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Games in the shade as RIM unveils business focused BlackBerry PlayBook

Firm plumps for bespoke BlackBerry OS

Games in the shade as RIM unveils business focused BlackBerry PlayBook
Its name might suggest RIM's first tablet has something of a playful nature, but the BlackBerry PlayBook would appear to be geared towards the world of work rather than the app-happy games market so cornered by iPad.

Indeed, comparisons between the two devices already seem fruitless. given

RIM's own blurb places far greater emphasis on the web browsing and multimedia elements of the tablet, rather than pitching it as a breeding ground for the current breed of developers plying their trade on the App Store.

Packing the PlayBookPlayBook certainly isn't numbled when it comes to its stats.

Coming with a 1024×600 7 inch capacitive touchscreen display (smaller than iPad's 9.7 inch screen, but the same size as Samsung's GalaxyTab), a 1 GHz dual-core processor and support for symmetric multiprocessing, RIM is positioning the device as a toy executives won't be ashamed to pull out in public – both in terms of looks and performance.

PlayBook will also sports 1GB of RAM – reportedly four times the amount iPad currently packs.

Looking Flash

However, much like Apple's tablet, RIM also values the potential tablets have to play the role of a media hub.

As such, HDMI video output, support for 1080p HD video recording and two cameras (3MP front facing, 5MP back facing) are, though not ground breaking when compared to some mobile handsets, features that will aid its multimedia credentials.

"RIM set out to engineer the best professional-grade tablet in the industry with cutting edge hardware features and one of the world's most robust and flexible operating systems," said RIM president and co-CEO, Mike Lazaridis.

"The BlackBerry PlayBook solidly hits the mark with industry leading power, true multitasking, uncompromised web browsing and high performance multimedia."

Also of note – particularly for iPad users who bemoan the lack of support for Flash on Safari – is PlayBook's support for Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, as well as HTML5.

Game on?Games developers aren't left completely out in the cold, however.

Though some studios will be frustrated that the device doesn't run BlackBerry OS 6 – PlayBook, instead, coming with its own tailored BlackBerry Tablet OS – RIM claims porting from one platform to the other will be simple.

"The OS is fully POSIX compliant enabling easy portability of C-based code, supports Open GL for 2D and 3D graphics intensive applications like gaming, and will run applications built in Adobe Mobile AIR as well as the new BlackBerry WebWorks app platform," RIM says in its blurb.

It's the newly announced WebWorks that is the focus here, with RIM claiming the new set up will allows apps written for the PlayBook to run seamlessly on BlackBerry OS 6.

Going the other way, RIM states the tablet's OS will also allow Java developers to easily bring their existing BlackBerry 6 Java apps across to the platform with ease.

The truth, of course, won't be evident until the tablet rolls out in the US in early 2011.

 

However, given games on BlackBerry 6 are a notably rarer beast when compared to both iOS and Android as it is, it'll be no surprise if RIM puts gaming on PlayBook on the back burner.


With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.