The DO Network Enterprises

RIM's attention around its  QNX -based platforms might revolve around  BlackBerry 10  as of late, but don't think that it's leaving  BlackBerry PlayBook  users behind. A PlayBook 2.1 update is rolling out today that fills in some of the gaps left by 2.0 earlier this year. Habitual messagers can now start SMS text messages directly from the tablet when tethered through  BlackBerry Bridge ; they also get overdue support for a portrait view in email, calendars and contacts. If communication isn't the cornerstone of your life, you'll still find a few niceties such as  Android App Player  support for the camera and in-app purchases, device encryption that extends to personal data and wireless printing beyond the local network. For now, you'll have to be an owner of the original, WiFi-only PlayBook to leap on the 2.1 train today -- those who sprang for the usually carrier-bound  PlayBook 4G LTE  should get their upgrade within a month.

Jasminder Pal http://www.bebo.com/JasminderP2

In 2008, when the Eee PC was revolutionizing the computing world and driving every manufacturer to make cheaper and smaller laptops, Sony washed its hands of the whole thing. The " race to the bottom ," the company said, would profoundly impact the industry, killing profit margins and flooding the market with cheap, terrible machines. Sony was wrong, its stance lasting about a year before joining the competition with its own  VAIO W . Four years on we're buying better laptops than ever before and, with the netbook class now more or less dead, that downward competition seems to have shifted to the tablet front. A flood of cheap, truly awful slates preceded Amazon's  Kindle Fire , the $200 tablet from a major brand that looks to have been the proper catalyst in plunging prices. The latest challenger to enter the competition is ASUS, partnering with Google to create the first Nexus tablet, a device that not only will amaze with its MSRP, but with its quality. It...