Canadian firm, Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of the popular BlackBerry family of smarpthones, has announced that it has released a major upgrade for the BlackBerry PlayBook's operating system on Tuesday morning.

The no-cost download will allow the PlayBook to run some apps developed for devices that use Google's Android operating system. The new version will also include features for automatically integrating information and messages from social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, with its e-mail, calendar and contact apps.

BlackBerry phones will now be able to use their phone's keyboard as a physical keyboard for the PlayBook through a wireless connection. The second version of the PlayBook's operating system fills the biggest omission in the tablet, as it will add an E-Mail App. RIM had released the tablet in April 2011 and the users had to use a BlackBerry phone to be able to send or receive emails on the device.

Several reviews on the internet claim that the tablet, which failed to attract customers since its launch 10 months ago, will continue to struggle due to its technical flaws. Industry watchers say that it is unlikely that the upgrade to the tablet will increase sales of the tablet to business customers, which was targeted by the company.

The company does not make the PlayBook work directly with its reliable global network and customers who purchase the tablet will have to rely on costly software upgrades to their computer systems to access BlackBerry e-mail. This results in the tablet being without the popular BlackBerry Messenger instant-messaging system, which is a significant seller for the company.