Friday, June 01, 2012

PlayBook anyone?

The tablet market is one of the most exciting. Since the introduction of iPad by Apple, everyone wants to be on the bandwagon. With Android being free, numerous phone makers churned out their offering with the intention to grab a piece of the pie. And as one of the leader in smartphones, Research in Motion presents its PlayBook.

When PlayBook first came out in April 2010, it was touted as 'the professional tablet'. Its hardware suggests so, but it's ecosystem or rather (the lack of) apps appears to be its undoing. Critics compare it to the Apple ecosystems, and Android free apps, and PlayBook offering is found wanting. With RIM seemingly slow to react to customers needs and falling behind the competition, not to mention the decline of its share prices to a fraction of its highest, it seems like PlayBook (and RIM) are heading south.

The change in leadership is inevitable. A new CEO is put in place and, it seems like the missed deadlines of past is no more, at least. The 2012 BlackBerry World signals a new urgency to be the leader once again. Announcement of the next OS, BBX and the new smartphones being demoed, raised the bar. And yesterday, the awaited update for PlayBook, OS2.1 (Dev Beta) is released, as promised, 'by the end of May.

BonBook is currently running OS 2.1.0.560 Beta and it does feel good, stable and snappy. Here's to 'RIMPIRE Strikes Back!'

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