The Blackberry PlayBook tablet is a desperate attempt by Research In Motion (RIM) to keep up with the Jones‘. In this case, it is trying to save face with the iPad.
The major differentiator the PlayBook has going for itself is that it can support Adobe Flash. This is something that the iPad still cannot support or work with. It actually took about 2 years for RIM to work out the kinks to get Adobe Flash to run on its tablet. It prices at a very similar cost basis to the iPad: $499 for 16GB; $599 for 32GB; and $699 for 64GB.
Here are the Blackberry Playbook specs:
- 7″ LCD, 1024 x 600 screen resolution, and less than 1 pound
- Fast 1GHZ dual-core processor
- 1GB RAM
- Easy multitask function – easily jump between apps
- Wirelessly connect to your blackberry for calendar, address book, tasks, and BBM
- Tablet OS is easy to navigate through apps
- Video calling at 1080p High-Def
- Front camera is 3MP and rear camera is 5MP
This is definitely the business person’s tablet. It syncs easily with your Blackberry. It pretty much acts like an extension of your Blackberry, plus allows for Internet searches, picture and video taking, app playing, and more. It looks pretty, but the show stopper for me as with other non-iPad tablets is: How can you compete with the vast apps from the Apple store? Yes, Blackberry World or Blackberry Store, or whatever they call it is growing. But, unless you have a Blackberry, this might be a tough leap for tablet consumers to make. The Blackberry tech support on this product probably edges out the Apple genius support since they have more time on their hands then Apple.
