Playbook reviews are out!

[Deeko]

and the Blackberry apps store is beyond embarrassing.. wow.. This device really is epic fail..

How good is your memory of what every other app store was like when it first launched?

 

[alent1234]

Ok messing with it a little more.. found there isnt even a decent Ereader solution out there.. cannot import even DRM free EPUBS or .PDFs into the only reader supported or available..

and the Blackberry apps store is beyond embarrassing.. wow.. This device really is epic fail..

but it's dual core and has the best specs. who cares about anything else?

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

How good is your memory of what every other app store was like when it first launched?

The difference is that when Apple released their App Store, there was no one there. Nowadays, there isn't just one.

 

[Deeko]

The difference is that when Apple released their App Store, there was no one there. Nowadays, there isn't just one.

Not everything is a slight against Apple. There's also the Android Market, WebOS app store, Windows Phone marketplace, so on...no platform, no matter the year it starts, has 100k apps at launch. Its just how it goes. This does not stop those platforms from growing - Android had a lot of catching up to do, and I'd say they did alright there. Windows Phone 7 may not have the biggest marketshare, but they're up to about 20k apps - not bad for 7 months and a strict app approval process.

Point is - all app stores start small. To say a platform is doomed because of it is foolish - especially considering that once the Android compatibility layer is released this summer, the number of available apps could skyrocket.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Point is - all app stores start small. To say a platform is doomed because of it is foolish - especially considering that once the Android compatibility layer is released this summer, the number of available apps could skyrocket.

I understand what you're trying to say. But most people are not willing to wait it out for apps that they would need. Also, the thing with the Android compatibility layer is that devs still would have to tweak their apps to actually run using that, and it may be a simple tweak, but it's still a tweak that they would have to do.

 

[Deeko]

I understand what you're trying to say. But most people are not willing to wait it out for apps that they would need. Also, the thing with the Android compatibility layer is that devs still would have to tweak their apps to actually run using that, and it may be a simple tweak, but it's still a tweak that they would have to do.

The thing is, with a few exceptions, most people don't buy any tech products when they're that new. Android didn't exactly light up the sales charts in its first year, nor did iOS. A platform being iffy at first really doesn't spell doom, as long as the manufacturer continues to improve & support, and it gradually grows. Again..Android is a good example. I had a G1 on launch day, I know what it was like. I agree that the PlayBook isn't fully ready for the consumer spotlight yet - but it will be a lot closer this summer, and that's when the international & 4G versions launch anyway.

Also, as a dev with limited time on my hands, I want to get as many products on as many platforms as I can, with minimum effort. If I have an app on Android that can be ported to the PlayBook with minimum tweaks, vs, say, the TouchPad, which would require a complete rewrite....you'd better believe I'm choosing the former.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

The thing is, with a few exceptions, most people don't buy any tech products when they're that new. Android didn't exactly light up the sales charts in its first year, nor did iOS. A platform being iffy at first really doesn't spell doom, as long as the manufacturer continues to improve & support, and it gradually grows. Again..Android is a good example. I had a G1 on launch day, I know what it was like. I agree that the PlayBook isn't fully ready for the consumer spotlight yet - but it will be a lot closer this summer, and that's when the international & 4G versions launch anyway.

Also, as a dev with limited time on my hands, I want to get as many products on as many platforms as I can, with minimum effort. If I have an app on Android that can be ported to the PlayBook with minimum tweaks, vs, say, the TouchPad, which would require a complete rewrite....you'd better believe I'm choosing the former.

I would argue that Honeycomb isn't ready for the consumer spotlight yet either.

 

[yllus]

I've got a pre-production PlayBook on my desk right now - I really, really like this thing. Much better form factor than the iPad, extremely speedy, great web browser and I love the gestures (very WebOS reminiscent - I really liked the Palm Pre).

I'm a rather heavy user of all of the devices I use, but after having owned an iPad 1 I've realized that I'm only ever going to use a tablet for three things: Web browsing, watching videos, and reading PDFs. The other 1% of the time I use the device, I may try out a free game or try to read stuff via Readability. For that reason, I don't see the big deal with having lots and lots of native apps available on the device. If the essentials are there - especially if they're all high-quality - I'm more than satisfied. App markets that are bursting at the seams are more about PR than substance if you ask me.

I'm very interested in getting a 3G-enabled PlayBook whenever those are available.

 

[CVSiN]

How good is your memory of what every other app store was like when it first launched?

pretty damn good being that I was in charge of integrating the G1 at the time into our business model for IT users.

there were still TONS of early apps..
at least 3-4 different readers as well as many other tools..
the problem here is No one seems to give a rats ass marketplace content wise for the BB.
everyone is using their resources to write for the Android and the Apple platforms.

 

[Deeko]

pretty damn good being that I was in charge of integrating the G1 at the time into our business model for IT users.

there were still TONS of early apps..
at least 3-4 different readers as well as many other tools..

This is false. There were literally a few handfuls of apps, and that's it. Do a search for "G1 review" - there were about 50 apps on the market when the G1 came out - and that number didn't exactly skyrocket in the next month. Another quick search shows that it was getting close to 5,000 in late May of 2009 - which is about where the PlayBook is now - and it took Android about 7-8 months to get there.

I'm not slighting Android, either, I'm just pointing out the facts - it takes time for apps to come to a platform, and this has been a universal truth.

 

[shortylickens]

Ok messing with it a little more.. found there isnt even a decent Ereader solution out there.. cannot import even DRM free EPUBS or .PDFs into the only reader supported or available..

and the Blackberry apps store is beyond embarrassing.. wow.. This device really is epic fail..

Good news is the hardware is damn near perfect so all they need to do is get the apps made.

Downside is because of how the market works, they wont see increased sales merely by fixing the software issues. Not unless they launch a major ad campaign stating "we fixed our fuckups!!!"
And RIM doesnt do that. They tried pushing their Storm and that didnt work.

 

[gsaldivar]

Downside is because of how the market works, they wont see increased sales merely by fixing the software issues. Not unless they launch a major ad campaign stating "we fixed our fuckups!!!"

That's the price they pay for rushing to market with unfinished software. While the planned features might be great, they've already burned through their "launch day" momentum.

 

[yllus]

I'm sad to see there's no native Twitter client right now - Google has linked me to Blaq which actually looks quite nice, but as I'm not yet an owner of a PlayBook I don't want to pay the $1.99 to buy it. Any word on an official client release date?

 

[Deeko]

I'm sad to see there's no native Twitter client right now - Google has linked me to Blaq which actually looks quite nice, but as I'm not yet an owner of a PlayBook I don't want to pay the $1.99 to buy it. Any word on an official client release date?

I don't know about an official client from Twitter itself - but there is a 3rd party client, Tweedless. Its not GREAT, but it does the job, and the dev has been pretty active with updates: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/24116?lang=en

 

[yllus]

I don't know about an official client from Twitter itself - but there is a 3rd party client, Tweedless. Its not GREAT, but it does the job, and the dev has been pretty active with updates: http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/24116?lang=en

That'll do, thanks. I'm sure the official will be out eventually and this will tide me over.

The weirdest thing I've noticed so far is that the PlayBook doesn't charge when it's turned off. I wouldn't even term this as a complaint, but I'm used to turning devices off fully to get the fastest charging speed possible.

 

[poofyhairguy]

The screen on the playbook is AMAZING. Better than any other tablet I have seen, videos looked great on one. OS seems smooth, and I like the styling.

Only issue I can tell is the size. The guy at Best Buy kept treating it like it was inferior to the 10 inch tablets just because of the size. When I tried to tell him "but it has better specs than a Xoom" he looked at me like I was nuts. If he is any indicator of the general public, 7 inch tablets are screwed....

 

[finbarqs]

just hoping for the touchpad to hit a homerun, with WebOS 3.0 to include GPU Acceleration on the OS!

 

[Deeko]

just hoping for the touchpad to hit a homerun, with WebOS 3.0 to include GPU Acceleration on the OS!

Yes...we get it.

 

[Imp]

That'll do, thanks. I'm sure the official will be out eventually and this will tide me over.

The weirdest thing I've noticed so far is that the PlayBook doesn't charge when it's turned off. I wouldn't even term this as a complaint, but I'm used to turning devices off fully to get the fastest charging speed possible.

That is weird. The day I got it, I turned it off after some use, and kept it plugged in. I was wondering how I'd know when it was done charging, so I did some googling and found out it doesn't charge when off. Werd. Not that big an issue, but weird.

As for size, I like the size. The Samsung Tab is just plain too small, but the Playbook feels just right for portability. If I never planned on taking it out of the house, then ya, the iPad would be great.

So far, I've barely looked the apps. All I'd want is an off-line mapping app and maybe some stupidly useful/fun tools like an SPL meter. Otherwise, I've got an entire binder full of school notes on there that's come in handy a few times.

 

[finbarqs]

what's your favorite thing about the playbook?

 

[shortylickens]

what's your favorite thing about the playbook?

Who you askin?

 

[finbarqs]

people who own a playbook.

 

[shortylickens]

people who own a playbook.

The rock solid OS and slick but efficient interface.
Better media playback capability than the Xoom.
Just the right size to hold upright and use thumb keyboard.

 

[Deeko]

what's your favorite thing about the playbook?

Outside of the obvious smoothness and multitasking of the OS - the browser. I seriously love browsing on this thing. No, its javascript benchmarks aren't quite as fast as some other tablets, but the accuracy of the rending, smoothness of scrolling/zooming, and flash performance are just outstanding. I'm sure the fantastic screen helps with that aspect, too.

 

[finbarqs]

i'll try this out again, But from what I remember, it wasn't quite iOS smooth or WP7. It is 60 fps though...