Research in Motion's 7-Inch 'PlayBook' Tablet to Target Business Users

[mdriftmeyer]

# Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV

# HDMI video output


killer specs we will probably never see in any ipad...

Nothing like 1080p play back on a 1024 x 600 screen. Just like the iPad when are we going to read about people complaining about incorrect 16:9 aspect ratios?

On the other hand, since the iPad will have Retina Display for their upcoming iPads the pixel dimensions on the new iPads will most definitely handle 1080p w/o any flaws in the aspect ratio.

 

[Alisstar]

I would propose a name change between Apple and RIM. They should name the iPad - PlayBook, and the PlayBook should be called BlackPad. I believe that's what it was originally gonna be called anyway. Right?

 

[mdriftmeyer]

Meh doesn't look too good, esp. the last picture:

http://content.usatoday.com/communi.../09/blackberry-playbook-to-take-on-the-ipad/1

Yes this is an awkward and absurdly flawed design:

 

[joueboy]

Power!

With all the processing power and feature like hdmi output and playback, makes me concern about the battery life. I'm guessing somewhere around 2-3 hours which makes me think what you gonna need all the processing power just to browse the web. I hope some decent nice graphics video games will be developed to this platform to take advantage of the dual A9.

 

[Sedulous]

looks thick.

 

[mauree]

Yes this is an awkward and absurdly flawed design:

Not sure if you were sarcastic there md, but yeah I thought that picture sums it up. Aside from the fact that it's too small for my taste, it just can't compete with the iPad as far as design and beauty. Now, if that costed less than $100, then it might be a real competitor.

 

[kirk26]

I hope no one is confusing these types of tablets with netbooks. Apples and oranges, folks. Different animals.....

 

[i0Nic]

I think it's a very interesting device and the first real competitor to the iPad - which I've written about in my blog (linked in signature). The big questions remain around app development and battery life, and it will be an interesting start to 2011 with both this and the iPad 2 being launched - also Android Gingerbread, the tablet version, will launch around this timeframe.

Let the games begin!

 

[3runjosh]

It looks AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Too bad they copied Apple by design ROFL. I agree competition is good but is not trying to go further because it looks exactly like the iPad and will probably be followed through with design lawsuits lol. Coverflow much as well? There Advertisement really targets the uncomprimised browsing but if flash runs poorly on that device they just made a huge fool of themselves because it will be more compromised than ever lol. Anyway, It seems cool if the price tag is less than the iPad and the performance is good I just might buy it over the iPad Comon Apple blow this market out of the water like you always do

I agree that the name is a bit crappy lol. BlackBook seems more impact than Playbook. When i see playbook i almost read Playboy

 

[Hawkeye411]

Awesome!

Competition is great for us!!

 

[LYFK]

I certainly hope this works out for Blackberry. Mostly because they are a Canadian company. If they are serious about the success of this device, then they must be taking higher capital risks than with their other products. If it were to fail, or not hit its mark, could it mean financial ruin for them?

 

[kernkraft]

I love all the labels too... Real HD, Real this, real that. WTF does that mean.
When the Playbook comes out and has 4 hours of battery life can we say the Apple iPad has REAL battery life...?

Real HD meaning not 720p but 1080. It does matter and it is a big difference.

Real multitasking meaning being able to use multiple apps without crashes and slowing down. 256MB is hardly enough for a few Safari tabs.

About battery life - I don't think it will be a worry. RIM is pretty good with batteries and matching performance with the optimal type.

 

[gkarris]

Not sure if you were sarcastic there md, but yeah I thought that picture sums it up. Aside from the fact that it's too small for my taste, it just can't compete with the iPad as far as design and beauty. Now, if that costed less than $100, then it might be a real competitor.

LOL....

FYI - "to Target Business Users" = Only RICH Businesses can afford one...

 

[Pilgrim1099]

Yup.

One big turn off with forums like this is more than a few posters just don't understand how competition works. If RIM et al didn't make these announcements (and developments), Apple would drip feed us mediocre updates in technology every 12 months.

We need everyone fighting against each other for market share and our moneyz, it's the only way we'll get the best tech/user experience for the best price.

Not only that, it's wishful thinking on Apple fanboys wanting Apple to sue RIM for the a9 chip. Give me a break! If Apple did that to 'cry a river' and bully them around, it would make them look like knee-jerked jackasses and make the government rightfully suspicious of anti-competitive practices on their part.

Those who attacked RIM's PlayBook are the ones who are scared knowing that THIS is what the iPad should have been in the first place.

Good. For. RIM.

To those who think the OMX is nothing, THINK about why it's been used by the military, medical, and government sector for years and not Apple's OS. There's a real reason for that.

 

[Pilgrim1099]

...Probably not for me.

It might be nice for existing Blackberry users, but if you can only tether it to a Blackberry, you've just drastically limited the appeal to a ton of people.

It's likely to be pretty attractive for existing RIM customers, but I doubt it will attract any new customers to the RIM fold. It might keep some from bolting though... so good for RIM.

Right now it's basically vapour-ware anyway.

Definitely not vaporware.

You're in denial that Apple's got competition.

 

[Psychmike]

Innovation

Brock M is right; the most innovative and important feature on the PlayBook for me is the close integration between their tablet and their smartphone. There are times I need to enter a lot of information and it's not optimal to type everything into my smartphone (e.g., a lengthy to-do list). There are other times when I would like to retrieve that information and would prefer to have it available on my smartphone. I definitely, definitely don't want to pay for an extra 3G plan.

A lot remains to be seen. Battery life will have to be very good. The OS will have to be stable and fast, but considering the involvement of QNX, I'm optimistic.

I wish BlackBerry every success if only to push Apple to continue to offer good products. In my opinion, Apple places too many constraints on the use of its products.

 

[Pilgrim1099]

to bad this will get destroyed in about 3-4 months when the iPad 2G comes out

Don't make me laugh, macfan881.

The military's OMX systems has been helping in destroying those who oppose our country. Has Apple's OS done anything for that sector? Don't even bring up the Apple iphone story with US soldiers in Iraq using it. I already know about it and that's not even the primary system they use.

Do you really think the Pentagon would be that stupid to use Apple's OS to fight internet wars?

Once OMX goes mainstream, somebody in Job's office will weep like a girl.

 

[fuwafuwa]

Great name. Playbook is actually a really smart name. Kudos to RIM for that.

Just a reminder though that comparisons to the iPad are pretty much useless. Playbook will be available between 4-9 months from now putting it up against iPad 2 or even 2.5.

Will Playbook specs look that impressive against iPad 2? I'm not so sure.

COSTELLO: I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What have you got?

ABBOTT: PlayBook.

 

[jb1280]

It looks interesting. The more of these 7" devices we see, the more skeptical I become about a 7" iPad.

 

[Bernard SG]

I feel sorry for the likes of RIM, Samsung, HP et al.
That PlayBook seems to be a truly decent piece of hardware, however, right from the start, the way they are selling it is an epic fail. Remember when the Steve introduced the iPad, most of the presentation was performed on the device itself. Here they just throw some tech specs, a video Ad and that's it.
And, this is a silly little thing, but look at this screenshot: the music, video and camera icons are basically copy/paste of iOS icons. I mean, come on, there are so many ways to symbolize music, so why use those exact same iTunes two eighth-notes? Really lame.
Frankly, I don't see that product ever hitting the stores. It's half-baked with an non-existent ecosystem, no announced storage capacity nor battery-life (if a firm like RIM avoids talking about this, then there's probably a problem) no price tag, no clear dateline. It's a pity because there are interesting ideas, I like the way the UI handles multitasking.
In one word: Vaporware.

 

[reden]

The tablet is okay, nothing to awe about. But why did they call it PlayBook while they advertise it for business?

 

[Pilgrim1099]

Correction

I meant QNX, not QMX. Damn keys.

 

[mauree]

Pilgrim1099,

look, I'm all for competition, but this doesn't look like one, don't you agree? A too small, not very good looking tablet. The fact that they didn't show it in action makes me doubt it will run smooth. Plus it has only 1 GB of disk space. I mean... come on. If they price it low (and I doubt they will) it could be a Blackberry phone competitor, but for the same price who would buy it?

 

[Pilgrim1099]

YAWN...The 7" form factor is useless. Just a bulked up Blackberry phone...

YAWN.....The 9" form factor is useless. Just a bulked up iphone.

Hypocrite.

 

[i.mac]

QNX RTOS powers this tablet...

Well, I just found out that QNX RTOS powers this tablet (this is perhaps one of the most important and relevant part of the news here...) QNX is actually a very powerful RTOS that is very well designed and is ultra-robust. By virtue of QNX, this tablet becomes a very powerful player in the overall tech industry... if RIM does not screw the RTOS itself and what it can actually do.

For example, one of the things that an engineer can do with QNX is create a distributed large system with seamless integration with minimal effort. Very powerful when utilized in the proper environment since it is inherently a very robust way to have multiple redundancy for systems that needed it (think space and bank applications).

If RIM uses this RTOS properly to its full potential, you could have seamless integration of the pad with your car's telematics, for example, or seamless networking with similar pads. This, I believe, can make the crack-berry-pad very attractive to industry.... again, if done right.

It pains me to say this, but RIM may have actually played this very smartly by acquiring QNX to power their stuff.

Incidentally, any one can download the QNX RTOS and play with it. You'll be impressed. I may purchase the tablet just to play QNX with it an do my own hacking on this thing.

Much more to say about QNX, but I'll stop here...