missing in action.

If you're lucky, there will be a backup in iTunes if you have been syncing regularly, or there might be a backup in iCloud. If not, then your next best option might be some free iPhone data recovery software from EaseUS, a software development company located in the Sichuan Province of China that specializes in backup and security solutions.

According to the company if you had been using their backup software, you'll just need to connect your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to a PC and launch the free EaseUS MobiSaver software. The program will scan your iDevice and list recoverable files. Then it's simple matter of clicking the "Recover" button.

The MobiSaver software is designed for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch and supports operating systems up to iOS 7. But it only supports the PC desktop computers for backups, such as Windows 8 and 7, Vista, XP and Windows Server 2008/Home Server. For Mac users, EaseUS offers data recovery software for $89.95 that is compatible with OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, 10.7 Lion, 10.6 Snow Leopard and 10.5 Leopard operating systems.

The best action against data loss in iDevices is to backup regularly through iTunes or make sure you are utilizing iCloud. But as an extra percaution, some free iPhone data recovery software is also worth a look.

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Apple rolls out the 'wow' factor with iOS 7 for iPhone, iPads, iTouch

Well now, just when it seemed that Apple's innovation has slowed down, as the Android camp was full-steam ahead, the guys from Cupertino dealt what could be a winning hand at the start of the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Apple unveiled the mysterious and tightly-held-to-their-chest iOS 7 software update, stamped with the work of the possibly soon-to-be-famous Jony Ive, Apple's senior vice president of design. Already, it is being called "the most significant iOS update since the original iPhone that took the stage in 2007. After watching the video, I believe them, or they did a good job of snookering me and probably a lot of other Apple fans.

I can't keep this to myself any longer; this update that is due this fall is going to be one fine upgrade, as every nook and cranny of the current iPhone software has been redesigned. The appearance is clean, minimalist, simplistic and very appealing. The icons for apps look fresh and not overdone, with crisp colors and simple lines. It's almost like the designers wiped the slate clean and started over, which is exactly what I think they did.

The list of new stuff could go on and on, with a new palette of colors, and bits of translucency, a new lock sceen, the introduction of a control center and multitasking. Let's let that soak in. Then we have new photo features with automatic time and date stamp, "popular near me" apps and full-screen browsing in Safari. Let's take another break.

As we gather again to explore the new iOS 7 update, Siri will accept commands to control the iPhone, such as turn on Bluetooth. Another new feature is AirDrop, which will allow easy sharing of content with people nearby using peer-to-peer transfer. We'll break again in a minute, but Safari has enhancements that need to be told, with features like simplified searching, a new bookmarks view and new Safari tabs. While we're talking about online, iCloud Keychain is coming for your passwords and credit information that will be available on all your devices. Now let's pause for a few seconds before the music starts.

Apple was really excited about the new music app and especially the new iTunes Radio, which will be a free Internet radio service. The keyword is "free." I like it already. It'll have over 200 stations, which will be enough music to get you through any waiting room stretch of boredom. There's more.

Some additional features of the new iOS 7 update will include – do I have to say it – a "new" Find My Phone activation lock feature that'll require your Apple ID and password. For night owls, Apple says the Night Mode in Maps feature will respond to ambient light when your use if after dark. And finally, something that caught both of my eyes is a proposed enhanced in-car integration, which will bring the Apple experience to a drivers seat near you. This could be the start of the iCar and iTruck. Sorry, the domain name for iCar and iTruck is already taken; I checked.

Apple seems to have put their best foot forward with this update and if the real thing is anything like the prototypes in the promotional video, it's going to be a humdinger of a software upgrade for the iPhone 4 and later, the iPad 2 and later, iPad mini and fifth-generation iPod touch.

Now we're going be in the highly-anticipated mode for iOS 7 during the next several months of hot and steamy weather in my zip code.

I can cope with the heat, but I can hardly wait for the new iOS 7.

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Vaporstream technology makes sent email messages disappear

If you ever worry about the security of sensitive email message, a new technology called Vaporstream might be what you need.

For those confidential conversations, company officials say Vaporstream communications cannot be copied, forwarded, printed, saved or intercepted. This James Bond senario is created with a Secure Recordless Messaging Service, or SRMS, which transmits messages without leaving behind any Electronic Stored Information, which is also known as the ESI factor.

Once you hit send on a Visper message, it vaporizes to leave no trace in the inbox, server or archive. In addition to messages, recordless photos also disappear from the sending device, as well as the recipient's device.

According to the company behind Vaporstream, this technology "is the messaging tool of choice for critical discussions about mergers & acquisitions, research & development, litigation, and other confidential matters."

If you are a busy executive or professional with a need to keep sensitive information private from hackers without a face-to-face meeting or phone call, Vaporstream might be what you're looking for.

Vaporstream, a Chicago firm founded in 2006 is available as a free app for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices. But an account is required to use the free app.

With this technology, it can be a comforting thought to know that you're not leaving behind any "electronic DNA" or "digital footprint" that could fall into the wrong hands.

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iPad Mini arrives to battle other 7-inch tablets for dominance

Now that the iPad Mini has finally been unveiled, the real question is how it will fare among all the other small tablets on the market.

Apple has given us a mini version of previous iPads, with an A5 dual-core chip, a 7.9-inch display, and a starting price of $329 for the 16 GB version. For the 32 GB and 64 GB models, you’ll need $429 and $529 for the latter.

It also has a 10-hour battery life, LTE network capability, updated Wi-Fi performance, and as expected, the new Lightning connector that made a debut on the iPhone 5 and the new iPods announced on Sept. 12. It’s also around 24 percent less in depth than the most recent iPad.

All of these features will certainly attract some attention, especially Apple fans, but the mini Apple wonder does have a few shortcomings. The resolution, which is 1024 x 768, doesn’t stack up with competing tablets and the A5 dual-core processor is from older hardware, being last used in the iPad 2 and the iPhone 4S

Another area of concern is as the holiday shopping season draws near, the price of tablets might be a factor and the iPad Mini might have to struggle to gain buyers with its $329 starting price.

The iPad Mini will certainly have plenty of competition on the shelves among the seven to eight-inch devices. It requires little time and thought for the Kindle family of e-readers to pop in your head, for all the good reasons. They are considered cheap at a starting price of $179 for the Kindle Paperwhite, or even cheaper if you look at one of the entry-level Kindles for only $69 or one of the other older models still being sold.

For more bells and whistles in the Kindle family, there is the Kindle Fire at $159 and the Kindle Fire HD for $199. But when has been called “one of the best values in the e-reader market” belongs to the $179 Kindle Paperwhite WiFi + 3G, which has free 3G wireless for downloading books anytime and anywhere.

Then the Android family of devices are next with the Google Nexus 7 leading the pack starting at $199, rumors of getting even cheaper soon. The other choice is the Barnes & Noble Nook HD for $199 and some change.

Another new entry in the tablet market is the Insignia Flex that can be found in Best Buy stores around Nov. 1 with a starting price of $239.

I think we can see a trend that tablet prices should not be too far north of $200 to stay competitive and entice consumer to reach for some cash in retail stores or punch the checkout button online. The iPad Mini is way north of that price.

But we’re talking Apple here, with a sense of upscale and quality among all the iDevices. Just maybe the iPad Mini can continue this mystique and bring cause for us to shell out a few more bucks for the latest creation from folks in Cupertino, Calif.

During the special event where the iPad Mini was announced, the education and business markets were highly pitched, so maybe a part of Apple’s strategy for this new device is for schools and enterprise users.

I’m going to put on my consumer hat and say I’ll consider the new iPad Mini. My current iPad now has a Bluetooth keyboard case, which turns it into an almost-a-laptop for tweeting, updating social networks and even creating an article for this blog while on the go. But it’s kind of clunky to hold and awkward to just read articles.

So I need a smaller e-reader for books, newspapers and magazines, along with my favorite apps for consuming content. This task is now handled by my Nook Color, which does a good job as a content reader. But it’s kind of a standalone device, since I don’t have an Android smartphone to have a synced-up relationship with the Android family of devices and their cloud applications.

With the iPad Mini, I could tap into iCloud and have all iDevices in sync with each other. These would include an iMac, MacBook, iPhones, iPod Touch and of course, the new iPad Mini.

My other requirement is that it’ll slip into the inside pocket of my jacket, which the Nook Color, with its 5-inch width, does just that. But the iPad Mini’s 5.3-inch width might be a tight fit or no fit at all. I’ll see about that.

So I could see an iPad Mini in my future as an e-reader, but the price is going to require me sleeping on the idea more than once.

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Windows 8 is coming; upgrading or a new device will need a plan

Windows 8 will be available for sale on Oct. 26 and can be pre-ordered now. So it’s time to start thinking about your game plan for upgrading your existing computers or pondering what kind of device you’ll want in a new purchase.

But there is some confusion about which version of Windows 8 will work for you and the price you’ll pay, along with a long list of choices for new Windows 8 hardware coming down the pikes.

Windows 8 will be available in several versions — one for tablet devices running ARM processors, which will be called Windows RT, and another for desktop PCs that’ll be known as Windows 8 Pro. A consumer version is also in the works and will just be called Windows 8.

As for the price, it’ll depend on whether you per-order the Windows 8 Pro DVD package now and pay $69.99, or wait until the release date on Oct. 26 and pay $39.99 using the Windows 8 upgrade Assistant online.

If you have purchased a new PC after June 2, the upgrade price from say Windows 7 will be around $15, which is not a bad deal.

The other issue with upgrading your existing Windows operating system to Windows 8 will be the licensing or product key dilemma.

According to Microsoft, If your PC is running Windows 7 Home Basic or Home Premium, your files, programs and settings will easily transfer to Windows 8. But if your PC is running Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate, Windows XP or Windows Vista, you will probably need to re-install some programs.

So in a nutshell, you should be able to install Windows 8 on the same PC hardware that powers Windows Vista and Windows 7. Just make sure you have at least a 1 gigahertz or faster processor, 2 gigabytes of RAM, 20 gigabytes of hard drive space and a video card with DirectX 9 graphics and a WDDM driver.

If you have installed Windows 8 Consumer Preview, you should be fine with an upgrade as long as the Consumer Preview was installed over a previous Windows OS.

But if it was installed on a new hard drive with no previous OS, such as if you built a PC, then you can expect a challenge and will need to purchase a new version of Windows 8 for a license and product key.

As you think about whether to upgrade you existing PC or buy something new, keep in the mind that Windows 8 is optimized for touch screens and you might not get the full experience on a desktop PC.

Anyone using a tablet with Windows 8 RT installed will be able to swipe and swoosh away in the new interface. For a desktop or laptop, you’ll have to get use to taking your hand form the keyboard to reach over and touch the screen for a little magic.

As for other choices running Windows 8, there will be somewhat traditional laptops that convert into tablets and tablets with detachable keyboard. They will have screens that’ll slide and flip or completely detach in order to transform from one device to the next.

In addition to the usual notebook PC manufacturers, such as Acer, Asus, Dell, Lenovo, HP, Samsung, Sony and others, Microsoft also will have a dog in the fight with their Surface tablet. This will put Microsoft in direct competition with the Apple iPad's iOS and many of the other manufacturers that also will have Windows 8 on their devices.

So whether your upgrading or buying for the Windows 8 experience, it’s time to start thinking about your plans.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 could earn respect among tablets

I believe Samsung Electronics of America might have a winner with the new Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, which was announced on Wednesday and available for purchase the next day. That's about the shortest roll out of a product that I've seen.

So let's get right to it. The iPad is standing ready to defend any challenger and the Galaxy Note 10.1 just might be a threat, or at least earn a lot more respect than some of the other challengers like the Galaxy Tabs, the Motorola Xoom, the G-Slate and several other contenders.

Just to refresh your memory, the first Galaxy Note that arrived on the scene around February with a 5.3-inch display, was more smartphone than tablet. The Galaxy Note 10.1 seems to be more tablet than smartphone.

The Android 3.2 operating system, or Honeycomb, on the previous Galaxy Note is now Android 4.0, or Ice Cream Sandwich, on the new Galaxy Note.

The old and new share still share the unique S Pen stylus, but it has been redesigned on the Galaxy Note 10.1 to be more of an angular shape that doesn't roll off a table. The S Pen on the old device had only 256 levels of sensitivity, while the Galaxy Note 10.1 has 1,024 levels.

The new stylus is smarter in that it activates a task bar when it is removed from a slot in Galaxy Note 10.1 for access to S Note, Adobe Photoshop Touch and Polaris Office.

Samsung has given customers a treat with Adobe Photoshop Touch, which normally sells for $9.99. It is preloaded on this device and optimized for the S Pen to allow more control of brush sizes and opacity. Just like the full version of Photoshop, the Touch version offers features like layers, selection tools, adjustments and filters.

The multitasking feature is another big improvement worth bragging about on the Galaxy Note 10.1, which allows two different applications to run side-by-side. You can choose from a lineup that includes S Note, the Internet browser, video player, email, gallery or Polaris Office.

You would think that would be enough new features for the Galaxy Note 10.1 to attract attention from tablet shoppers, but Samsung kept going by adding the Kno e-textbook platform and a free Nook reading app. Then they threw in a two-year subscription to Dropbox, with 50 gigabytes of storage space. According to Samsung, that's a $100 value.

Samsung also added a Smart Remote app from Peel, a company intent on changing the way we watch TV. Samsung's idea here is to use the device to control a home entertainment system.

The new Galaxy Note 10.1 has a faster 1.4 gigahertz quad-core processor, compared with a 1.5 GHz-dual core on the earlier device. A 16 and 32 gigabyte model is available, whereas the earlier model was limited to only 16 GB.

As for battery life, as the 7000 mAh battery in the Galaxy Note 10.1 left the previous Galaxy Note's 2500 mAh battery size in the dust. Apple does not list specs for the newest iPad battery size, other than it's rated at 42.5 watts and will give you 10 hours of Web surfing. But some reviews are saying the Galaxy Note 10.1 battery life seems shorter than the iPad.

The one surprise is that the rear camera megapixels on the Galaxy Note 10.1 decreased from 8 megapixels on the earlier Note to 5 MP on this device, which matches the iPad's camera. The two Note devices also share the same display resolution, which is 1280 x 800.

There was no wait for a week or preorders on the Galaxy Note 10.1 . So you can shop for the 16 GB model for around $500 or shell out around $550 for the 32 GB model. The iPad has an advantage in storage by having a 64 GB model.

I won't say the Galaxy Note 10.1 is going to outdo the iPad. But I will say that among all the Android tablets available, it's going to be one of the strongest contenders.

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Google Nexus 7 bringing NFC features to tablet arena

The Google tablet is no longer a rumor. Now we'll have the Google Nexus 7 by mid-July, or you can pre-order right now on Google's website for $199.

According to Google, pre-ordered tablets will ship in two-three weeks and for a limited time, you'll get $25 to spend in Google's Play store on apps, games, books and movies. Google is also throwing in a free copy of Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

The Nexus 7 will have a 7-inch display and weigh about 0.75 pounds, which is right in line with other tablets of this size. It'll use Android's latest operating system, which is Jelly Bean, or Android 4.1, if you keep track of the version numbers.

Google on their website has the battery rated for 10 hours of web browsing or 10 hours of e-reading, as well as over 8 hours of HD video playback.

The Nexus 7 was built to work with Google Play, or Google's app store, where they're pitching over 600,000 apps and games and over four million books. Online storage also is available at Google Play for 20,000 songs.

The big challenge for the Nexus 7 later this year will be if it can compete in the marketplace against all the other 7-inch tablets already on the shelves. It's a late arrival, while the Amazon Kindle Fire, the Nooks from Barnes & Noble, the Samsung Galaxy Tabs and the BlackBerry Playbook have a big head start.

The Kindles arrived in 2007, followed by the Nook in 2009 and the first iPad was announced in January of 2010. All the others quickly followed the iPad and have been trying to compete in a challenging tablet arena over the past couple if years.

The Nexus 7 just might have an advantage over the competitors with its Near Field Communication feature, or NFC. It'll have the "Android Beam" feature, which will allow the tablet to share information with other NFC enabled devices with just a tap. I imagine, the NFC capability will also allow the Nexus 7 to carry out mobile payments, purchase tickets and other wireless transactions.

Google announced at the Google I/O conference this week in San Francisco that more than one million Android NFC devices are shipping each week. So the Nexus 7 is on the cutting edge of this technology and that might the advantage that paints a bright future for Google's new tablet.

If you're itching for a Nexus 7, you can visit their website now. The 8 gigabyte model is $199 and the 16 GB model will cost $249. Both models have 1 GB of memory and are Wi-Fi only. You'll find a USB cable, wall charger and a quick-start guide in the box. A cover is available for around $20.

We should know around the holiday shopping season if the Nexus 7 is going to be a game-changer in the tablet arena.

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Microsoft Surface arrives to challenge iPad, Android tablets

Microsoft choose Hollywood as the location to unveil Surface, a windows tablet computer designed and engineered completely by the guys at One Microsoft Way in Redmond, WA.

While the Surface is unique in appearance, with an integrated kickstand to help prop it up and a Touch Cover with a built-in keyboard, the big question quickly comes to mind. Is this tablet the iPad killer?

Various tablet manufacturers have been trying to build a serious iPad competitor since the Motorola Xoom arrived on the scene in early 2011. The Xoom wasn't it and neither were the Samsung Galaxy Tabs. The Acer tablets, Asus, the Amazon Kindle and a few others have gained traction, but the iPad remains on top.

Microsoft has probably thrown every punch they've learned in their 30-year history of building hardware and developing software to make the Surface attractive to savvy consumers. It even has a few strong point and features not found in the current crop of tablets and can one-up the iPad in a few areas.

Although Microsoft did not list physical dimensions, they did point out the Surface's 10.6-inch display with a 16:9 ratio. I'm afraid the iPad stops at 9.7 inches in the display size, while other tablets, such as the Xoom 2, Acer Iconia Tab and Asus Transformer Prime stop at 10.1 inches. So the Surface holds the top spot for display size.

The Surface is about the same thickness as the iPad and the weight is around 1.5 pounds, but that's iffy, depending on configuration and what Microsoft calls the "manufacturing process."

Perhaps the most "talked about" feature of the Surface will be the Touch Cover, which will be available in five colors. It will attach to the Surface with a magnetic latch, which reminds me of the iPad's magnetic cover. But the Surface has a keyboard on the inside of the cover, which could be a stroke of genius for Microsoft if consumers give it a nod.

I can't wait to get my hands on the VaporMg casing, which Microsoft is saying will feel like the finish of a luxury watch.

It seems that devices of late are all going with high-end materials on the outside. Apple likes aluminum and some of the Ultrabooks are even using glass, such as the HP Envy. A technique using Liquid Metal is being tossed around for the iPhone 5. So maybe the VaporMg technology, which has a dose of magnesium, will ensure Microsoft's Surface is in the game of hi-tech casings.

It's no surprise that the Surface will be powered by a couple of versions of the Windows 8 operating system, which has been on the market in preview form for desktop computers. You'll be able to choose between Windows RT for ARM processors or Windows 8 Pro for Intel processors.

I've been testing Windows 8 Consumer Preview on a desktop and it'll be interesting to see how this OS performs on a tablet.

As for ports, the Surface will have HDMI and a full-sized USB 2.0, along with a micro SD slot. That's not a bad start for a tablet, which will also be available in configurations of 32, 64 and 128 gigabytes. The latter is only for the Windows 8 Pro version.

If you're itching to try Microsoft's latest creation, you'll just have to wait awhile. They still have to figure out how much it'll cost. I imagine it'll be ready for the shelves sometime this fall, or surely in time for holiday shopping.

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Review: Yahoo! Axis search and browser tool worth a look

After using the new Yahoo! Axis search tool and browser for a while, I think it's worth exploring. But I'm not sure if it'll be a game changer for Internet searching and browsing.

I installed the desktop version for the iMac and immediately noticed the search box in the lower left corner of my Safari browser window, along with icons for favorites and a home button.

What's important here is that the search box is always there and waiting. You can say Google has the upper right corner of your browser window for searching and Yahoo! has the lower left corner for their search box.

When you start a search, the difference between - let's say Google or Bing - and Yahoo! is that Axis give you miniature Web pages of your search results instead of links. A nice horizontal-scrolling pane of results appear across the bottom portion of your browser window.

The Axis approach to search results is much more visually appealing than the other search-engine guys. You can also save a favorite Web page as a "My Favorites" or "Read Later" bookmarks. It'll also help to log in into your Yahoo! account, as these options will be found after clicking the home page icon in the lower left corner of the browser window.

Another nice Axis feature is if you're not searching for anything in particular, you can get a list of Trending Searches of what people are searching for the most at any given time. It's ironic that "yahoo axis" was at the top of the list when I took a peek.

As one reviewer has already mentioned, it seem that Yahoo! results are rather prominent in what's offered after a search. But I guess that's to be expected. After all, it is their technology.

When I searched for articles on "Facebook stock," I got results from several choices, such as zdnet.com, azcentral.com, The Wall Street Journal and CNN Money, as well as Yahoo! News. It's just a simple matter of choosing which small representation of the full Web page from the search results grabs your attention.

I'll try out the Axis apps for the iPhone and iPad on my next venture into the latest Internet search and browsing technology.

This technology has certainly put Yahoo! in the spotlight. We'll need to wait and see if Axis gets a thumbs up from Internet users. Stay tuned.

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The BlackBerry PlayBook is back in the game

When the BlackBerry Playbook first arrived on the tablet scene a little less than a year ago, a few other tablets, such as the iPad, the Motorola Xoom and the Samsung Galaxy Tab were already on the shelves. It was going to be tough to gain some attention.

But the PlayBook was different in that it shunned the Android operating system favored by the iPad competitors and instead choose a spiffy OS from QNX Software Systems. QNX is best known for their in-vehicle and infotainment systems.

The PlayBook was good-looking, but it had a unique trait among other tablets in that it needed to be tethered to a BlackBerry smartphone in order to use the calendar, email and contacts features. It was depended on a Bluetooth connection between the PlayBook and the smartphone, with only a range of about 30 feet.

The fan base didn't latch onto the PlayBook as expected, maybe because of the tethering process and the difficulty in setting it up, especially with all the security steps involved.

The engineers at Research In Motion, or RIM, went back to the drawing board and as today, have released OS 2.0 software to give the PlayBook built-in access to the calendar, email, contacts and updated other features, such as the BlackBerry Bridge software. The Bridge upgrade will allow a BlackBerry smartphone to be used as wireless keyboard and mouse for a BlackBerry PlayBook.

With this new OS upgrade, maybe the PlayBook can make another run at the tablet market, which is even more crowded now with another iPad, another Xoom, more Galaxy Tabs, the Amazon Kindle Fire, more Barnes & Noble Nooks and a host of devices from other manufacturers, such as Acer, Asus and Toshiba.

The PlayBook is back on the field and the game is more competitive than ever.

Click here for a video on how the new BlackBerry OS and a BlackBerry smartphone works together.

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