Disqus
There were a lot of proper wireless products making their debut at CES 2011, including an even closer look at the BlackBerry PlayBook. Along with it, RIM took the occasion to show off a tonne of official accessories for their first tablet. Available in a variety of colours were soft shells, hard shells, slip cases, leather sleeves, neoprene sleeves, sleeves with zippers, proppable cases, book-style binders, leather envelopes, and rubber skins. Like I said, a tonne.
If that wasn’t enough, RIM was also showing off some third-party cases as a part of the new Built for BlackBerry program; obviously the OtterBox for the PlayBook caught our eye. We got to see the the PlayBook’s charger too, which included a foldable plug for easy storage. There was a curious big brick built into the charger, which I hope is detatcheable and holds a charge as a backup battery, and not just a big, awkward Xbox-style converter. The PlayBook’s charging pod was also there, which claims to charge a double the normal rate.
I’m still of mixed opinion about official RIM accessories; their “deluxe” multimedia headphones are uncomfortable, a pair of the new stock headphones busted on me just when I was unplugging it from a jack (though they’re pretty comfortable and have decent sound), plus the holster for my Bold 9000 started cracking after about 6-8 months of intermittent use. However, the sheer variety of accessories RIM is showing off plus the importance of the PlayBook and a positive user experience with it gives me hope for the quality of these ones. It would be nice to see an HDMI dock, or maybe even a case with a built-in extended battery, but maybe that’s hoping for too much at this point.
To get the full sampling, check out our gallery of BlackBerry PlayBook accessories below.
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
-
Anonymous
