The BlackBerry PlayBook has been revealed. We’ve seen the interface, and drooled over its skinny shell and personally, I’m bowled over. This was not what I was expecting from a BlackBerry tablet. It isn’t just another sliver of slick engineering with the same old software: it’s the most important tablet since the iPad. Read on, and I’ll explain why.
You’d have to be a nincompoop not to realise by now that tablets are big business. But they’re not yet big in business. BlackBerry could change that quicker than Apple, thanks to its solid foothold in the enterprise market, and the smart way it’s put the PlayBook together.
1. Beefier business brains
The first thing you’ll notice about the PlayBook is the software it’s running: it’s hard to miss it on that seven inch screen, since it looks so different to the usual BlackBerry OS though. This is something altogether new, and RIM has been smart in making it compatible with existing BlackBerry phones.
Put together by QNX Software, which RIM bought earlier this year, the new BlackBerry PlayBook OS makes use of the tablet’s multi-core processor, offering multi-tasking with a Palm Pre-esque interface, where apps slide past at the flick of a finger. Perhaps the most crucial skill of the new BlackBerry PlayBook OS however, is its ability to run existing BlackBerry apps, continue RIM’s tradition of offering encrypted messaging, and working just fine with the push e-mail services we know and expect from BlackBerry products.
RIM has already shown off the PlayBook running the BlackBerry App World store, and a hint at screen and app sharing suggests the device could reignite interest in BlackBerry as a tier 1 app platform too. Developers, take note: if tablets really do replace laptops, the BlackBerry PlayBook might just be the platform to back. My reasons for that follow in the next two points.
BlackBerry PlayBook: All the official photos
2. Tethering and zero set-up as a business model
RIM’s trump card might turn out to be the partnership it can weild between existing smartphones and the BlackBerry PlayBook. “The data has already been sent to your BlackBerry, so why send it again?” said RIM head honcho Mike Lazaridis at the launch last night, explaining that setting up a BlackBerry PlayBook would be as simple as logging into a single account.
That’s sure to put a smile on IT managers’ faces. A small, laptop-like device for employees on the road, which requires zero additional set-up and (presumably) can be supported, administered and wiped remotely? That’s a recipe for success in enterprise if you ask me, and that’s the first hammer blow in the PlayBook’s favour.
The next sucker punch? RIM has avoided including 3G inside the BlackBerry PlayBook. At first, it might seem a glaring omission, just as RIM left Wi-Fi out of the original BlackBerry Storm, but it could be the key to a quick uptake: Convincing businesses to adopt the PlayBook will be easier if they don’t also have to shoulder additional data plans and their associated costs.
BlackBerry PlayBook UK launch not until April 2011?
3. Output smarts with a place in the boardroom
While the iPad remains relatively closed, outputting only through Apple’s dock connector or at a push, Bluetooth, the BlackBerry PlayBook has a HDMI connector, ready to pump out pictures at full HD 1080p. as well as micro USB which RIM has hinted will output pictures somehow too. That’s on top of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.
Can that help RIM crack the business market? It might just. HDMI would let PlayBook-carrying businessmen give presentations with a single commonly available interface. No clunky adapters, and no worrying about forgetting a specific cable.
What’s more, reports from last night’s launch suggest the PlayBook can output at Full HD through HDMI, while showing something entirely different on-screen: perfect for suits shuffling through presenter notes while delivering presentations.
BlackBerry PlayBook tablet official: See it in action
Or maybe I’m wrong…
As firmly as I believe everything above, the case for tablets within business hasn’t yet been made. There are big bucks to be made there, and RIM has as good a shot as any with the BlackBerry PlayBook, but to an extent they still seem like devices searching for a use.
That is, perhaps, the biggest weapon in the PlayBook’s arsenal: There are features here which set it apart from the iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab and other tablets doing the rounds. All that’s needed now are the apps to make the most of them.
Do you agree? Is the BlackBerry PlayBook the first real challenger to the iPad? Shout up in the comments section below.
