New BlackBerry video touts its tablet as better than iPad
By IANSWednesday, January 5, 2011
TORONTO - To build upon the hype already surrounding its soon-to-be-released PlayBook, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion RIM) Tuesday unveiled another video to project its tablet as better than Apple’s iPad.
The Canadian wireless giant released the new video about the capabilities of its tablet just before the opening of the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas Thursday.
Giving a sneak peak at PlayBook, the new 3 minute and 18 second video highlights the multimedia capabilities of its Web
browser. Taking viewers quickly through various websites, it highlights how versatile its browser is.
But more importantly, the BlackBerry maker is using the new video to score points over Apple’s iPad by highlighting how
its tablet browser is built on open Web standards and thus supports Flash which Apple’s iPad does not.
It means PlayBook users will be able to fully access YouTube and Facebook whereas iPad users cannot access full
versions of these popular sites.
PlayBook uses a new software platform built by QNX Software Systems. RIM bought Ottawa-based QNX Software Systems for
$200 million in April to have exclusive access to its software technology for its tablet.
The new video demonstrates how PlayBook users can send instant messages on Facebook Chat and play Flash-based games inside Facebook - which is not possible for iPad users.
With 2011 set to become the year of the tablet, Motorola, Microsoft, Dell, Samsung and HP will also likely unveil their tablet plan at the four-day electronics show opening January 6.
PlayBook, which was unveiled in September, will be launched in the US market by the end of March. It measures seven inches against the 9.7-inch iPad.
Interestingly, BlackBerry bosses were forced to unveil their tablet so early before its launch because of Apple boss
Steve Jobs’ dismissal of it as “too small” in September.
“The 10-inch screen size is the minimum required to have great tablet apps. We don’t think you can make a great tablet
with a seven-inch screen. We think it’s too small to express the software that people want to put on these things,” Steve Jobs had taunted the BlackBerry maker.
RIM has already announced to sell PlayBook below $500 to undercut sales of iPad which has sold more than seven million units since its launch in April.
