BlackBerry Playbook: the perfect tablet for RIM aficionados

If you already use a BlackBerry as part of your mobile office, the BlackBerry Playbook could be a good solution for you. The tablet weighs just under a pound, but its seven-inch, 1024 x 600 display also keeps its dimensions relatively small.

The BlackBerry Playbook comes with 16, 32, or 64GB of available storage. Unlike the iPad, RIM’s tablet offers Flash support but is not equipped with a 3G module. It does, however, support audio/video functionality thanks to a micro HDMI interface.

For a long time, the BlackBerry Playbook didn’t come with its own mail client; the only way to read e-mails on the tablet was to connect it to a conventional BlackBerry through Bluetooth. The new 2.0 firmware has made up for this shortcoming. The Playbook’s own e-mail software makes it possible to synchronize e-mails, personal contacts, and deadlines with Microsoft Exchange and IBM Lotus Notes Traveler using the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol. The program also supports the POP, IMAP, CalDAV, and CardDAV protocols. The Playbook can receive direct messages from Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, but does exhibit a major flaw in its lack of support for applications like Skype and Google Talk.

Another useful tool the 2.0 firmware has introduced is the calendar function. Anytime you want to plan a meeting using the Playbook, the device will select all participants from your address book and organize them into a list; all partners will then be registered on the agenda.

The preinstalled apps Docs to Go and Print to Go make it possible to edit and print documents.  Besides these two tools, though, there aren’t a lot of applications for the Playbook in RIM’s store. In order to compensate, RIM has released an Android emulator that enables users to upgrade their tablets with new apps, but it only supports Android 2.3.

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