Research In Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook launched in U.S. and Canadian markets earlier today, and that is good news for RIM enthusiasts… that is unless you have AT&T. As many of you know, the PlayBook uses a small piece of software called BlackBerry Bridge to acquire cellular connectivity and provide messaging and other crucial PIM functionality — by transferring calendar, email, and contact data between a BlackBerry smartphone and the new tablet. So what’s the problem? It’s not officially supported by AT&T. On RIM’s official BlackBerry App World page, BlackBerry Bridge is listed with the following support status:
“Supported Carriers — All carriers except: AT&T”
Determined users have found unofficial ways to load the Bridge application onto AT&T BlackBerry smartphones, but the fact that RIM’s highly anticipated tablet offering is not yet officially supported by a major U.S. carrier is very disappointing. An AT&T spokesperson provided the following comment: “AT&T is working with RIM to make the BlackBerry Bridge app available for AT&T customers. We have just received the app for testing and before it’s made available to AT&T customers we want to ensure it delivers a quality experience for our customers.”
