Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve been eager to see what The Astonishing Tribe (otherwise known as TAT) would come up with for the PlayBook since RIM acquired the design firm back in December, and we’re now finally getting our first glimpse at a few of the things they’ve been working on. Those include a scrapbook app that takes advantage of four-fingered multitouch, and a weather app dubbed “Aura” that was built with the WebWorks platform and makes use of the PlayBook’s accelerometer — both of which are relatively simple, but are intended to demonstrate how easy and quickly developers can build applications for the PlayBook. Also on display at Mobile World Congress this week was fairly impressive media player that can be used when the tablet’s connected to a TV via its HDMI port — it will not only let you view videos, but play games (albeit just a Rubik’s Cube in the demo) and even view 3D content as well. Head on past the break to check them out on video.

Continue reading RIM shows off TAT-developed BlackBerry PlayBook apps

RIM shows off TAT-developed BlackBerry PlayBook apps originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Count ’em, because RIM has now announced four varieties of its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. As of today, we’ve got the PlayBook with WiFi + LTE and WiFi + HSPA+ models joining the previously announced PlayBook with WiFi and PlayBook with WiFi + WiMax. As such, there’s a pretty good chance that your carrier will have a 7-inch dual-core PlayBook with the QNX-based BlackBerry Tablet OS on offer at some point in the future, no matter how it chooses to define “4G.” Unfortunately, RIM says that its LTE and HSPA+ models won’t be coming until the second half of 2011.

Update: RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie was particularly chatty after the announcement of the new 4G PlayBook models. The takeaway is that RIM expects to price that BlackBerry tablet at less than $500 (WiFi-only model, presumably) — much less with any carrier subsidies. He’s also expecting to followup the Sprint deal in the US with similar signings of AT&T and Verizon Wireless. “All of our carrier partners want [PlayBook],” said Balsillie, referencing the 580 carrier partners that RIM enjoys in 165 countries. While Balsillie refused to comment on the PlayBook’s rumored ability to run Android apps, he did confirm that RIM’s new tablet was on track for a March or April release.

Continue reading RIM BlackBerry 4G PlayBook tablet now in delicious LTE and HSPA+ flavors (updated)

RIM BlackBerry 4G PlayBook tablet now in delicious LTE and HSPA+ flavors (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 03:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Now this is what we’re talking about! Sure, we’ve been well aware of RIM’s plans to take the PlayBook to Sprint (and maybe even Verizon), but if this Office Depot listing is to be believed, a 16GB, WiFi version of the 7-inch tablet will also be heading to some retailers for the very competitive price of $499.99. It’s really the first solid PlayBook pricing we’ve seen, and we’ve got to admit, we’re happy to see that RIM followed through on its word to offer the touchscreen slab for under $500. (And hey, it sure beats the leaked Xoom pricing we saw earlier this week.) Unfortunately, the screenshot above doesn’t reveal much more, although it lists the QNX-powered slate as hitting Office Depot stores on “Week 17,” which is the last week in April according to our calendar. That’s a bit later than the March date we’ve heard before, but either way we’re waiting for spring to start and hoping Office Depot’s cut out its shady practices so we can snatch up one of these ASAP.

[Thanks, Braden]

WiFi BlackBerry PlayBook priced at $500 in Office Depot’s systems originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 Feb 2011 19:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM held a BlackBerry WebWorks developer event in San Francisco this evening, and while hard news was not in attendance, we did score a number of tidbits about the company’s BlackBerry PlayBook. First and foremost, there’s most definitely a portrait virtual keyboard in the latest QNX tablet build, and we literally gave it a spin, watching as the landscape layout slowly switched to portrait mode as we changed the slate’s orientation. Second, we may have gotten our first hint about what RIM’s doing with the recently-purchased TAT — we overheard that the PlayBook’s bezel gestures actually aren’t quite finalized yet, and that the astonishingly silent UI design division may be lending a hand. On the all-important subject of battery life we don’t have much to add beyond earlier boasts, but a staffer did tell us that RIM’s shooting for a “full work day” of juice. Last but not least, we were told that Jim Balsillie’s module cavity certainly exists, but it’s not the user-upgradable slot or socket we’d hoped — rather, it’s a orifice deep inside the PlayBook for hardware enhancements at the factories where devices are built. Like this one, perhaps? Video after the break.

Continue reading RIM tilts BlackBerry PlayBook keyboard on side, drops hints about TAT, module cavities and battery life

RIM tilts BlackBerry PlayBook keyboard on side, drops hints about TAT, module cavities and battery life originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 23:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey, can everyone please stop talking about the iPad? RIM’s been skirting around Apple’s tablet, saying only that its upcoming PlayBook slate would have “comparable” battery life, but now it’s dropped all pretense and called the iPad out by name. Specifically, the Canadian company’s senior business marketing VP Jeff McDowell has promised that the PlayBook will offer “equal or greater” battery endurance to Apple’s device, while using a smaller cell size. The latter part isn’t hard to achieve, considering Apple filled most of its slate’s innards with Li-Pol juice packs, but the promise of matching its autonomy from the wall socket is a big claim to make. Many people consider that to be among the iPad’s foremost strengths, so RIM is surely aiming high by pledging to not only match it, but potentially better it. The PlayBook we saw in person wasn’t quite up to that level yet, but there’s still time until that March launch for RIM to turn bold words into a beautiful reality.

RIM: PlayBook battery life will be ‘equal or greater than the iPad with smaller battery size’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 19:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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