play books

The BlackBerry PlayBook recently launched with an estimated 3,000 applications available in the BlackBerry App World store. With third-party apps being so readily available, you'll need to understand how these apps manage and interact with your personal information. You have undoubtedly heard about the issue of iPhone and Android devices tracking users' locations; we want to try and prevent the same thing from happening to you.

This short tutorial will show you how to manage third-party applications and explain what information applications can access on the PlayBook.

When you install a new application that requires access to some … Read more

One of the selling points RIM has taken advantage and capitalized on over the years with its BlackBerry platform is security. RIM has used the same claim when providing reason for leaving out native e-mail, calendar, contacts, and other PIM applications on its tablet, thePlayBook. Accodring to RIM, the secure way to access this information on the PlayBook is through a BlackBerry smartphone using an application called BlackBerry Bridge.

This simple tutorial will cover how to set up BlackBerry Bridge on both the PlayBook and a BlackBerry smartphone. In the tutorial I will be using a BlackBerry Torch, but the … Read more

Research In Motion may have sold more BlackBerry PlayBook tablets than analysts expected, as many as 50,000 on the first day alone, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky.

In a research note sent to investors yesterday, Abramsky said he and his team checked with 70 different retail stores, including Best Buy, Staples, and RadioShack outlets, to ask about PlayBook sales on the first day. The team found a range of responses from light sales to 11 percent of the stores sold out, but overall leading to an estimate of 50,000 sold on opening day this past … Read more

Poynt is one of the developers making a play for the BlackBerry PlayBook, which launched this week. Poynt for PlayBook, available for free in BlackBerry App World beginning today, will soon be offering a unique "send to phone" feature that will let the tablet initiate phone calls and even turn-by-turn directions on a BlackBerry smartphone phone, Poynt told CNET in an exclusive interview.

An alternative to Google Search, Poynt will use a form of tethering to bypass restrictions that bar pairing non-RIM PlayBook apps with your phone via BlackBerry Bridge and Bluetooth. Instead, Poynt will use RIM's … Read more

The BlackBerry PlayBook finally arrives at CNET for review and Dialed In picks it apart to see what makes it tick. Sure, we're grumpy about a few things (like AT&T fudging on the BlackBerry Bridge app), but we did like the new tablet's browser. We also go 3D with the LG Slate, Nicole talks of her love for the LG G2x, and Sprint's CEO introduces a new eco-friendly phone while also complaining about AT&T. Bonnie was off on assignment so we didn't spend our usual 20 minutes piping her in from New … Read more

The official CNET review of RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook is now available for your tablet-evaluating pleasure. If you haven't already been swayed by Apple or Google's tablet offerings, this device is definitely worth a look.

To be completely candid, we were a little surprised at how great the PlayBook is. No slight on RIM, but the 7-inch tablet space has never really bowled us over. The PlayBook is a delightful exception. It actually inspired us to go back and knock the Galaxy Tab's score down a few pegs.

Why's the PlayBook so hot? What surprised us most? As the video above points out, the PlayBook's browser finally makes good on the iPad's promise to put the whole Web in your hands. It loads sites in their full glory and bolsters the experience with Adobe Flash 10.2 support that is nearly indistinguishable from a desktop experience (if you squint really hard).

To learn about all the other highs and lows of life with a PlayBook (including a browser speed battle), stretch your BlackBerry thumb, and head over to our full review. … Read more

Motorola has sold around 100,000 Xooms since launching the new tablet in late February, says a Deutsche Bank research report released yesterday.

Based on the percentage of Android 3.0 Honeycomb devices showing up on the Android Developer Web Site, Deutsche Bank estimated the total Android installed base at around 50 million units. Of those, only 0.2 percent are running Honeycomb. That points to a figure of 100,000, give or take, for the Xoom as the only known Android tablet so far outfitted with Honeycomb.

The research firm had initially estimated sales of 50,000 Xooms during the first quarter and 150,000 for the second quarter.

In comparison, Apple may have sold 500,000 iPad 2 tablets in the first weekend it was available last month, said Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, though some analysts believe the figure could be as high as a million, according to Reuters. The original iPad sold to the tune of 300,000 units in its initial weekend a year ago.

Neither Motorola nor Apple has disclosed sales figures for the respective tablets.

Though the Xoom's sales may seem paltry compared with the iPad, Deutsche Bank called 100,000 units after only a short time on the market "a decent start."… Read more

A couple of prominent chief executives were shown the door recently because of their take on the tablet market. But the executive boards doing the firing should be careful what they wish for.

This week Acer's CEO, Gianfranco Lanci, was let go because, among other reasons, he believed Acer wasn't responding quickly enough to the tablet phenomenon. And earlier this year the CEO of Advanced Micro Devices resigned because, conversely, he was too unenthusiastic about the tablet market.

"This market is about growth," Richard Shim, an analyst at market researcher DisplaySearch, said in a phone interview, … Read more

Almost six months since the introduction of the PlayBook and just weeks before it goes on sale, Research In Motion is throwing us yet another curveball. RIM now says that in addition to BlackBerry and PlayBook apps, its tablet will also have the ability to run Android apps.

Reaction has been mixed, to say the least. Some are cheering RIM for being "open" and giving the PlayBook customer more choices of apps. And while those two things sound great in theory, it's also a sign that RIM needs some clarity of vision.

RIM has long been a … Read more