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Yes, PlayBook Does Get BlackBerry 10 Update
judgecorp writes "Yesterday's BlackBerry 10 announcement did not mention the company's tablet, the Playbook, but users will be relieved to know it will get an update to BlackBerry 10. It's not a huge surprise, since BB10 is based on the PlayBook's QNX operating system, but PlayBook users may have been worried since the company did not even mention the struggling tablet in passing at the event." Hopefully the Playbook's camera is better than the one in the new BB10-based Z10 phone, the low-light performance of which Gizmodo describes as "four-years-ago crap."
Hey Gizmodo, why is the Z10 picture not framed the same way as the other three phones? The soldier's head is halfway down the picture, as opposed to the top for the other three pictures. Maybe Mario Aguilar should learn to point cameras before he reviews them.
When? I think it's interesting how BB touts to it's developers that 90% of it's users upgrade to the newest OS within a month of it's release. The reason seems to be because they can't download any good apps for it, so they're desperately hoping to get some functionality out of the Base OS.
This was mentioned at the alpha launch(es), I guess it was an oversight on 'real' launch day. Being able to write 1 app that with little to no code change runs on a BB tablet or phone will be huge for bringing the BB app store back into the light. Not to mention to android OS support making porting a piece of cake.
Why does slashdot/timothy have such a hate on for Blackberry? They have just released a great new product with a revolutionary interface, hardware (including camera) that most reviewers are putting heads and shoulders above the competition. Slashdot just keeps slinging the FUD.
ArsTechnica has a user comment (scroll down, its the 'editors pick') showing the problem with the camera:
I should also point out that the iPhone's applied far more contrast to the picture and, as a result, lost detail - look at the flat area of darkness in the trunk compared to the range of tones present in the pic from the BB. These are all post-processing problems, though, and (assuming both devices were on default settings) really just tell you that Apple's software is set to produce 'punchier' pictures out of the box as opposed to the lighter processing done by the BB, which ultimately retains more of the image.
so its not crap, it just doesn't aggressively sharpen everything like the iPhone does, so it appears less defined and misty. Its just appearance though, slap it through the same amount of software processing and you'll get the same result.
Anyway, they say the keyboard is excellent and can be used with 1 hand (or 1 thumb) which is a definite design win.
She's been underwhelmed with her PlayBook and found it a little flaky, prone to losing its network, or locking up and needing a hard boot.
The last upgrade fixed the rather pathetic battery life, so maybe this will improve it even more.
I'm tired of the scowls from her since I'm the one who bought it for her. We know a couple of people with them, and they seem to have the same kind of results -- though, I certainly know people who say theirs are the most stable things ever. To us, it's failed to live up to expectations.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Seriously, a full article about how sub-par a single feature is in a smartphone. Gizmodo has been overtly critical of Blackberry in the past, but that's just ridiculous.
No, trust me, I know 3 of those 5 users ... and they'll all be interested in hearing this.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
And I know the other three. I've actually been quite impressed by the Playbook, I'm thinking of buying one myself.
Awesome, you'll be able to use the built-in calculator to your great benefit!
I have one and it is collecting dust since I picked up a Nexus 7. The hardware is good, it's just the OS that was crap. The youtube app which I use a lot had an annoying feature where the video would stop after 5 seconds if you had paused and resumed playing. The wireless networking was flakey. Confirmed this when I got the Nexus and had rock solid signal in my house. The video player doesn't have AC3 nor DTS support so I need to reencode everything. Nexus 7 with MX player has played everything I have thrown at it.
Whenever I went to look for new apps they were predominantly ebooks and the lack of try before you buy is annoying (yes I know ipads have the same thing so it isn't an isolated Rim issue). Now when BB10 comes out I may dust it off and recharge the battery to see what it is like and give it to the wife.if she wants it that is.
Cant say about the other four but im ecstatic.
Awesome, you'll be able to use the built-in calculator to your great benefit!
Most people I know use tablets for email, web browsing and e-book reading while traveling. So not having 50,000 fart apps isn't really a big downside. And, from what I understand, they've made porting Android apps much easier in the new OS so there should be at least 5,000 fart apps soon.
Me too.
Wow, so this is what it's like to be in an exclusive club.
BM3
BB10 and the Playbook OS are both based on QNX which is also in 60% of all car infotainment units. Rock solid micro kernal OS that is also used in nuclear plants and medical devices. I have used my Playbook for over two years now and it has new crashed. Apps install without having to reboot. I think many people will be pleasantly surprised with how well BB10 and QNX just works. It also sets the stage for more integration between smartphones, tablets, and car systems.
As for the update to the Playbook, Crackberry.com says that a new version of the Bridge program is in Appworld now which means that the Playbook update to BB10 could be any day now.
Today's vices may be tomorrow's virtues.
The Z10 photo in the Gizmodo comparison just looks underexposed, so it's likely just a shortcoming in the software's exposure algorithm rather than a problem with the image sensor/camera. Should be easy to fix.
The only fault I have is that it is too heavy for what it is, but a) it is a 2-3 year old design; b) it's built quite tough.
One of the reasons I like them is because they seem far more robust than my Asus Transformer; particularly after seeing pictures of screens people claim to have broken just by picking them up or closing them on the keyboard dock.
Actually, I think he was pointing out that between us we know 6 out of 5 owners of the playbook.
I think it's meant to be a whoosh. ;-)
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Slashdot story submitter should use better judgement. The picture taken on the BB10 phone wasn't even framed like the others were: http://forums.crackberry.com/attachments/blackberry-z10-f254/133209d1359583067-gizmodos-camera-review-low-light-performance-fail-wwzsmmo.jpg
And I had it before it outsold the Ipad 4 over the holiday period in the UK by a ratio of 4-1.
Since it had ver 2 and later updates, has a decent mail client onboard now - and its core apps (Music, Pics, Movies, Internet, E-reading) all work to a reasonable nice standard - its price is low, and you get 64 GB so don't have such a need for storage - all on what might be termed awesome pricing.
I think Mx Player on droid plays more, but cut to the chase, the core movie player played everything I threw at it, and this was far better than the core movie player on droid did in my tests.
And I'll concur, not enough apps, but the OS itself is actually very pleasant to use.
I quite rate the playbook. Apps aside, its well rounded, works well, is pleasant to use, has good storage, has good camera's. Has a good price. Whats the problem?
We`re all equal
My Playbook now does exactly what I want it to do. It's a great remote terminal for my Linux box and a great tablet. I sincerely hope that upgrading to 10 will have no impact on this.
Incidentally, Playbooks, refurbished, have reached the "fun toy" price. Seriously, cheaper than the Kindle Fire I got Christmas 2011, and way ahead of it specs wise.
Oh, and the Playbook's cameras?
"PlayBook Features a 3 MP front-facing camera for video chatting over Wi-Fi and a rear-facing 5 MP camera, both of which can record 1080p video.[" -- BlackBerry PlayBook
"MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
...And, will boot-time improve when it's updated to BackBerry 10...? :-)
A 64GB PlayBook w/ S/W updated to 2.1 would play most or even all of the Creative Common licensed files comprising the available portions of KhanAcademy.org, but it wasn't easy to find & go through a sequence of course files.
(There's a PlayBook-specific app for KA courses, but it sorted files of KA's courses rather poorly, IMO; at least it could play both Flash & MP4 format files just fine.)
I hope the BlackBerry 10 updated PlayBook can leave such course files where ever we decide to place them, ie, in order within their folders (eg, 1 course per folder), rather than separating MP4's from FLV's.
It's not an insecure platform such as android or IOS. Good luck rooting it.