New Gadget 2011

Is it possible that the lack of an email client on BlackBerry's PlayBook is due to the fact that it is impossible to do? A rumor reported by Business Insider says that RIM has to rewrite its entire messaging architecture to get email and messaging onto the flailing tablet.

The problem, according to a source who spoke to a director of BlackBerry product management, is that BlackBerry accounts cannot support more than one device. When the back-end software was written, the designers never foresaw that a person would want to access their email from anything other than their single BlackBerry phone. Thus, it will require �significant work to make the BES [BlackBerry Email System] support multiple devices.�

This could be made even trickier by RIMs current transition to the new QNX software platform.

Bear in mind that this is a single-source rumor. It is, however, both plausible and interesting enough to pass on. Why else would RIM have shipped a business-targeted tablet without the company's flagship feature?

The Real Reason There Was No Email On The BlackBerry PlayBook [Business Insider]