Gadgets

BlackBerry Playbook is RIM’s Tablet

Q: Key Point 1: RIM has finally unveiled their very own tablet -- the...

RIM has finally unveiled their very own tablet -- the BlackBerry Playbook, which they dubbed as the first multiprocessing, multi-tasking professional tablet.

Abe Olandres September 28, 2010 · 1 min read

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RIM has finally unveiled their very own tablet — the BlackBerry Playbook, which they dubbed as the first multiprocessing, multi-tasking professional tablet.

RIM BlackBerry Playbook
7â€³ capacitive display @ 1024×600 pixel
BlackBerry Tablet OS
Cortex A9 1GHz dual-core CPU
1GB RAM
Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing)
1080p Full HD video recording
HDMI port
WiFi 802.11n
Bluetooth 2.1

The Playbook is just 9.7mm thick and weighs about 0.9lb (400g). It will have support for WebKit/HTML5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile Air, POSIX, OpenGL and Java. The tablet can also do video playback in full 1080p HD, H.264, MPEG, DivX or WMV.

There’s no option for 3G/4G but that will be added in future models. The Playbook will pair with any BlackBerry handset via Bluetooth so you can project the contents of the phone to the tablet. See teaser video below:

RIM is expected to release the BlackBerry Playbook in the US in early 2011 and to the rest of the world by 2nd half of next year. No estimated retail price were indicated in the release.

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Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

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72 Comments

Chanelle Badgero · 15 years ago

Iéˆ¥æªe bookmarked, Dugg, and I joined the RSS subscription. Thanks!

isha · 15 years ago

ive read that Blackberry promises Android Market will enter into a Playbook in the future.
ANDROID ON PLAYBOOK

Salome · 16 years ago

You will be able to buy the BB Play book in our outlet in Manila: blackberryzuela.com by mid february next year!!

mr.bogus · 16 years ago

hmmm hirap mag decide kung ano maganda until di pa makita nag full features nito..!!!!!…. mas ok to dahil may flash… how about the applications??…. masid pa rin…….

Daves · 16 years ago

one the toys that i am looking forward to see. though i am leaning towards samsung’s galaxy tab. hopefully these tablets will retail @ $300

forgetmenot · 16 years ago

@newbie

yeah a fanboy and a stupid dick like you

newbie · 16 years ago

I smell an apple fanboy.. Anyways

Two things why I think this is better than the other tablets (leaked or released), dual-core + adobe flash. I mean, come on. Flash on a tablet? FTW

nightcrawler · 16 years ago

i meant for “their” product

nightcrawler · 16 years ago

@blitzkrieg

they make announcement for they products?! yeah, like a week before it becomes available in the market – that’s just as good as overnight in your argument. others, i.e. the ipad and apple tv are different stories though.

hints are just hints and not official. apple doesn’t leak information like others do.

godz · 16 years ago

I would have an iPod, iPhone or maybe an iPad if only iTunes was a pain for me two years ago when I had some cheap Nano. It was not too friendly for me.

I’m leaning towards getting this since I have BB Smartphone. If I had Samsung Smartphone I would consider Galaxy Tab. Just my two cents.

godz · 16 years ago

I would have an iPod, iPhone or maybe an iPad if only iTunes was a pain for me two years ago when I had some cheap Nano. It was not too friendly for me.

I’m leaning towards getting this since I have BB Smartphone. If I had Samsung Smartphone I would consider Galaxy Tab.

Manny · 16 years ago

dang! another temptation…

Ryan Ang · 16 years ago

@jay

Nokia is notoriously known for that. Announcing products then releasing after who knows how long. This has been Apple’s strength, they know when to hold off announcements till the right time. Waiting time for Apple products is relatively short compared to others (relative only to flagship products).

I don’t think the tech is available 3Q 2009 especially with the cortex dual core processor embedded on this thing, the rest yes. The cause of the delay might be from the supplier side as well as app developers for this thing.

blitzkrieg · 16 years ago

@nightcrawler

No, because they make announcements for their flagship products. Plus, the geek community gets tons of hints because Apple sends out invitations for an event.

nightcrawler · 16 years ago

@blitzkrieg

do apple products ring a bell?

lalaal · 16 years ago

read this

http://www.techpinas.com/2010/09/blackberry-playbook-official-specs.html

san ka nakakita nang tablet na may support ng adobe flash player?

cool pero let’s see after a month it will released so we can have reviews :>

IC DeaDPiPoL · 16 years ago

One glance at the pic I though it was a tablet running Linux Mint, Tint2 Panel and Avant Window Navigator dock

Jay · 16 years ago

@Ryan Ang
The technology is available since 3rd quarter of 2009. Making official announcements and launch as late as 2011, while only hurt the company. What were they thinking? Just like Microsoft Kin (deceased), Nokia N8 and Windows Phone 7.

People want it FAST, we don’t want to wait for another 6-10 months for it’s release.

Specifications wise, maybe but availability it’s still not a worthy competitor to the iPad.

Making an all-in-one device (see what happened to Nokia N-Series) will only saturate the category, but making a less but capable device sets the standard making people crave for more. IMHO

Ryan Ang · 16 years ago

@Jay

the Playbook is a worthy competitor actually.. if only they could release it soon enough (and soon = holiday season)

Jay · 16 years ago

I just coulnd’t get over Blackberry’s stupid name for the device. Playbook? really? Sounded more like a BenQ product to me.

Boss: What’s that?
Employee: Sir it’s the new Blackberry Playbook
Boss: facepalm

Apple iPad, Galaxy Tab and HP slate are better nomenclatures than a Blackberry PlayBook.

–“What ever happened with the wePad? They made the announcement before the release of the iPad, but I think thereâ€™s no release yet. With all these new tablets coming out, theyâ€™ll definitely lose some market.”

WePad is a vaporware. With Samsung Galaxy Tab and Apple iPad dominate Holiday buyers pockets who’s gonna wait for “early” 2011 (US&Canada) and 2nD-3RD qUARTER of 2011 (Globally) for BB’s Playbook?

Desktop/Laptop/Netbook = Content Creation
Tablet/iPad/Netbook = content consumption
Smartphone = Email/social app on the Go

@Ryan Ang
i definitely agree with you on a device with instant On, Always on, all day on. No more slow boot and loading times.

@iphonedevpinoy
by the time Playbook hits global market, Apple will probably sold hundreds of thousands or millions of iPad globally (including illegal and parallel unofficial imports).

I think the dates of launch and official anouncements are major strategies in directly competing with Apple in market dominance.

Apple’s charisma is still here to stay, unless a worthy competitor arrives.

blitzkrieg · 16 years ago

@Teknisyan

Ugh.. no? It wouldn’t make sense for a manufacturer to release a new product (especially when it falls in its flagship line) without making an announcement. That’s like waking up tomorrow then suddenly finding out that Microsoft has Windows 8 out of the door without any prior hints. :P

Teknisyan · 16 years ago

All these announcement.. pero… they’re still not available for people to buy… so guess manufacturer’s are announcing their tablet and hope that people will wait for it to be available and not buy the iPad.

We may see an iPad that has a similar specs of the iphone 4. As long as they don’t change the size from 9″ to 7″. Which is the distinguishing factor between an iPad (9″) and the other tablets (7″).

iphonedevpinoy · 16 years ago

by the time the Playbook hits the market, Apple will have probably released their own 7′ iPad nano :D

YuYu · 16 years ago

looks very promising.

i’m looking forward to a day where we can multi-boot an android OS, webOS, WP7, on a tablet device. and on a phone.

Ryan Ang · 16 years ago

7 inches would definitely be just right for tablets. The iPad can be cumbersome to handle after a while. If you use the iPad enough you’d know how a smaller screen would benefit its ergonomics.

Although I agree with some that by the time this would be released a better model from Apple would be sent out in the market. maybe same specs, maybe even the same 7 inch screen.

I was torn between a lappie and a tablet, in the end I got the latter. One reason, instant-on OS.

it would all depend on your needs actually.

Almost Techie · 16 years ago

What ever happened with the wePad? They made the announcement before the release of the iPad, but I think there’s no release yet. With all these new tablets coming out, they’ll definitely lose some market.

poche · 16 years ago

should have made it at 9 inches also

Jay · 16 years ago

7″ professional tablet vs 10″ ipad, i’d rather pay for a much larger screen.

Parang Asus EEE 1000series vs 1200 series in screen estate.

Jay · 16 years ago

If RIM will release it next year, who’s gonna buy it? Not a worthy competitor to Samsung Galaxy Tab, Apple iPad and the upcoming HP Slate. It’s just gonna fail, believe me.

A professional tablet with a stupid name. BB Playbook.

blitzkrieg · 16 years ago

I don’t think this will kill the iPad, but choice is definitely good for the consumer. Let’s face it, it will always be hard to kill an Apple product, primarily because of the fact that they command legions of fanbois that worship their products without really thinking about alternatives.

From a technical perspective, this sure is nice. Really nice. But if you ask me, tablets aren’t really practical. You can browse, email, chat, watch videos, play games on your smartphone anyway. Plus, if I’m going to do office work on the go, I’d rather buy netbook or a really, really good-speced 11 or 12-inch laptop from Sony or Alienware. Then again, that’s just my 2 centavos.