Although the Kobo e-reading app shipped preloaded on the BlackBerry PlayBook, for the last couple of weeks it hasn’t been working properly for some PlayBook users. However, Kobo has just updated the app to version 1.3.1. There’s no hint of a change log in the release notes, but at least some of the affected PlayBook users report that this seems to have fixed the problems they were having. (Though others say that they are still having problems.) (Found via our sister blog, Gadgetell.)...

Barnes & Noble is dropping support for the eReader app for the BlackBerry. The software will still work on BlackBerries, but it will no longer allow new content to be purchased through it, and any old or new content purchased will have to be sideloaded onto the BlackBerry rather than downloaded through the app. I wonder if this means they’ll be replacing it with a “Nook” app, the way the B&N eReader for iOS transformed into a Nook app? Most of the commenters on the story don’t seem to think so, and I would think if it were the...

With the Amazon Fire suddenly burning at the front of bargain-conscious consumers’ minds, other cheap tablet news has been coming out of the woodwork. Let’s look at some of it. Not sure how I missed noticing this. In a desperate effort to stem the tide of its stock slumping yesterday, Barnes & Noble knocked $25 off the price of its Nook Color tablet in an e-mail promotion immediately after the Amazon presentation, along with offering free shipping. It seems to be at full price on the website, however. But I’d expect the price to dip for everyone when the...

Just as Amazon did last year when it introduced the new third-generation Kindle, it is renaming its existing models and putting them on sale. The “Kindle Keyboard” and ”Kindle Keyboard 3G” have been marked down $15 to $99/$139 for the wifi-only version and $139/$189 for the 3G version (prices are with/without “special offers”). The wifi keyboard version is priced exactly the same as the new Touch wifi version, and the 3G keyboard version is only $10 less than the 3G Touch (or the same without ads). Given that you can order a $79 ad-supported Kindle right now, it’s...

On TechCrunch yesterday, MG Siegler reported that the name of Amazon’s Android tablet that it is unveiling tomorrow will be the Kindle Fire. The Fire will not be ready to ship until late November, he says. It will bear a strong physical resemblance to RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook because it was designed and built by Quanta, the company that designed and manufactures the PlayBook. However, it will be running Amazon’s heavily-customized version of Android rather than the PlayBook’s QNX. (Hopefully it will sell better than the PlayBook has been.) Amazon has been working on getting more content providers on...

HP’s Touchpad might have flamed out on launch, but it may not be the only tablet in danger of doing so. Reports suggest RIM’s PlayBook tablet is not selling in anywhere near the numbers analysts had expected. DigiTimes reports (via AppleInsider) that Playbook manufacturer Quanta has cut back production lines for the tablet and may lay off 1,000 workers. In April, RIM forecast sales of 4-5 million PlayBooks in 2011, the sources noted. However, RIM shipped fewer than 800,000 units during the first half of 2011 and monthly shipments dropped to about 100,000 units in...

Wednesday, Apple Insider reported on an investor report from J.P. Morgan, which indicated that tablet manufacturers competing with Apple's iPad have reduced their future build plans for their devices after experiencing lackluster sales. J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moscowitz called the poor sales an "early dose of reality". The tablets in question include Asustek’s Eee Pad Transformer, Motorola’s XOOM, RIM’s PlayBook, and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab. Overall planned production numbers have declined by 10%, from 81 million units to 73 million units. It's not surprising that these competitors’...

Yesterday I mentioned an open letter from frustrated would-be PlayBook developer Jamie Murai concerning all the problems he encountered trying to register for and use the development tools for the Blackberry PlayBook tablet. He ended up throwing up his hands and giving up in disgust. Today, Tyler Lessard, the head of RIM’s BlackBerry Developer Relations and Developer Programs team responded on the Inside BlackBerry Developer’s Blog. Jamie’s posting on Friday raised a number of challenges that he faced while getting started with development for the BlackBerry PlayBook and while registering to become a BlackBerry...

On TechCrunch, guest writer Jim Dalrymple from The Loop looks at why, a year on, Apple’s iPad still has no real competition and all the other hardware manufacturers are still scrambling to catch up. He points out that Apple has done such a good job making the tablet useful in people’s everyday lives that everybody else is still trying to be Apple rather than beat Apple. Every other tablet introduced thus far has looked remarkably similar to the iPad. Even the competitors who come the closest—HP and RIM—still haven’t done anything. And Apple is only a week...

On our sister blog Gadgetell, Shawn Ingram posts a CES hands-on report with the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, the seven-inch device that is BlackBerry’s attempt to compete with the iPad. A photo gallery accompanies the article, including shots of children’s book applications. Ingram is impressed with the device so far, even if its control scheme seems a little awkward. The awkwardness could be, at least in part, a function of the way the device was locked down on its stand, however. The seven-inch size makes it harder to spot individual pixels, and may be more convenient than the iPad while...

In a follow-up to a story I mentioned several days ago, the New York Times has coverage of the new rules propositions for allowing electronic device use on the House floor. It seem these propositions will just formalize the way that people have already been using their devices—rules or not, Representatives and Senators are often seen furtively whipping out their gadgets to check messages. The new rules are not meant to allow let congressmen listen to music or play games, though undoubtedly some will find less serious uses for the devices. The intent, [Brendan...

mocoNews reports on more rumors and speculation surrounding RIM’s BlackBerry “BlackPad” tablet (which we’ve mentioned before here). If the speculation is right, the device could be unveiled as early as next week at a RIM developer conference. Rumor places the device at 7” in size, smaller than the current iPad but the same size as the Galaxy Tab (and the rumored 7” iPad Apple is supposedly developing). The device would have Bluetooth connectivity, but would require a BlackBerry smartphone to connect to 3G Internet. It would run an operating system from QNX, which is better known for making...