I saw the Blackberry Playbook yesterday. In case you don’t know this is their tablet competition for the iPad.
It’s quite a bit smaller than an iPad with a 7 inch screen and large bezel, so it is a bit easier to hold and thumb type on. One thing that was particularly interesting for corporate use is that if paired with a Blackberry phone, emails get wiped if the two go out of bluetooth range, which is a nice security feature.
The things they couldn’t tell us included price. They said competitive…but with what? Galaxy Tab is similar sized but is more expensive than the iPad and the Motorola Xoom is priced US$300 more than an iPad! Battery life is the other big unanswered question and they just said competitive on that too. My guess judging by the weight, is that battery life will be about 4-5 hours which I don’t think is long enough now we are all used to the 9 or 10 hours of the iPad.
It’s big claim to fame is true multitasking which they show off by running video and games and other things simultaneously. Seems to me that although this makes a great demo in the real world you just wouldn’t use it. The user interface is nice though and the gestures are good. Overall I’d say better than a Galaxy Tab, but not quite an iPad.
Overall I’d say this is a corporate machine where security is vital and if you fit into that area, the Playbook is well worth a look.