At launch, RIM’s first tablet, the PlayBook, will require a Bluetooth pairing with a BlackBerry smartphone in order to get access to core native apps like e-mail, calendar, contacts, tasks, and memos. It isn’t ideal, but there are a lot of reasons RIM would go with this set-up. A recent Verizon training webinar went through the process of connecting the PlayBook to a smartphone using the Bridge app, which has been closely guarded in RIM demos of the tablet, and completely unseen on the smartphone side until now.
The BlackBerry PlayBook is a respectable tablet, though a bit late to the party at this point. It’s got a 7-inch 1024 x 600 touchscreen, a dual-core 1 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM, HD-capable 5 megapixel camera on the back plus secondary video conferencing camera on the front, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, and 3G when tethered to a smartphone. It runs a new operating system built on QNX Neutrino, which can serve up multitasking and rich media with stability and smoothness. The PlayBook be launching on a variety of North American carriers and retailers on April 19, starting at $499 for the 16 GB model. We’ve got a hands-on video here if you want to take a look.
The pairing and setup process is pretty straightforward; you can either pair up manually via Bluetooth, or use a QR code to let the devices sort everything out themselves. On top of the standard PIM apps, you’ll also gain access to BlackBerry Messenger and your corporate intranet on the PlayBook, though BES admins can disable the handheld app if they don’t feel secure with Bridge.
How do you guys feel about Bridge? Now that the PlayBook will be running Android apps, I think I might be willing to suck it up and wait until RIM updates the tablet for standalone PIM.
[via CB]