Here are my impressions of the Playbook OS 2.0 upgrade.
Until the big Playbook sales there were a couple of reasons why the Playbook didn’t sell. The biggest problem was that it wasn’t an iPad and to a lesser extent an Android tablet. I’m not trying to sound like a fan boy here but the Tablet market is going to be an up-hill battle for anyone that’s not running iOS or Android - just ask HP and Microsoft.
The other problem was that unless you had a Blackberry smartphone it lacked a built-in email client which effectively limited its audience to Blackberry owners. You don’t HAVE to own a Blackberry but you lose out on some functionality if you don’t.
Finally, the Playbook didn’t have a lot of apps available for it. Whether you use just one or two or dozens a day apps are an important part of a mobile device. Webpages are great but apps generally allow more functionality.
The fact that the Playbook is pretty fast, has a great screen, great keyboard, very good cameras, loud, stereo speakers a very elegant OS and is just overall a very solid piece of hardware gets lost because of the 3 shortcomings I mentioned.
The Playbook 2.0 update addresses 2.5 of the 3 reasons I mentioned. While it’s not running Android or iOS and it doesn’t have a ton of Playbook specific apps it can now run Android apps. In fact I was able to submit the HowardForums Android app to the Blackberry App world without having to make ANY changes to the program itself - I just had to repackage it.
This is huge because now you can run Android apps but you still get to use the Playbook OS which in my opinion works much better than Honeycomb and is slightly better than Ice Cream Sandwich. On the other hand, whatever reason developers had to make a Playbook specific app are now gone.
The other big addition is a built-in email client. On the downside, if you like your Playbook but crave a Android/iOS device you can now ditch your Blackberry - RIM, hurry up and get BBOS 10 out!
Speaking of BBOS 10, it will be based on the Playbook's OS so it gives us a glimpse of the futures of Blackberry.
The first thing I did was go to the Blackberry App world to download the HowardForums app. I noticed one of the reviews said “My one and only complaint about this app? Its not native”. The first time I ran it took quite a while to run. Indeed next to my Galaxy Nexus the HoFo app. I timed how long it took from when I tapped the icon to the the forum listing loaded. The Nexus did it in about 5 seconds while the Playbook took 39 seconds.
Now my seat of the pants feeling is that the Playbook doesn’t run Android apps 8x slower than a Galaxy but launching them certainly can. To see the speed difference I used the Dolphin HD browser. I choose Dolphin for 2 reasons: first it appears to be an Android app that has been repackaged for the Playbook. Secondly it’s a browser that I can use to run the SunSpider Javascript Benchmark.
My Nexus completed the Sunspider benchmark in 1902.4ms while the Playbook took 8820.4ms. So based on this Dolphin runs around 4.5x slower on the Playbook.
Next us is the Mail client which is actually more of a universal inbox. As far as email goes it supports Exchange activesync, Gmail, Hotmail, IMAP, POP, CalDAV and CardDAV. Setting this up also populates your contact list and calendar (unless you tell it not to). In addition to your email it also supports Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
The email client looks great. It has a nice 2 pane layout. You can view all your messsages (Email, Facebook, etc) all in one inbox or you can choose to only view messages from a specific account.
Both the calendar and contact apps also have multi-pane layouts which are very clean and functional looking. They both also integrate with Facebook.
One feature which I don’t recall seeing on OS 1.0 is Print To Go. It’s a virtual printer that you install on your PC. When you print to it, it converts your printout to a PDF file and then sends it to your Playbook. I tried it works really well. It’s perfect for when you’re travelling and want to print out all your flight, hotel and conference confirmations and have them all in one place.
I benchmarked the native browser using SunSpider. With OS 1.0 my best score was 2314.8ms (lower is better) whereas with OS 2.0 I got 2161.1ms. So, while the browser is faster you probably won't notice it.
Where you do notice a difference is when it comes to launching apps. In that respect the Playbook OS 2.0 does feel a little more snappy and responsive compared to the OS 1.0.
In the end the biggest new features is the addition of an email client along with the contact and calendar apps. With these the Playbook is finally a device that can stand on its own. A Blackberry Smartphone is now optional.
While the ability to run Android is a huge plus there is a big performance penalty. Indeed, if the ability to run Android apps is high on your list of priorities do yourself a buy an Android tablet.
While I think the OS 2.0 is great it’s also something that should have been around from the start. I hate to say that because It’s a theme that is repeated over and over again when people talk about Blackberry these days but it’s true.
If you’re one of those people who mostly uses their tablet for surfing the web, checking email, Facebooking and the occasional app check out the Playbook. It’s the perfect size (the iPad is too big), the hardware is very solid and it’s competitively priced. If you love to download tons of apps then look elsewhere.
Anyways, if you already own a Playbook then OS 2.0 is a really nice, must-have upgrade. As nice as it is, I wouldn't throw your iPad/Galaxy Tab or see how well they blend yet. Apparently, Playbook pricing will now be $299 for the 16GB version. While very completively priced, you can get a Kindle Fire for $199 plus there are a couple of Android tablets in the same price range. It's a tough unforgiving market. Still, the Playbook can now stand on it's own now - so if you can appreciate the Playbook's hardware and slick OS you should check it out.
Share your thoughts here.
Sponsored By
Categories Widget (Show All)