Wanting a piece of the tablet market dominated by Apple, Research in Motion (RIM) just unveiled its professional-grade BlackBerry PlayBook at the recent BlackBerry DEVCON 2010 keynote. This BlackBerry tablet is geared towards large organizations and/or people simply looking for a professional tablet solution that’s also fun and functional at the same time.
The BlackBerry PlayBook is not as big as the iPad with its 7″ high resolution display but it’s not as heavy either. This ultra portable and ultra thin tablet is less than half an inch thick and weighs under a pound.
It is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor that runs the new BlackBerry Tablet OS which supports true symmetric multiprocessing. For mobile browsing, the BlackBerry PlayBook supports Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1, Adobe® Mobile AIR® and HTML-5 which allows you to bring the real-web experience anywhere in one portable package.
It also has dual HD cameras for HD video recording and/or video conferencing. An HDMI port is also available to easily connect it to an external display. Along with its rich stereo sound, the BlackBerry PlayBook is one multimedia beast that you can easily lug around.
Since it is made by RIM, it can also pair with other BlackBerry devices such as your smartphones. With this, you can securely view your email, BBMâ„¢, calendar, tasks, documents and other content. You can use both the PlayBook and your BlackBerry smartphone interchangeable without worrying about syncing or duplicating data. This secure integration of BlackBerry tablets and smartphones is a particularly useful feature for those business users who want to leave their laptop behind.
Of course, the real question here for most people is the readily available apps for the BlackBerry Tablet OS when the PlayBook becomes available next year. The BlackBerry Tablet OS is built upon the QNX® Neutrino® microkernel architecture, one of the most reliable, secure and robust operating system architectures in the world. Developers can register for early access at www.blackberry.com/developers/tabletos.
BlackBerry PlayBook Specs:
- 7″ LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support
- BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
- 1 GHz dual-core processor
- 1 GB RAM
- Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording
- Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV
- Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA
- HDMI video output
- Wi-Fi – 802.11 a/b/g/n
- Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
- Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB, charging contacts
- Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java
- Measures 5.1″x7.6″x0.4″ (130mm x 193mm x 10mm)
- Weighs less than a pound (approximately 0.9 lb or 400g)
- 3G and 4G models will be available in the future