BlackBerry PlayBook

 BlackBerry PlayBook.

BlackBerrywere once titans of technology – a company that produced products which dideverything their users needed. Then along came Apple, Google, even a resurgentMicrosoft and the Canada-based company looked a lot less lustrous because emailwas no longer enough. Where their business-chic products were onceaspirational, they started to look like a stuffy power-suit next to theircooler, business casual cousins.

 

Yetin fact, a generation of young people is so addicted to BlackBerry’s instantmessenger tool, BBM, that Apple has even seen fit to copy it. And the loyaltyof BlackBerry’s existing customer base cannot be over-estimated. They, for now,are the target audience for the company’s first tablet, the PlayBook.Manufacturers Research in Motion may be down, but they're not out yet.

At7”, the PlayBook is more portable than the best rival tablets, all of which arecurrently around 10”. It is as well built as the iPad or the Samsung Galaxy Taband its screen makes for a bright, sharp viewing experience whether you’replaying games or watching movies. So it looks and feels like a reallyprofessional-grade device. You could justify paying £399 for it.

That’suntil you turn the thing on. A series of shorthand gestures – swipe one way toget to a certain menu, another to get to another – is supposed to make usingthe PlayBook effortless. In practice it takes so much getting used to that onecould be forgiven for giving up. Browsing the web is fine, but that's really abasic requirement.

Ashas been much reported, the PlayBook also lacks the thing for which makersResearch in Motion are so famed: email. If you tether your phone to yourBlackBerry handset, software called Bridge means your email and calendar appearproperly. Without a handset, you are left simply to access email via the web,as you could on any other device.

Thelogic behind this is that it’s more secure to keep your email on just onedevice, and simply use the PlayBook as a larger screen. This may be the way tothe heart of a corporate IT manager, but users deserve better. Confronted witha security problem, BlackBerry have bodged a workaround rather than provided asolution. That's a real pity, because the operating software itself is slick,whether its editing documents or playing music.

Whenit comes to apps, the secret to the iPad’s success, there simply aren’t enoughfor the PlayBook. Yet.

Critics,however, would be foolish to write off the PlayBook. Corporate apps, from RBSto many others, are already impressive because the company has capitalised onrich relationships in those sort of markets. Accessory makers, too, are excitedby the PlayBook because its users are likely to be well-heeled. Proper email iscoming soon as well. RIM are playing a longer game here.

Sothe PlayBook is in some ways a lovely device, whose fine hardware is wasted ontoday’s software. If you’re a BlackBerry aficionado, it is a product you maywell want to buy. You should. Probably sometime just before Christmas, whenit’s been fixed. RIM had better hope the world doesn't pass them by.

BlackBerryPlaybook specifications:

OperatingSystem: BlackBerry Tablet OS

Dimensions(WxDxH): 19.4 cm x 1 cm x 13 cm

Weight:425 g

Display:7" TFT - 1024 x 600 - Multi-Touch

Processor:1 GHz ( Dual-Core )

 

RAM:1 GB

Memory:16 GB integrated

Wireless:802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1

DigitalCamera: 5 Mp rear + 3 Mp front; 1080p video record

Price:from £399 (blackberry.com)