The best darn thing since sliced bread might be RIM’s announcement for BlackBerry PlayBook owners this morning. The company confirmed a full-fledged Facebook for PlayBook app, optimized for the 7-inch display, is coming to a tablet near you this May.
Attendees of the BlackBerry World 2011, underway this week in Orlando, FL, will be the first to get their mitts on the FaceBook for PlayBook app. The rest of us common folk will need to hang tight as RIM provided the following insight to its release, “expected to be available on BlackBerry App World in May”.
Facebook for PlayBook app includes all of the site’s core features, plus some unique capabilities thanks to the tablet’s killer hardware. Features such as 1080p output to your HDTV when sharing photos and videos or recording and sharing your own HD content. One feature which stands out to us and probably any other competing tablet owner in attendance is Facebook chat support. On the iPad and Xoom, the implementation of Facebook chat is severely lacking.
For the iPad it’s non existent while on the Xoom it exists in the browser, but using the chat window brings browser performance to a screeching halt. BlackBerry promises the Facebook for PlayBook app will deliver side-by-side viewing of contacts and active conversations along with new chat notifications on the nav bar to deliver the full chat experience.
With no dedicated Facebook app for Android Honeycomb or Apple iPad users, Facebook for PlayBook app is poised to be the tablet’s blockbuster feature. Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg remains firm in his belief that tablets are not mobile devices, though our monthly data plan on the Motorola Xoom draining our bank account would lead us to disagree. In any event, PlayBook owners (and future owners), get ready, May is your month.
Coming May | RIM | Free
