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Jim Balsillie says BlackBerry PlayBook has a 'module cavity,' hints at NFC capabilities
He unfortunately didn't have one on hand (or at least on stage), but RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie did make a bit of news about the BlackBerry PlayBook at the now-happening Web 2.0 Summit. The first is that the tablet packs what Balsillie described as a "module cavity" -- the most obvious use for which would be to add WWAN capabilities to the WiFi-only model (something Balsillie himself suggested), although the possibilities certainly extend far beyond that. Balsillie also later mused a bit about NFC capabilities, stating that "we'd be fools not to have it in the near-term, and we are not fools." That's obviously in relation to BlackBerry phones in general and not just the PlayBook, but it does seem like a prime candidate for that aforementioned "module cavity," which we really hope is not the final name.
BlackBerry PlayBook and iPad go head-to-head in a browsing showdown
We've only ever seen brief glimpses of the BlackBerry PlayBook in action so far, but a new video posted up by RIM comparing its tablet's web browsing performance to the iPad certainly has us hungry for more. Seriously -- PlayBook pretty much run laps around the iPad while loading pages, and even its Flash performance seems decent, which is a first for a mobile device in our experience. Of course, the video was made by RIM and we're sure the specific pages were picked to make the PlayBook look as good as possible, but that's fair enough -- now if we could just get our hands on one to verify these claims for ourselves, we'd be happy as clams. Video after the break.
BlackBerry PlayBook to cost 'under' $500
RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie finally gave us a crucial bit of information about the BlackBerry Playbook this morning: price, or at least a threshold. According to a Korean interview, Balsillie said that RIM's 7-inch tablet will be "very competitively priced" with Bloomberg quoting the man saying that it will be "under" $500 when it hits North America in the first quarter of 2011, expanding globally in Q2. A price that should at least match the 9.7-inch WiFi-only iPad (16GB) and undercut the 7-inch 3G Galaxy Tab which goes on sale on Verizon tomorrow for $599.99. Thing is, by the time Q1 rolls around we're going to be looking at many, many more viable tablet alternatives including a likely Apple refresh.
RIM announces PlayBook simulator and SDK for BlackBerry Tablet OS
We know you're all partyin' up a storm at the Adobe MAX conference, but just in case one of you missed it, RIM's announced the availability of the Adobe AIR SDK for BlackBerry Tablet OS -- not to mention a little something called the BlackBerry PlayBook Simulator. Needless to say (but we'll say it anyways), we're more than anxious to get our hands on the latter. Unfortunately, it requires Adobe AIR 2.5 to run, while the latest release RIM's site is offering is 2.0.2. Buzzkill, right? That said, we suggest you keep an eye on the source link if you're looking to get in on the action yourself. Otherwise, if you're not willing to go all the way, we have some fine PR explaining matters after the break. Update: The source link has an active AIR 2.5 toolkit link. Huzzah!
Adobe announces Air 2.5 for TVs, tablets and phones, launches Adobe InMarket to package apps
Adobe's making a serious play for the app space today, and it's not limiting itself to phones -- its new Air cross-platform runtime environment is designed to toss apps on your smart televisions and tablets as well. Air 2.5 supports accelerometers, multi-touch gestures, cameras and microphones, GPS data and hardware acceleration in a variety of silicon. What's more, the company wants a piece of the action, so it's going to help developers bring their Air 2.5 apps to market by partnering with the stores themselves, and charging a mere 30 percent to take care of your hosting, billing and app store approval -- though we're informed the service will be free for the first year if you sign up today. The newly-christened Adobe InMarket won't help you get into the iTunes App Store, as you might expect, but it should assist with the Intel AppUp store... and perhaps a pair of brand-new marketplaces from RIM and Samsung as well. Remember when Samsung said it had a single platform for TV and phones late last week? We think this was what the company was talking about, because we have Adobe's word that the Samsung SmartTV will run Air 2.5 apps when it launches in early 2011. Air will also come standard in RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook, but it's not just for fun, productivity and games there -- Adobe told us that the PlayBook's entire UI is built on Air. We're not sure quite what we think of Adobe's role as encapsulated software middleman in the TV and tablet spaces, but we suppose that's what the firm's been doing on desktop PCs for years -- after all, what's Adobe Reader but a free way to open licensed PDFs? You should find the Adobe Air 2.5 SDK available on the company's website today, and a full press release after the break.
RIM's Jim Balsillie hits back at the Steve Jobs rant, Apple's 'distortion field'
You had to know that Steve wouldn't get away with putting his five minute, competition-slamming manifesto out into the ether without some snap back from the competition. We've already heard responses from TweetDeck and Andy Rubin, and now RIM's co-CEO Jim Balsillie has issued a statement in response to Jobs. Here it is: "For those of us who live outside of Apple's distortion field, we know that 7-inch tablets will actually be a big portion of the market and we know that Adobe Flash support actually matters to customers who want a real web experience. We also know that while Apple's attempt to control the ecosystem and maintain a closed platform may be good for Apple, developers want more options and customers want to fully access the overwhelming majority of web sites that use Flash. We think many customers are getting tired of being told what to think by Apple. And by the way, RIM has achieved record shipments for five consecutive quarters and recently shared guidance of 13.8 – 14.4 million BlackBerry smartphones for the current quarter. Apple's preference to compare its September-ending quarter with RIM's August-ending quarter doesn't tell the whole story because it doesn't take into account that industry demand in September is typically stronger than summer months, nor does it explain why Apple only shipped 8.4 million devices in its prior quarter and whether Apple's Q4 results were padded by unfulfilled Q3 customer demand and channel orders. As usual, whether the subject is antennas, Flash or shipments, there is more to the story and sooner or later, even people inside the distortion field will begin to resent being told half a story." Sort of a big one, but we figure RIM at least deserves some equal time. Interesting that RIM is fighting Apple's assertion of surpassing their handset shipments, we'll have to see how that one settles once we get some "official" numbers from an unbiased third party. Meanwhile, let the mudslinging continue!
BlackBerry PlayBook 64GB variant confirmed, strapped to a 5,300mAh battery (video)
You already know most of the spec sheet delicacies that RIM has in store for its PlayBook, but here are a couple more details to complete the picture. The PlayBook will indeed match the iPad in having 16GB, 32GB and 64GB variants available, and will also come equipped with a pretty huge 5,300mAh battery. That'd be a generously proportioned cell for a full-sized laptop, we imagine it'll turn the PlayBook into quite the endurance champ. Beside those tidbits, there's another video appearance by the tablet that we weren't allowed to touch just after the break. You know you wanna see it.
BlackBerry Devcon 2010 keynote now ready for your streaming pleasure
Can't get enough PlayBook in your life? We understand how it is. After all, it's not every day that you hear of ultraslim 7-inch tablets that promise to take your BBM life to another level. RIM must sympathize with your eagerness as well, since it's now made its Devcon 2010 keynote available for streaming online -- replete with Mike Lazaridis' impassioned speech about a "no compromise" tablet that's enterprise-ready, multimedia-friendly, and even comes with "a full gigahertz of RAM" (19 minutes into the video). It's stirring stuff, and you might even learn a bit more about the QNX-built BlackBerry Tablet OS underpinning the whole thing. The source link is where you'll find the full 142-minute show. [Thanks, Moazam]
Amazon bringing Kindle app to BlackBerry PlayBook, loves making Kindle apps
One of the great original fears when Amazon built the Kindle was that they were after some iTunes / iPod-style walled garden ecosystem. And while, sure, Kindle is a walled garden ecosystem, those walls sure are extensive! Amazon just announced that it will be supporting the new BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, in addition to the BlackBerry mobile app they've already got. There aren't any specific details about this app, but Amazon is all about the consistent user experience, with features like WhisperSync keeping your copy of Neal Stephenson perfectly synced across a myriad of devices, so there's nothing much to say we suppose. We are sure, however, that page turns will be blazing with that dual core processor.
RIM introduces PlayBook -- the BlackBerry tablet
Today at Research In Motion's annual BlackBerry Developer Conference, CEO Mike Lazaridis announced the company's new tablet -- the PlayBook. The tablet will utilize an OS created by the recently acquired QNX (just as we'd heard previous to the announcement) called the BlackBerry Tablet OS which will offer full OpenGL and POSIX support alongside web standards such as HTML5 (which is all tied into RIM's new WebWorks SDK). Lazaridis was joined on stage by the company's founder, Dan Dodge, who said that "QNX is going to enable things that you have never seen before," and added that the PlayBook would be "an incredible gaming platform for publishers and the players." RIM also touted the PlayBook's ability to handle Flash content via Flash 10.1, as well as Adobe AIR apps. The new slate -- which Lazaridis described as "the first professional tablet" -- will sport a 7-inch, 1024 x 600, capacitive multitouch display, a Cortex A9-based, dual-core 1GHz CPU (the company calls it the "fastest tablet ever"), 1GB of RAM, and a 3 megapixel front-facing camera along with a 5 megapixel rear lens (and yes, there will be video conferencing). There was no mention of onboard storage capacity during the keynote, though the devices we just spied in our eyes-on post are labeled 16GB and 32GB on their back panels. The PlayBook will be capable of 1080p HD video, and comes equipped with an HDMI port as well as a microUSB jack, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, and Bluetooth 2.1. The device clocks in at a svelte 5.1- by 7.6-inches, is only 0.4-inches thick, and weighs just 400g (or about 0.9 pounds). In terms of interface, the OS looks like a mashup of webOS and the BlackBerry OS, even allowing for multitasking via what amounts to a "card" view. Interestingly, RIM and QNX boasted of the PlayBook's multimedia and gaming functions, but Mike Lazaridis also described the tablet as "an amplified view of what's already on your BlackBerry." That's due largely in part to a function of the tablet which allows you to siphon data off of your BlackBerry handset via Bluetooth tethering and display it on your PlayBook (a la the ill-fated Palm Foleo). While the PlayBook doesn't seem to rely on phone content alone, the press release from the company says that users can "use their tablet and smartphone interchangeably without worrying about syncing or duplicating data." RIM didn't hand out any solid launch dates beyond "early 2011," and of course, there was no mention of retail price. We've got a slew of content after the break, including the PlayBook spec rundown, the company's press release, and a full video of the device (and UI) in action -- so take a look! %Gallery-103424% %Gallery-103422%
