At the Devcon convention today Waterloo Canada based Research in Motion finally revealed their Blackberry Tablet, officially called “Playbook.”
RIM co-chief executive Mike Lazaridis said the PlayBook would become the “enterprise standard” for tablet computers, and the device would integrate seamlessly with the company’s existing business offerings. He went on to say the “PlayBook delivers a no-compromises web experience.”
The Device features a 1GHZ Processor and 1 GB of internal RAM and a seven inch screen with a resolution of 1024×600 pixels. You will be able to interact with the device via swipes and gestures with its capacitive multi-touch screen. It will feature the new Blackberry OS6 which debuted on the Blackberry Torch Smartphone earlier this month in the USA.
One of the big elements of the device is that it does not use cellular data the same way the Blackberry Smart Phone does, instead the Playbook will allow you to use your existing smartphone via Bluetooth so you can make calls with the device. This may prevent major telephone operators from promoting it, the way they would the Apple iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab. On the flipside, corporate IT departments are salivating at the fact that they have little to lock down on the device.
One of the most exciting factors is that it will be fully compliant with HTML 5 and Adobe Flash, which means you will be able to enjoy the full internet experience, something most other tablets lack. RIM heavily promoted the fact that while the Apple iPad market has tons of apps, it pales in comparison with the amount of free flash games available. The BlackBerry tablet OS also supports, WebKit, Java, Open GL, and Adobe Air. Supported video formats include H.264, MPEG4, and WMV, up to 1080p HD resolution.
The Playbook comes bundled with a front facing and a rear facing camera, so the ability to do video conferencing will be an exciting feature that will surely placate the large corporate niche RIM has always cultivated.
Research in Motion has been strangely silent about the battery life. Given that the tablet will have dual cores and the ability to multitask, it remains to be seen if it can beat the Apple iPad and its 10 hour battery.
RIM expects to ship the device to corporate customers and developers in October and to consumers early in 2011, meaning it misses the consumer holiday buying season.
Features
* 1 GHz Dual Core Processor
* 1 GB RAM
* 7 inch LCD display with 1024 x 600 screen resolution
* Multitouch capacitive display
* Dimensions : 130mm x 194mm x 10mm
* Weight : 400g
* microUSB , micro HDMI and DLNA connectivity
* Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
* Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
* Powered by QNX platform with multitasking
* Full Adobe Flash 10.1 support
* Built-in support for HTML 5
* Video Conferencing with HD Quality and Stereo sound
* 5 MP Rear Camera
* 3 MP Front Camera
* Video playback : 1080p HD video – H.264, MPEG4, WMV , DivX formats
* Audio Playback :MP3, AAC, WMA
* Pair with any Blackberry Device ( min OS 5.0 device) via Bluetooth for Push Email , Calendar , Docs and BBM
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
