Online social networking poses new risks and challenges for IT Management.
Perhaps tolerance is the new satisfaction. More than a day's use of Bridge revealed an imminently workable email solution on the tablet, though placing the "send" button more conveniently is an absolute necessity -- that and "save" appear at the top of the message, requiring the user to scroll up to have the message delivered, rather than just hit a "return" or "send" key on the keyboard. Because the PlayBook is only Wi-Fi-enabled today, using a BlackBerry smartphone as a bridge (or tether) lets users send emails over the mobile network when they aren't in Wi-Fi range. Score one for the PlayBook, then,air yeezy but this is limited to BlackBerry smartphone owners. However, one reader commented that because the PlayBook doesn't have a 3G radio, it can't connect to BES, which simply isn't true. It can't connect to BES because RIM has yet to include the functionality. A BlackBerry smartphone connected only via Wi-Fi is certainly able to depend on BES for its communication. For now, then, the BlackBerry smartphone isn't just the most secure way to conduct secure email communications; it's the only way -- unless that email is Gmail or Yahoo Mail or other Web-based messaging systems, including Web-based connections to Microsoft Exchange. All those are workable, but not as seamless, especially with the BlackBerry's universal inbox. This same reader also said that using the BlackBerry Bridge gets the entire BlackBerry on the PlayBook. No, it doesn't. You'll only get memopad, tasks, files, contacts, messages (including universal inbox view, in addition to sorting by mailbox type), calendar, and browser (presumably for browsing through the BES infrastructure). Still, potential buyers seem to be saying: Email and other communications functions are coming on the PlayBook, so don't panic; more applications are coming, possibly Android apps, so be patient. Fair enough. Scratch the trip to Best Buy off the list for the weekend, then, and give the PlayBook time to marinate. Enterprise application teams will have an easier time enabling functionality, given some of the tools RIM has made available. C++, Java, and Adobe AIR and WebWorks development tools should broaden the PlayBook developer ecosystem. While time may soften the PlayBook criticism, one reader won't be so easily convinced. "Ludicrous is an appropriate term for a tablet that doesn't have email and calendaring clients," the reader said.