Blackberry Playbook Tablet Information
The Blackberry Playbook received a lacklustre response when it was launched, but a recent dramatic price reduction, plus a major software update has revived some interest.
Listen to FrequencyCast Show 73 - Blackberry Playbook OS2 Updates |
Blackberry Playbook - Transcript:
Here's the transcript of our look at the lower-price, OS2-wielding Blackberry Playbook, from Show 73:
Continued from Home of 2027 Transcript
Carl:
Right, Pete - talk to me about the BlackBerry PlayBook.
Pete:b
Ah, well last month we announced that BlackBerry had absolutely slashed the price of their tablet, the PlayBook, and we had quite a lot of feedback on the story. Carl, read this one for me - this one's from Mick Cole.
Carl:
He says, "Hi guys. Just to let you know, I took note of your tweet and bought the PlayBook - absolutely brilliant! I bought it mainly for web-browsing, but as I have a BlackBerry, it connects to that, and basically it mirrors the BlackBerry information on the PlayBook - nice."
Pete:
Yeah, we've heard really good things about how these tablets integrate with BlackBerry mobile phones - good stuff.
Carl:
He also adds, he's just listened to the latest podcast, about the Sky info - Sky info? - what info was that, Pete?
Pete:
Oh, this is something we covered in the last show, about Sky's internet plans, so they're adding the iPlayer to the on demand service, and also basically making it easier to get on demand content over the internet.
Carl:
Oh right, yeah, of course. What he found most interesting is their VOD service, Sky Anytime+, will be available even if you don't have Sky broadband, and as he has BT, this is good news.
Pete:
Yes, so originally when Sky Anytime+ launched, you had to have Sky broadband for that to work. Now it's going to be open to any broadband connection, which does make a big difference. Just going back to the BlackBerry PlayBook, we also heard from Dan over in the FrequencyCast forum. What did he have to say, Carl?
Carl:
Well, he had some very interesting news. He says that the OS2 for the PlayBook comes out soon, and promises to blow the socks off the iPad!
Pete:
Mmm, okay - more on that in a second. Carry on.
Carl:
What - you know otherwise, do you? Anyway, he says it might be worth doing a round up of the new features. I guess there are a few more out there due to the low prices. And when he says, low prices, am I right in saying that this went from £300 odd to how much?
Pete:
Well, you can now pick one of these up for £169, which for a decent spec tablet is pretty silly money.
Blackberry Playbook from £399 to £169: Blackberry Playbook at Currys |
Carl:
He says, "I've had one for a couple of months now, and I'm really impressed. Next week we should get the Android player for the PlayBook, bringing a lot of new apps to the PlayBook." So right, come on, then - what is this BlackBerry thing? Is this an iPad, or what?
Pete:
It's a rather nice device. It's a 7" touchscreen device. Now, we don't have one, although I have actually played with one, but if you look at my Galaxy Tab, it's about that kind of form factor.
Carl:
Nice - I like the Galaxy Tab, that looks good.
Pete:
And what the BlackBerry PlayBook has is, it's got a front and rear camera; built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth - all the usual stuff; GPS, which is good for a low-priced tablet. It comes in 16, 32 and 64 gig. It has Micro USB - something that you don't find on other tablet devices we could mention, but the really cool thing is it has HDMI.
Carl:
High-definition midgets?
Pete:
So unlike the other tablets out there, you can plug it into your telly or into your projector, and do high-definition video and high-quality presentations from it.
Carl:
Wow, that's cool! So you can actually just show everyone your films or whatever's on it.
Pete:
Also it's got USB, again something you don't find on other tablets we could mention, and £169 - silly, silly price, and there is a link on our show notes to how to get this at that rather crazy price.
Blackberry Playbook from £399 to £169: Blackberry Playbook at Currys |
Carl:
Now, even I understand the advantage of having Mini USB and HDMI connectors on these sort of products, and I've got to be honest, I have a lot of friends who are big fans of their iPhones, their iPads, etcetera and so forth, but I do hear quite a lot of bitchiness about the connector problem.
Pete:
There you go. Who are these friends you've got?
Carl:
Well, I don't know their names, because they all wear glasses. So what about this update he mentions, update of what? Is that the software, or what?
Pete:
Yes, Dan was referring to the OS2 update, and it's not coming soon, it's already gone. It was released on the 21st of February, and it brings a nice load of updates to this PlayBook. The first thing is does is adds email, calendar and contacts in a dedicated app. Before, it didn't have that, and you had to synch it with your phone, which is a bit inconvenient. But now it finally has email, calendar and contacts - something you'd expect from a tablet device, it has to be said, so about time too.
Carl:
All right, so tidying up a few loose ends. What else does this have as an advantage?
Pete:
Well, they've sorted out the Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn integration, which is good. They've brought out the Amazon Kindle app for it, which is rather nice.
Carl:
What, you mean so it's eBook time?
Pete:
Well, it came with a Kobo, which is a basic eBook reader, but now Amazon Kindle for it is a rather nice addition.
Carl:
So obviously increases the availability of books?
Pete:
There is one slight caveat to that - the day this was brought out, the 21st of February, the Kindle app got pulled because of some bugs.
Carl:
So this really is the latest in hand-held tablets, really?
Pete:
The really cool bit though, that Dan points out, is the addition of Android applications. So applications that run on Android mobile phones, you can now run on this BlackBerry tablet, which really does open up the market. There are a couple of caveats, though - not all Android apps work on it. They do have to be ported across, and they have to be vetted by Rim and added to the BlackBerry store. So you can't just download an app and install it - it has to go through their engine to make it work. But nonetheless, that does suddenly mean we could be in for a heck of a lot of new apps on this rather nice little tablet.
Carl:
Well, it's not like you have to go to the Mac shop or something, and get clearance, is it? - a little certificate and a stamped-addressed envelope, or whatever.
Pete:
So there you go - the BlackBerry PlayBook, still out £169, silly silly prices for a rather powerful little tablet device. Link up on our show notes. (Blackberry Playbook at Currys)
Carl:
Very tempting.
Listen to FrequencyCast Show 73 - Blackberry Playbook OS2 Updates |
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