Blackberry Playbook Preview – Bridge Bar, G Tower

I managed to get my grubby hands on the Blackberry Playbook today.

Blackberry PLaybook-13

Oh no no, I didn’t buy one! But I got to fool around with one during the sneak preview session for media earlier this evening!

Blackberry PLaybook

I went with low expectations. And it didn’t help to have read, heard and watch some pretty negative reviews about the Playbook throughout the day prior to the preview. The critics & techies haven’t been too kind.

Blackberry PLaybook-1

Still, nothing beats the experience of actually holding one in your hands. And while everyone are entitled to their opinions & tech gurus can have all their say, it’s best to judge for yourself if this would be the tablet that you should invest in, and whether it suits your lifestyle and needs.

Blackberry PLaybook-6

And all that starts from actually testing out a unit.

Blackberry PLaybook-5

Personally I’m a sucker for tech products that boasts of a solid feel, so the material used is of paramount importance to me. “Solid” doesn’t necessary equates to heavy. I mean, light is fine, but it shouldn’t feel “plasticky & hollow”. I hope you could get what I’m trying to convey without me having to name names of products that falls in that category!
Anyhow, the Playbook scored points in that department for me. I liked the solid, “heavy” feel of the device.

Blackberry PLaybook-2

Call me superficial, but I’m all for prettiness and aesthetic. I find the applications a bit plain in colours & pretty simplistic in functionality. Navigating around on the Playbook took some getting used to as well, for there are no self-explanatory “buttons” on the edge, but everything was navigated via swiping of the screen from the top/bottom/left or right edge. Swiping your fingers from each side carries out a different function; for example, swiping your fingers from bottom to top takes you back to the main menu.

Blackberry PLaybook-4

And yeah, put a bunch of tech people together in a room and out comes all the gadgets. Here, we were comparing the Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Playbook side by side.

Blackberry PLaybook-9

The Playbook looked and felt better in the hands to me. The Samsung Galaxy Tab is bulkier somehow and lacked the sleekness factor.

Blackberry PLaybook-8

The Ipad, Blackberry Playbook & Samsung Galaxy Tab. No prize for guessing which was the favoured tablet among us all.

Blackberry PLaybook-10

Blackberry PLaybook-12

The Playbook Specifications:

Ultra portable, super convenient
Height: 5.1”/130mm
Width: 7.6”/194mm
Depth: 0.4”/10mm
Weight: 0.9lbs/425g

7” LCD display, 1024 x 600 screen resolution
Multi-touch capacitive screen

Professional grade performance
Full computing power in tablet format
1 GHz dual-core processor
1 GB RAM
Symmetric multi-processing

Web without limits
Games, media, apps and everything the real Internet offers
Full Adobe® Flash® 10.1 enabled
Built-in support for HTML 5
No-compromise rendering of text, graphics and video

High-speed connections
3G network access using your BlackBerry® smartphone as a modem
Wi-Fi® 802.11 a/b/g/n
Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR

Amplified BlackBerry experience
Wirelessly connect to your BlackBerry® smartphone for real time access to:
Email, calendar, address book, task list and BBM™

Best-in-class media
3 MP high-definition forward-facing camera
5MP high-definition rear-facing camera
Codec support for superior media playback, creation and video calling
1080p HD video; H.264, MPEG4, WMV HDMI video output
Micro USB and Micro HDMI ports

Video-conferencing
Crystal clear HD display
Rich stereo sound
Dual HD video cameras

Built for business
Out-of-the-box compatibility with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server
Seamless pairing for a secure window into your BlackBerry® smartphone
Corporate data access
Secure and manageable

BlackBerry Tablet OS
Powerful, user friendly QNX technology: It’s what the World Wide Web runs on
Multi-processing for true multitasking

Rich application ecosystem
Rapid development environment
Reliable BlackBerry Tablet OS, powered by QNX technology
Supports POSIX OS, SMP, Open GL, BlackBerry® 6, WebKit, Adobe Flash,
Java® and Adobe Mobile AIR

 

Availability
The BlackBerry PlayBook is expected to be available in retail outlets and other channels in the United States in early 2011 with rollouts in other international markets beginning in (calendar) Q2.

 

This Post Has 13 Comments

  1. Michelle Chin

    Hmm..I heard that it’s still inferior to the Ipad. Although I feel that playbook is a nicer name compared to the ipad…

    1. Rebecca

      Hahaha! Yes, I luv the name too! Right now, unfortunately the critics are right.

  2. Caroline

    awesome! yea been hearing lotsa negative comments about t but i think they are improving ma right? 🙂

    1. Rebecca

      WEll, it’s currently not even in the market yet, as it’s not ready! Funny laa, but I guess the preview was jz to hype things up a bit. So yea, im hoping for improvements in the s/ware side, but fr hardware, tht’s pretty much it

  3. Timing

    The company I work for allows iPhones/iPads to access corporate email, so I no need to be tied to BB 😛

    1. Rebecca

      So i’m guessin ur not using a BB and certainly have no need for a Playbook! 😉

  4. Mike Yip

    By the time Playbook is made available to all, an iPad3 might be in the market already. They have been hyping all about the Playbook for a long time and claims that it’ll be in the market even before the iPad2 is launched, well… iPad2 is in the market and is being brought by every gadget loving fans and yet we don’t see any Playbook released. In fact, they can’t even tell us when they will release the Playbook let alone it’s Pricing. :negative:

    1. Rebecca

      Good points Mike, I’m sure RIM’s ppl are sweating over these teething issues. Perhaps the “sneak preview” was part of the strategy to get the hype up again.

  5. Vernon

    Competition is stiff in the tablet market. Unfortunately, manufacturers are not able to keep nor deliver. Apple will continue to enjoy success with the iPad simply because they have delivered and the rest are really vying for 2nd place. The PlayBook looks great on paper but unfortunately it’s far from ready at this point. Will reserve further comment until the real one arrives! :whistle:

    1. Rebecca

      That’s the fundamental prob isn’t it? Churning out hardware but not able to deliver on the user experience or apps or s/ware.
      Haha.. yes yes.. I’m sure there will be atr “exclusive” media sneak preview when that time comes!

  6. Sonny

    I’ve pre-ordered mine frm d US of A and am expecting it by month end.. I’m excited 2 get my hands on it as I unfortunately did not get invites to d PlayBook launch in KL.. Boo!

    1. Rebecca

      LOL! Hi Sonny.
      The preview was exclusively for media & industry techies. Are u any of those? If you are,drop me an email & I might be able to get you to some of these events.

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