RIM Blackberry Playbook Portable Tablet

Set for release in the early part of 2011 is the ultra portable Blackberry Playbook...

Specifications:

• 7-inch LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with multi-touch and gesture support
• BlackBerry Tablet OS with multitasking support
• 1 GHz dual-core processor
• 1 GB RAM
• Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), 1080p HD video recording
• 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV video playback
• MP3, AAC, WMA audio playback
• Micro HDMI video output
• Wi-Fi - 802.11 a/b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.1, EDR
• Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB, charging contacts
• Open GL, WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, Java
• Ultra thin and portability
• Measures 130mm x 193mm x 10mm
• Weighs approximately 400g

RIM (Research In Motion) makers of the Blackberry phone are moving into the tablet market with a very impressive looking portable tablet the Blackberry Playbook.

The Playbook tablet has a 1024x600 screen

Weighing in at 450g the Blackberry Playbook is smaller and lighter than the Apple iPad, with a screen that has greater pixel density which promises to provide a sharper cleaner display, with less chance of pixelation. Compared to the Samsung Galaxy Tab it's a little larger and slightly heavier.

The New BlackBerry Tablet OS

Using their newly acquired software company QNX, RIM have developed a new OS (operating System) for the Blackberry Playbook called "Blackberry Tablet OS". RIM bought QNX in April, with the new OS being built on QNX's Neutrino microkernel.

The new OS supports a wide array of platforms and technologies, such as Adobe Flash and AIR, POSIX OS, SMP, Open GL, WebKit, Java, BlackBerry 6, and also the new BlackBerry WebWorks platform. WebWorks apps will run on BlackBerry 6 as well as the PlayBook, while the Java support will make it easier for developers to port BlackBerry 6 apps to the Playbook. The OpenGL support opens up serious possibilities for developers to create more graphically intense games.

Unlike the iPad, the Playbook has been built with multitasking capabilities in mind. The Playbook UI is optimised for the tablet platform and offers a nicer navigation interface than the Android OS. There's an onscreen keyboard for typing too. You will also be able to use the familiar Blackberry App World enjoyed by BlackBerry phone users.

Dual-core 1GHz processor Power and 1GB RAM

With this kind of horsepower you can expect true multitasking, high-powered apps and 1080p video playback. Particularly important is the 1Gb of RAM for running multiple applications and multiple tabs in the web browser. iPad owners often come up against this problem as opening too many tabs in Safari can see the iPad run out of memory. The Blackberry Playbook has been optimised to give users a full computer style multitasking experience.

Flash Video Playback with Adobe Flash 10.1 and Adobe AIR included

With it's "Flash Loving" OS, users will now be able view flash based websites and video on the web. The less powerful Android phones currently support Flash 10.1 and it will be interesting to see how the power of the Playbook compares. With AIR support comes possibilities for more app opportunities for developers.

Dual cameras and connectivity

The Playbook boasts a rear 5-megapixel camera, whilst the front camera is three megapixels. This give you Hi Def shooting from the back, and from the front you can video chat. 1080p video is supported as well as h.264, WMV, DivX and MPEG, and also has a mini HDMI port built in for playback to an HD tv or other video hardware. There is also a standard micro USB port.

Blackberry connectivity

As you would expect from a Blackberry device the Playbook will have excellent connectivity with a BlackBerry phone, so you can use the tablet to view anything that's on your phone, like email, calendars or BBM without the need for syncing the two. BlackBerry Enterprise Server connectivity comes as standard.

How will all this power affect Battery Life?

There have been rumors circulated that the battery life is poor. This is hard to quantify in a product that is currently pre-production and still in development. A recent press release sent to Erictric by RIM seemed to indicate that power management optimisation was still ongoing, read below...

"Any testing or observation of battery life to date by anyone outside of RIM would have been performed using pre-beta units that were built without power management implemented. RIM is on track with its schedule to optimize the BlackBerry PlayBook's battery life and looks forward to providing customers with a professional grade tablet that offers superior performance with comparable battery life."

Source: Erictric

It will be interesting to see... If the battery performance of Blackberry phones is anything to go by then we should be able to rest easy on this subject.