Hands on with the RIM PlayBook: nice screen, fuzzy detail
We managed to get a moment using the RIM PlayBook, but they're playing their cards close to their chest - though we've got the baseline for battery life now
RIM's early announcement of its PlayBook has fascinated people because it isn't going with Windows or Android - it has struck out on its own with QNX, an operating system that it has bought in. There has been a lot of speculation about quite how developed it was, even as RIM was claiming to analysts that companies were so excited by its product that they were delaying iPad deployment and purchases.
Well, it has huge adverts here at CES, and so we headed over to the stand to get some time trying it. It's a nice-looking 7-inch tablet though we couldn't get John Wong to give us any sort of clear detail about what sort of chips will be running inside it. PC Magazine reckons that its 4G connectivity and responsiveness makes it "the best bet to contend with Apple's iPad in 2011" - but Gizmodo found that "the core email and calendar apps are completely tethered to a BlackBerry. Without your BlackBerry, there is no native mail or calendar app".
The other thing that keeps coming up: what's the battery life? In our conversation here with John Wong, where he emphasised that the unit he was showing is not a production model but a prototype, and that the software isn't finished, the battery meter showed that at 78% full it had 2hr 55 min left - which (we'll save you the maths) means a full charge would be 227 minutes, or 3hr 47.
Take that as the baseline from which the PlayBook will improve its battery performance, which will have to be done in software (since we're guessing that the hardware specs and the battery size are now cast in stone). How much better can the battery life get?
We also asked about release dates and pricing. Here you go..
No comments:
Post a Comment