Currently, one of the leaders in mobile business communications, Blackberry decided it was time to join the tablet market with their latest release, the Playbook. Back in April, rivals Apple had released the iPad with mixed reviews, and threw the market wide open for taking the lead on the latest in mobile computing. Almost every communications giant has joined in with the race to be market leader, with Blackberry looking like a good challenger to win the crown.
From initial inspections the Playbook looks and feels much more compact than the iPad, weighing in at 0.9lbs, and a much smaller screen. This has both its good and bad points, and is maybe the main point that will divide tablet shoppers. For those who are looking for a hybrid phone and laptop, the Playbook is the perfect size, but the smaller screen is an obvious downside for those looking for a more substantial device.
As far as the workings are concerned, the inside of the Playbook is pretty well thought out. With one ear to the doors of those who complained about the lack of Flash support in the iPad, Blackberry made integrating Flash 10.1 and HTML 5 support a priority, and recent video releases comparing the two rival tablets shows that internet browsing is simply smoother in many ways on the Playbook. There have been some complaints that Flash affects battery life, although with a battery rumored to last at least a day, this is unlikely to be a concern for those using it in their worklife. Blackberry also realized the need for their busy lifestyle clientele to have multitasking to help them get everything they needed done, and so it is now one of the many features that the tablet proudly offers, that many other competitors failed to include in theirs.
One of the most frustrating things about the leading tablets on the market is their lack of compatibility with standard connectors such as HDMI and microUSB. These are built-in to the Playbook, allowing it to be connected to any device that supports it, and the streaming output is considerably higher than anything the iPad can produce.
From the comparisons it seems that Blackberry have been doing their research and have developed a probable strong competitor for Apple. However, the early 2011 release date means that those interested in checking out what Blackberry and RIM have to offer will have to hold out a little longer.
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{ 4 comments }
One of the things I like best about the iPad is that you can watch movies and TV shows and really enjoy the picture quality. The Playbook looks too small for that.
The PlayBook multitasking features sound promising. I hope I can leave my laptop at home if I take a PlayBook with me.
The battery better last a day! I’m always disappointed when batteries are rumored to last longer than they actually do.
Very nice wallpapers for the Playbook