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Hands-on with the BlackBerry Playbook

This morning, we had an intimate encounter with the BlackBerry Playbook. Representatives from RIM took us on a BB Playbook bus, went around Ayala while demo-ing their upcoming tablet.

Unlike the other tablets out there where you have menus or at least a Home button, the BB Playbook does not have anything on the screen except the screen itself. The small power button is placed on the top of the device, along with a playback button and volume controls.

The Playbook’s navigation relies on the edges of the screen (the bezel part) and gestures from that end activates several menus and controls the panels/windows for individual apps that’s running in the background.

The tablet is very thin at just 9.7mm and weighs about 0.9lb (400g, has a little bit of heft). It supports 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. Hook it up to an external monitor via HDMI and you’d get the full HD experience on a big screen.

The multi-tasking capability is very impressive. Imagine running a full browser streaming YouTube, playing Need for Speed and playing music all at the same time, in real time. Switch between windows in a snap and the rest of the apps will continue to run in the background, uninterrupted.

RIM BlackBerry Playbook
7″ capacitive display @ 1024×600 pixel
BlackBerry Tablet OS
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

Recorded videos of the Playbook in action but have not yet finished uploading it on YouTube. Will update once that is done.

At the moment, the WiFi-only variant will be released but they promised a 3G/4G variant will follow. However, they added that you can pair the Playbook with any BlackBerry and share internet connection (called BlackBerry Bridge).

The tablet will be introduced in the Philippines soon so we’re fortunate enough to be one of the first few ones to get to play with it. Reps could not comment on the release date or the indicative price but they say it will be competitive and near the announced $499 they had in the United States.

Update: See BB Playbook in action…

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Avatar for Abe Olandres

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.

37 Responses

  1. Avatar for enzo enzo says:

    no its not bb dependent, I have playbook, and I love it, I don’t have the BB phone. I am pinoy here in mexico that is why I have the Playbook since april 26, 2011. I is really addictive, the gesture and swipe gives you joy, OS is fun to use

  2. Avatar for SpunkyGlitzes SpunkyGlitzes says:

    Hi Sir Yuga,

    Didn’t you have problems with BB features? I heard it was BB dependent.

  3. Avatar for Jonaflormicfren Jonaflormicfren says:

    I like to have it. http://youshudno.blogspot.com/

  4. Avatar for Tristan Tristan says:

    Wow! Cool! More choices for us on the tablet pc-wars! Hmmm I hope I can win this one in Slashgear’s contest! :D

  5. Avatar for kc kc says:

    is it true the price is 22k? sino naka bili na?

  6. Avatar for Lee Lee says:

    You CAN have flash on a tablet, if what you want is the performance equivalent of a Pentium II. It’s the EXACT same story with every crappy also-ran android tablet. Thanks, but I’ll keep the iPad, you guys can have your flash games.

    • Avatar for john john says:

      HAHA, im sure di mo pa natatry yung flash 10.2 on a android 2.2 device. =)

    • Avatar for jologs jologs says:

      Hay, I want my flash games in FB and I want the ipad apps! ANg hirap naman nito! Sana pwedeng pareho makuha pera sabi nga, “you can’t have it all.” Hehehe.

      I guess the question is, does the palybook ship with flash? Kse diba yung xoom, hindi? Hehehe.

      Well anyway, like what I said, it’s a choice between playbook and ipad. Ayoko talaga ng Android tablet kse feeling ko the apps will be crappy, parang sa mga Android phones lang, kaya nabenta ko ng di oras ang Desire ko. Hehehehe.

  7. Avatar for KennyV KennyV says:

    Nice marketing strategy. Mas effective yan pag traffic sa Ayala haha!

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