BlackBerry Smartphone maker Research In Motion (RIM) today announced the launch of the highly anticipated BlackBerry PlayBook tablet in India.
The innovative BlackBerry PlayBook comes in an ultra-portable design and features industry-leading performance with real-time multitasking and symmetrical multiprocessing.
It delivers high-fidelity web browsing including support for Adobe Flash, as well as spectacular High-Definition (HD) multimedia, advanced security features and out-of-the-box enterprise support.
The tablet features Wi-Fi support and is available in 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB models priced at Rs. 27,990 (16 GB), Rs. 32,990 (32 GB) and Rs. 37,990 (64 GB).
The BlackBerry PlayBook users can access the enterprise data on their BlackBerry phones and go online as well by using a “BlackBerry Bridge” application and enabling bluetooth for data connectivity. Once they disconnect the bluetooth or move away, sensitive or secured data such as corporate e-mails and contacts are automatically wiped out from the PlayBook.
It will be distributed nationally through Redington India and Ingram Micro, initially in 1000 retail stores across 8 cities and then expanding to other parts of the country. Accessories for the BlackBerry PlayBook will also be available in these stores from today.
It also comes with premium multimedia features including dual High-Definition (HD) cameras for video capture and conferencing. It has an HDMI-out port for presenting on external displays and offers rich stereo sound with a media player that rivals the best in the industry.
The BlackBerry PlayBook Video Chat application enables users to interact between offices or share important moments and events with family and friends. With the BlackBerry PlayBook’s high-resolution video cameras and stunning display, a Video Chat call is the next best thing to being there.
BlackBerry PlayBook specifications
• 7″ 1024×600 WSVGA capacitive LCD touch screen
• Ultra-portable at less than a pound and less than one-half inch thick: 0.9 lbs (425g) and 5.1” x 7.6” x 0.4” (130mm x 194mm x 10mm)
• 1 GHz dual-core processor
• BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
• MP3, AAC and WMA audio playback
• Support for 1080p HD video playback (H.264, MPEG4, WMV)
• HDMI out
• Dual HD cameras for video conferencing and video capture
• 1 GB RAM memory
• Up to 64 GB internal storage (16, 32 and 64 GB models)
• Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n) connectivity
• Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR support Development platform: Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java .
Frenny Bawa, Managing Director, India – Research In Motion (RIM) and Salman Khan Launching BlackBerry PlayBook
Vikas Patidar June 26, 2011 at 5:17 pm
@Jayanth MP
yes i agree with you. The main problem with symbian is its a legacy os and nokia can’t develop it any more while maintaining its backward compability. Due to its complexity and even they realised that writing the whole new OS from the scratch is easy like whatever they did put in “MeeGo Harmattin”. So its nothing about any closed or open system. Even when they had annouced Symbian as open source after a short while they had also axed the whloe tree.
rajiev June 25, 2011 at 10:03 am
it’s wave of table
Jayanth MP June 23, 2011 at 11:37 pm
Death of Symbian was due to its complexity, had nothing to do with open/closed source. If you observe market stats….windows market share is gradually declining…..albeit slowly….but it is happening.
Jayanth MP June 23, 2011 at 11:31 pm
^ I beg to differ, Just because something is free it doesn’t mean that its bad.
Java is OSS, its been a tremendous success.Windows CE has been in the market for quite some time…but failed to make a significant mark.
Most of what you use to access web (firefox) and the what runs the web(apache) and is the web(Gmail)is OSS or FOSS.
If you have a good look at the corporate sector – data entry and low level operations are performed with commercial operating systems like Windows, but most high end activities like servers and datacenter operations run on Linux or some derivative of it.
The corporate world in the modern day is actually looking out for FOSS not shying away from it.
Regarding the argument of viruses, anything which is popular will attract negative forces….by this argument Linux should be more affected than windows because its OSS, the reality is quite contrary.
Android is actually liked and even preferred by tech savvy people because of the level of freedom and customization it offers…..
Ganesh Srinivasan June 23, 2011 at 12:39 pm
@Saurabh
I agree with you, my view is “anything free is daisy”
I love Linux [Ubuntu] but soon I realised its limitations compared to Windows
No doubt Android is popular now. As its popularity continues to grow, the problems like virus, spyware and similar unwanted stuff will also grow.
My view is that Android can never make it to the Corporate World and to Serious Users [tech savvy consultants, small and medium business owners etc].
Eventually Android may stay as OS for low end phones, as Symbian remained popular for low and mid range phones for a long time
All phone manufacturers will have to invest in R&D, develop and continue to support their own OSes – to differentiate [amongst many other factors] and they can’t hope to win the race in smart phone segment with free offerings like Android. Remember what happened to Desktop / laptop OS offering from Google – I forget the name, was it Chrome OS
Jayanth MP June 23, 2011 at 11:38 am
^ you have lost it completely sir. Android and OSS are the future. Pls check the stats again… android is the largest share holder in the market.
Saurabh June 23, 2011 at 11:23 am
@dhruv
Do you really think Android OS has a bright future? Think again. As a market analyst I can say, Android will be thing of past in next coming years. Every open source technology/software has failed to make a mark in tech world. You can take the example of Linux. Did it became popular? No. Still 90% people use windows. Nokia made Symbian open source and everyone knows it died(who would have thought of that). Even Samsung CEO said that they will work more on their own Bada OS and you will not see much more Android based devices from Samsung in future. Nokia has tie-up with Microsoft. LG planning their own OS. Apple/Blackberry has it’s own. These are the market leaders and if they release devices based on their own OSes where will you find Android? Also companies spend a lot on R&D of licensed OSes to make them better and better and Android is free and developers develop more for paid ones than free. Though Android has got lots of apps but still they are far away from Apple iOS and Symbian.
Ganesh Srinivasan June 23, 2011 at 11:02 am
BlackBerry Play book is about Rs 1,500 cheaper than iPad 2 prices – across 16 / 32 / 64 GB models
If you have a BlackBerry mobile phone, PlayBook can pair with it to read / compose e mails and other productivity applications with the same data plan. Good for guys like me who want e mail, browsing and other productivity apps on a larger screen compared to small screen sizes of mobile phones
But then what are we missing – with out a BlackBerry phone, you don’t have e mail and related apps on the tablet. Also it pairs using BlueTooth – hence limited by its speed
Are we then missing too much for Rs 1,500 less compared to Apple iPad?
Ujjal June 23, 2011 at 10:47 am
@Sougata Das
16 GB Model- 279900 rs.
32 GB Model- 32990 rs.
64 GB Model- 37990 rs.
Sougata Das June 23, 2011 at 9:57 am
Pls mention the price also….
biren June 23, 2011 at 9:17 am
BlACKBERRY IS DEAD PLARFROM !!!!
harish June 22, 2011 at 10:03 pm
Dear Karan Ral,first check your own facts then criticize others.Blackberry playbook does have a 1
ghz dual core processor.Check it out on this url- http://in.blackberry.com/playbook-tablet/#!tabletFeatures
Karan Raj June 22, 2011 at 9:43 pm
The Playbook doesn’t have a dual core processor, check your facts before publishing articles. Most readers of this site don’t know shit about hardware, so they might actually believe what you are saying.
Kaushik Maitra June 22, 2011 at 9:29 pm
is the HSPA+ version available in India??
dhruv June 22, 2011 at 8:20 pm
tablets are not still so popular in india, still prices will decide who will win, also android os will have bright future due to massive apps in short time.