b/lack

b/lack:Boasting dual cameras and a 1GHz dual-core Cortex A9 processor, and due to arrive in the first quarter of the year (for a “competitive” price, I’m told), the seven-inch PlayBook (which was first announced last September) felt relatively peppy and responsive, even given the somewhat rough-and-ready software build upon which it was running.
Physically speaking, the 0.9-pound PlayBook felt a bit heavy in my hands, as did the similarly sized, one-poundish Samsung Galaxy Tab. Then again, the PlayBook is still a half-pound ligher than the 9.7-inch iPad, and it’s much easier to grip. Tapping out messages on the virtual QWERTY keypad was a bit tricky, especially given that error correction had yet to be installed in the early test unit that was on hand.
As with the Apple iPad or the recent Samsung Galaxy Tab, the PlayBook greets you with a familiar icon-driven main menu, with a small power button and play/pause and volume controls sitting along the top edge of the slate. To wake the PlayBook, just press the power button, make a two-inch swipe on the sleeping display.

OK, but where’s the Home key? Well, there isn’t one. Instead, you just flick upwards from the bottom of the 1024-by-600 display to reveal the PlayBook’s app switcher, then flick from the left or right edge of the screen to switch from one app to another. Want to quit an app? Just flick up on the icon from within the switcher to make it disappear.
If this sounds familiar, perhaps you’re thinking of the innovative card-based application handler in WebOS, which works in much the same way. (RIM reps denied that WebOS served as an inspiration for the PlayBook’s new app switcher.) Another cool UI feature is the ability to call up additional menu functions in an app by swiping down from the top of the screen, a handy replacement for the dedicated “menu” button on Android smartphones.
What’s the trick behind all the screen swiping? Apparently, the PlayBook’s touch-sensitive area extends a few millimeters beyond the display and into the front bezel. Nice—and again, very WebOS-like. I also got a quick demo of the PlayBook’s Flash capabilities, and yes, you can play YouTube videos on a Web relatively smoothly, even when the browser window is minimized in the tablet’s app switcher. OK, but how about playback of, say, 1080p Flash video? Good question, said the RIM execs I spoke with, who promised to look into it. (Granted, there’s not much point in viewing a 1080p video on a seven-inch display, but hey—no harm in asking.)
Another impressive display of the PlayBook’s processing chops was a rough port of nothing less than Quake III, which someone had cobbled together for demo purposes. Indeed, Quake III on the PlayBook looked pretty much like the game I’ve often played on a PC—smooth and speedy, although fragging opponents with the virtual joysticks was a bit of a drag. Still … nice.
And what of all the controversy surrounding the PlayBook’s battery life—or alleged lack thereof? “Completely absurd,” I’m told, with RIM reps noting that power management will be among the last of the features built into the PlayBook’s software.
While early PlayBook builds are, indeed, getting only a few hours of juice out of their batteries, a full eight hours of “usable” battery life is the “absolutely attainable” goal. Whether RIM engineers actually hit their eight-hour target, however, remains to be seen.
Other PlayBook features that we’d already known about include its dual cameras—a five-megapixel lens in front and a 3MP snapper in back, both capable of 1080p video capture—as well as a micro-HDMI port that’ll handle 1080p-quality output. The PlayBook’s OS, as we’ve heard, won’t be a variant of the new BlackBerry OS but rather a new platform designed by the RIM-owned QNX. And in addition to its Flash capabilities, the PlayBook’s browser will be HTML5-friendly.
The existing Wi-Fi-only PlayBook won’t connect to wireless 3G networks like the Galaxy Tab and iPad can, but it will sync up with a nearby BlackBerry smartphone and piggyback onto its cellular data connection. Future versions of the PlayBook will boast 3G and even 4G support, RIM said back when it first announced the tablet.
So, will the PlayBook successfully launch RIM into the tablet “space,” as we say in the tech biz? Good question. I’d be nuts to render a definitive opinion on the PlayBook based on a brief hands-on with an early test unit, but from what I’ve seen so far, the PlayBookparticularly thanks to its flickable “Home” and “Menu” controls—looks promising.
Again, still no word on exactly when the PlayBook will arrive or how much it will cost, although RIM co-CEO Jim Basille promised back in November that it would cost less than $500. Update: Sprint just announced that it will get a 4G-ready version of the PlayBook sometime this summer, with “additional details and pricing” to be revealed as the eventual launch date approaches.