Late last year, we talked about the Blackberry Playbook but haven’t heard a whole lot about it since it was first announced; until today when we got our chance to have a hands on with the device and I must say I am very impressed with it. More then I thought I was going to be.
To start off, I might as well get the technically information out of the way for all the tech geeks out there. The Playbook has 2 cameras built in, one on the front (3 megapixels) and one on the back (5 megapixels) which are both able to capture HD video. It runs on a specially designed BlackBerry Tablet OS which will be powered by a Cortex A9 1GHz dual-core processor and will have 1GB built in RAM. The PlayBook is capable to preform multitasking like watching a movie in one window and surfing the web in another and can support flash (full Adobe 10.1). It also has built in support for HTML 5. As for internal storage, it will come with 16, 32, 64 GB versions. Its resolution is 1024×600, with 1080p HD quality output through the micro HDMI port.
Why You Should Own This Device
It seems everything with a screen is being compared to iPad so I guess to make it easiest to start off and help make a choice for you I will do the same! The Playbook makes multitasking a breeze, right off the start you are able to have a video playing, play a game and be able to browse the web all at the same time and quickly switch between each application without them ever having to bring up a loading screen.
Another reason, this device might be right for you is unlike the iPad you no longer have to get another data plan to have 3G; you simply just have to hook it up to your Blackberry and tether it together (or “bridge” as they will be calling it). Also, Sprint has announced that they will be releasing the tablet on their network with 4G; however, no other network has announced if they will be carrying the device or not.
The design of the Playbook doesn’t seem the best because of the black bars all the way around it but unlike most tablets they are not useless, the black bars are touch sensitive and are what allow you to multi-task much easier by bringing up menus and allow you to slid your finger from left to right to switch out the applications.
Currently, the Playbook is still set to launch in Q1 and is still without a price. The RIM team continues to tell us “price will be competitive with competition for similar devices at the time of launch” within the next couple months which is good news as prices for many new devices is getting out of hand especially when it gets upwards of $1000.
Information you should know: you can connect the Playbook through bluetooth to your blackberry and share all data between the 2 devices, there will be no email apps (it has a full browser so we think you will live), it has 2 stereo speakers mounted on the front to get the best video experience possible, and the Playbook has a front and back mounted microphones so no matter which camera you are using you always have the best audio experience.
I have been excited for the Samsung Galaxy Tab for some time now. However, after seeing this I may reconsider my first tablet.. Do you own a tablet or want one? let us know which your most excited about this year!
