RIM confirmed an off-hand comment about battery life on the BlackBerry PlayBook in an interview recently; they are, indeed, aiming to get 8 hours of life from its 5300-mAH battery. This is reassuring, considering early rumours said the battery life was balls, but RIM was quick to point out that power management is the last thing they put in to a product, including the PlayBook.
The BlackBerry PlayBook is RIM’s first tablet, measuring in with a 7-inch 1024 x 600 display, comes with Wi-Fi (tetherable to a BlackBerry for 3G access), has a 5 megapixel and 3 megapixel camera, both capable of HD video recording, dual-core 1 GHz processor, and 1 GB of RAM. The QNX Neutrino-based operating system is a beast that can handle multiple, live 3D renderings while staying smooth and stable.
Now, battery life varies on usage, so I’m curious if that 8-hour figure is assuming moderate, average usage, or full-on, all-day usage. I like the idea of propping up a PlayBook next to my computer monitor as a third screen, especially if I can do it without having to dock or otherwise charge it. There’s also the question about how long Sprint’s WiMAX version of the PlayBook will last; it’s probably safe to knock an hour or two off for cellular data. Is RIM also taking into account the continual Bluetooth pairing you’ll need to do to get e-mail and contacts on the PlayBook? I guess the only way to know for sure will be when we get our hands on a production-ready review unit, eh?
[via Mobilized]