BlackBerry PlayBook: PC in a tablet
by Ed Biado
If you’re in the market for a new tablet computer and thinking of getting similar to the Apple iPad, don’t even consider the BlackBerry PlayBook. The Research in Motion tablet is nothing like the most popular tablet in the world. It’s so much more than just a mobile device to play games on.
while Apple succeeds in creating a tablet that appears to be a supersized version of the iPhone, RIM succeeds in creating a tablet that acts like a desktop computer. their marketing notes claims that the PlayBook is “the world’s first professional-grade tablet…packed with best-in-class features that work together to deliver a truly uncompromised tablet experience.” The truth? They’re not kidding.
half the size of its market-dominating competitor, the PlayBook is ultra-portable and ultra-light. it can get tiring to hold an iPad up on one hand, but you won’t have the same problem with the PlayBook at 0.9 lbs. Another great thing is the orientation lock, which locks the interface’s orientation to either landscape or portrait mode when the device changes its physical orientation. This is perfect when you’re lying on your side in bed or when you have to look at something sideways and you don’t want to tilt your head. it may be a small thing and sorely overlooked by other tablet makers, but having this feature makes it really easy to stay on the tablet for countless hours.
For non-power users, the things under the hood will exceed expectations. The 1GHz dual-core processor running the new BlackBerry Tablet OS provides for true multitasking—and this is where the desktop references enter. What this means is that you can run multiple apps at a time and switch between them just by swiping on the screen. The home page shows you all the apps running simultaneously and you can choose which one to go to, which ones to close or which ones to leave in the background. unlike on other tablets, apps will not automatically quit when you open a new one. so you can have music, documents, photos and the Web browser open all at the same time—each of them running smoothly and not interfering with the others. I repeat: true multitasking.
This also means that when you’re online, you don’t have to view the mobile version of the pages you’re visiting. Each Web page is rendered as they would be seen on a desktop or a laptop. (Of course, you can opt to open them in mobile view if you prefer.)
Because it offers a lot, the user will also have to put in some effort to learn the basics—like touchscreen commands. if you’re used to simply tapping and swiping with one finger, you might want to learn a few more tricks to maximize your PlayBook experience. Swiping from the different edges of the frame will bring up different bars. For example, accessing the status bar (notifications, time, battery power, settings) can be done by swiping down diagonally from the top-left or top-right of the black border. Swiping up diagonally from the bottom-left corner will open the on-screen keyboard.
The PlayBook is also a wonderful BlackBerry smartphone companion. This is especially evident when using the Bridge feature that connects your tablet to your smartphone. The app imports (and subsequently syncs when they’re within Bluetooth range) your address book, email, BBM, text messages, notes, calendar and appointments from the phone to the tablet. This takes away the hassle of setting up your personal data on the tablet from scratch.
Of course, you want a lot of apps to pimp up your PlayBook. Sure, its selection is not as comprehensive as that of the Apple App Store, but the BlackBerry App World has a decent range of apps for you to choose from. And they’re promising thousands more in development to be released in the immediate future.
The BlackBerry PlayBook is packed with features for work, play and everything in between. To look through all of them, including media, camera, connectivity, maps, GPS, built-in games and other functionalities, go to blackberry.com/playbook. In the Philippines, the device has the following retail prices: P23,990 (16GB version), P28,990 (32GB) and P33,990 (64GB).