Tablet Hands-On Roundup
by Vivek Gowri on January 27, 2011 10:25 AM EST
We were pretty eager to see the PlayBook, so we swung by RIM’s booth to get our hands on the new tablet. Initial impressions of the 7” tablet show a lot of promise. RIM has done a great job with the BlackBerry Tablet OS, though most of the credit likely has to go to RIM acquisition QNX, whose real-time operating system provides the basis for the Tablet OS. The UI is very responsive and provides a clean break from the smartphone version of the BlackBerry OS.
RIM is being rather coy about the hardware, beyond saying that it has a 1GHz multi-core processor. However, we have heard very strong hints from multiple parties saying that there’s a TI OMAP 4 SoC underhood, so you can basically pencil in the OMAP 4430’s dual-core 1GHz Cortex A9 and PowerVR SGX 540. The 7” display has a 1024x600 resolution and appeared to have pretty decent viewing angles. There are two cameras here, a 3MP unit on the front and a 5MP unit on the back, as well as a micro-HDMI port. Dimensionally, the PlayBook is slightly larger and slightly thinner than the Galaxy Tab, as well as marginally heavier, but unless you have the two side by side like I did, you wouldn’t be able to notice. The soft touch backing gives the device a very nice feel in hand.
The PlayBook’s interface is Apple-like in its grace and simplicity. Swiping your fingers left or right across the screen flips through multiple pages of the home screen. Sliding your fingers upwards gives you access to the multitasking menu with a live view of your running applications (similar to Win+Tab in Windows or Expose in OS X). In the web browser, the same action brings up a live view of the current tab set. Speaking of the browser, it has support for both HTML5 and Adobe Flash capability.
Multitasking performance is particularly impressive on the PlayBook. We were able to playback HD video, run a Quake 3 timedemo, and load a web page at the same time without any noticeable slowdown on the UI, and I saw another PlayBook unit running two 1080p videos simultaneously in the background with smooth browser performance and no dropped frames in either video.
We’re looking forward to getting our hands on a production model of the PlayBook in the coming months, and RIM says that the WiFi-only model of the PlayBook should be out before April. A 3G/WiMAX-equipped PlayBook should be available later on this year. It looks like RIM is pretty serious about the tablet space, so it looks like Apple and Google will definitely have some solid competition in 2011.
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kenyee - Friday, January 28, 2011 - link
I'm curious how well it does at displaying photos. From the specs, it looks like it only has 256K colors when the backlight is on and I think this will be a significantly worse display compared to an IPS display like the iPad's and even the Color Nook which also uses an IPS screen...ibex333 - Friday, January 28, 2011 - link
All these tablets are irrelevant. They have already lost to the iPad before they even started selling. Why? SEVEN INCH SCREEN. Which means - sucks for reading PDFs.So people will keep buying iPads specifically because of the large screen, and Apple WILL NOT lower prices, because technically they are still king of the tablet market.
Is it really so damned hard to start making 10" tablets and NOT 7" tablets?
JMC2000 - Monday, January 31, 2011 - link
That's what I wonder also, does Apple own the iPad's screen manufacturer? The is almost like the iPhone vs. the World issue, everyone claims to have an iPad killer, but they lose mainly on one aspect, screen size.Seriously, it is like everyone is handing Apple the market... FFS!
Penti - Friday, February 4, 2011 - link
I'm pretty sure that like nobody else wants to pay 200-300 dollars for LG's "iPad" screen. Many stick to simple TN-panels. There are some other good panels out there though, but 7" is totally fine. A tablet is also not a e-reader. There's separate devices for that.Ylurien - Monday, January 31, 2011 - link
I stopped reading this article after I looked up the specs on the Adam because that tablet only has 1024x600 resolution and I assume all the rest have pretty much the same or worse since Adam is the biggest tablet.In the day of HD video, why are manufacturers making tablets that can't even play 720p video at its native size? And where's the 64 ~ 128GB of disk space to allow all that video to fit on there?
Why build something that's obsolete before it even goes on the market?
Malih - Tuesday, February 1, 2011 - link
i suppose you should wait for Windows 7 tablet from Acer, utilizing AMD C-50 which presumably will have acceleration for H.264 playbackVinny DePaul - Friday, February 4, 2011 - link
I planned to buy an Android tablet and was going to buy Notion Ink. However, after reading countless complaints, I have changed my mind and going to buy Xoom instead. Notion Ink is good if it is hand delivered to you. The ordering process is tedious, the returning process is a horrendous, and too many defective units. I may consider Notion Ink if the quality control, ordering and return processes are improved. For a new company, they are not bad. However, I want a good tablet, not just a "not bad" tablet.Since I live in US, I prefer to purchase in US and be able to return products easily. The protection for international purchase is almost zero for most people.
alexkinsella - Tuesday, February 8, 2011 - link
Hi Vivek,It’s Alex from RIM’s Social Media team, here. I’m glad you were impressed with the BlackBerry PlayBook at CES. The crowd reaction was amazing. At just under a pound, it’s easy to take anywhere. I can confirm that you’re correct: the PlayBook has a combination of the QNX based BlackBerry Tablet OS, and a TI OMAP 4430 dual-core 1GHz Cortex A9. One point of clarification: There will be a 4G/WiMax version of PlayBook available on the Sprint network this summer (this was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January). Please stay tuned to the Inside BlackBerry blog for the latest updates on BlackBerry PlayBook!
Thanks!
tina2010 - Sunday, July 17, 2011 - link
The touchsquid universal tv remote control tablet has a built in IR transmitter which opens up a whole world of remote control possiblities. It is a tidier solution compared to using dongles. See http://www.touchsquid.com