2010 was great for Tablet PCs. Apple IPad created a major demand amongst the users which also allowed the market to expand by leaps and bounds. While Apple was able to maintain its dominance in the tablet space throughout the year, the recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show at Las Vegas saw unveiling of some exciting tablets that can potentially challenge the supremacy of IPad.
Blackberry PlayBook
When the Canadian manufacturer Research In Motion (RIM) launched its Blackberry series of Smartphones, it revolutionized the market. Until recently, Blackberry was the undisputable leader in Smartphones arena. Though the rise of IPhones and Android powered devices has challenged the monopoly of these Berries (as they are popularly called), they still remain a dominant force in Smartphones market. RIM would expect similar kind of performance from its tablet PlayBook.
PlayBook features a 7-inch display screen and is powered by 1 GHz dual-core processor and new BlackBerry Tablet QNX Operating System. It has four times the amount of RAM memory of the iPad (1GB Playbook versus 256MB iPad), and comes with two cameras (5MP back, 3MP front). The device also provides wireless connectivity with your BlackBerry Smartphone for real time access to Email, calendar, address book, task list and BBM and Out-of-the-box compatibility with BlackBerry Enterprise Server.
While the PlayBook Wi-Fi version hits the market in March, the 3G/4G wireless version will come in the summer.
Boasted for its Multitasking capabilities and a versatile Web browser, the PlayBook is capable of simultaneously running Flash browsing, desktop applications, 1080p video games, mobile desktop, 3D games and apps. Now, that could be favorable for PlayBook as IPad is not known for its Multitasking capabilities. Another factor which could help PlayBook is its price. According to Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of Blackberry, the device will be priced under $500. So it goes without saying that if RIM is able to provide all those features at that price, the device could well create a dent in the sales of IPads and other tablets.
