RIM Playbook: gorgeous highs and unconnected lows

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011 Karen Ambrose Hickey, Editor

Yesterday, I discussed the talent. Today, the review. Here goes:

1. The display. It’s bright, vivid and sharp, but sadly only 7″. Watching the demo HD video included with the Playbook is particularly impressive even if the subject matter isn’t.

2. The OS. It’s absolutely gorgeous and responsive. The only issue I have with the OS is that its presentation is hindered by the small 7″ screen as I’d love to see more of it. It’s clear to me that RIM has taken inspirational cues from HP’s webOS and its elegant multitasking interface (something even Microsoft has displayed with their latest Windows Phone 7 multitasking demos). Swiping up and down, while at first might seem confusing, quickly becomes intuitive making other tablets seem as if they using an outdated interface and soon you’re left wondering why your Motorola Xoom, Samsung Tab or Apple iPad doesn’t include this functionality.

3. Multimedia. The Playbook plays back H264 video, so grab that video you’ve encoded for your iPad and it will play back no problem on the Playbook’s gorgeous 7″ screen. The same goes for those songs you’ve encoded in AAC, MP3 and WMA. You can even output your HD video or a Powerpoint presentation to any device with an HDMI input.

4. The hardware. The Playbook feels solid in my hand and the backing has a great feel and grip to it unlike the Samsung Tab that feels like it is going to slip out of your hands if you don’t handle it carefully.

5. Connectivity. This is where the Playbook stumbles, but luckily, there’s a solution that iPass will offer in the future. In order to connect to the internet, you have two options with the Playbook: tether to your BlackBerry or find the closest Wi-Fi hotspot.

Unfortunately, connecting to Wi-Fi while you’re out and about can be a rather daunting task. What if I don’t own a BlackBerry? Where are the Wi-Fi hotspots out there? How much will these hotspots cost me? Will my Wi-Fi expenses get approved if these hotspots end up costing money? And moreover, why is getting connected to each one of these Wi-Fi hotspots so hard to do?

When iPass comes to the Playbook, all of these issues will go away. A user would simply launch iPass Open Mobile Connect, find the closest Wi-Fi hotspot via our HotSpot Finder and connect to it seamlessly without having to deal with terms of service, printing up a receipt for a expense report, or wondering what credit card they should put their Wi-Fi bill on.

Summary:
I am enamored of the Playbook’s OS and hardware, but I’m frustrated with its current connectivity options. With that said, I know that we here at iPass will have the perfect solution to make the Playbook a worldwide connectivity master.

Tags: Blackberry, tablet