Blackberry Playbook 7" slate computer

[haven]

Blackberry Playbook 7" slate computer
by Research in Motion (RIM)

this product will be available in "early 2011"
no price was announced

hardware:
7 inch, 1024 x 600 pixels, capacitive touchscreen display
1GHz dual core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU
1GB of RAM
802.1a/b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth
Front and back cameras (3MP and 5MP, respectively)
microUSB connector
HDMI output

no mention of GPS is included in the RIM press release, but
some web sites are reporting that the Playbook does have GPS

7.6 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
400 g / 0.9 pounds

for comparison:
Ipad 9.6 x 7.5 x 0.5 inches, 1.6 lbs
Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.5 x 4.75 x 0.5 inches, 0.8 lbs


software:
Blackberry Tablet OS, based on the QNX operating system
QNX is a version of Unix developed at the University of Waterloo
in Ontario, Canada. RIM bought QNX in April 2010. Until this
announcement, QNX was most commonly used in embedded
systems in automobiles.

OS includes:
Support for OpenGL graphics
Support for POSIX unix standards
Support for full symmetric multitasking
Support for HTML 5 and Adobe Flash Player 10.1
1080p HD video support (H.264, MPEG4, WMV)
DLNA media streaming support

Playbook can be connected by Bluetooth to Blackberry phones to display data received
from Blackberry's enterprise servers (email, calendar, docs, BBM instant messaging). The
information from the phone is cached only for a brief period on the Playbook for security.

Playbooks with 3G and 4G data modems built in are planned for the future

Web link for more information
http://na.blackberry.com/eng/?IID=rim_playbook_homepage

blog with video introduction
http://blogs.blackberry.com/2010/09/...erry-playbook/

[haven]

To get a quick look at the Playbook form factor:

find a sheet of printer paper
fold it in half the long way = 5.5 inches high
fold one inch in on one side = 7.5 inches wide

Will this shape be significantly easier to carry than an iPad?
It won't fit in a pocket like a smart phone.

It will be easier to hold, weighing 56% of the weight of the iPad.

The Kindle 3 e-book reader is a little narrower and thinner, and
weighs only 8.5 oz / 240 g. Amazon has announced that they
will release a Kindle application for the Blackberry Playbook.

[evldave]

haha lol I was wondering how long until you posted info on this This has been a great year for techno-geeks and I can't wait until next spring (when I get to upgrade to the next great awesome whateveritis )

[haven]

The Blackerry Playbook tablet was an "eBay deal of the day" on 8/18. The price was reduced by almost $200 to $299.
http://www.ebay.com:80/itm/BlackBerr...68660.m2000036

Is this a sign of a permanent price reduction, an attempt to clear inventory, or the precursor to Blackberry giving up on tablets, like HP did?

[evldave]

Is this a sign of a permanent price reduction, an attempt to clear inventory, or the precursor to Blackberry giving up on tablets, like HP did?

It looks like BB and HP are both running the same path...to nowhere.

I think we aren't that far from a 3OS market...iOS, Android, an WP7...and legitimately WP7 is currently on par (or maybe slightly ahead of) WebOS and RIM...but has massive capital and patience and can slowly build market share.

I predict in a year or so we'll have a 40/30/30 split for iOS, Android, and WP7...mostly because a lot of hardware manufacturers will leave Android (and Gootorola?) for Microsoft and Mango (and a hackers delight). MS may have been late to the party, but between there Android royalties and Mango, I think they are poised to have a serious uptick in 2012.

[haven]

The current price of the Blackberry Playbook with 16 GB is $200, available from the Blackberry online store and several other online retailers. Looks like Blackberry saw the success that Amazon had with its $200 tablet, and decided it was worth losing some money on the sale of each Playbook to get people interested in the Blackberry ecosystem.

The OS software upgrade to 2.0 two weeks ago has brought several improvements. One is in the ability to run Android software. Here's a report that says Playbook 2.0 can run any Android software that is not tablet-optimized, that is, designed to run under Android 3.x. So the vast majority of Android software should run without issue on the Playbook.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/mobile-new...ue-review/6981

[gotink]

These are the biggest pile of junk I've ever owned....I got my kids these for christmas this year ,booth won't charge,neither will update,one can bearly get a wifi signal..they have been back for warranty work and came back in the same condition it left in....still not working.There tech support sucks...I will try sending them back again,then right them off...figured I try them out,How bad can they be.Worst mony spent on gifts fo my children so far. I can say Its not them beign hard on them, because they haven't killed my Iphone ,or iPad in the years I've had them...

[reece146]

There's something wrong with the specific ones you have because that is not typical. They work as advertised.

[Cody1771]

yeah the people that i know that own them are happy with them, especially with the latest OS allowing some andriod apps.

[FJR Colorado]

I have a Playbook and it has worked perfectly from the start. I don't like it as much as my iPad2 but it synchs very well with my company-provided BB Torch phone which is why I picked one up for cheap.

Pros:
-Nice size for bringing with you on the go
-Very nice display screen (better than an iPad2)
-The aforementioned synching with a BB phone via BB Bridge
-Very nice calculator app (sounds strange, but it really works great and has a cool "paper tape" function like a printing calculator)

The browser is a bit clunky especially vs. an iPad. You really need to connect a Bluetooth mouse (at least if you have huge hands like I do) and a Bluetooth keyboard helps as well. The boot time is very slow. But a good unit for $199.