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RIM shows off crazy collaboration app for PlayBook

At Mobile World Congress, RIM shows off a concept app that would give PlayBook tablets quite a colorful role at meetings.

Christopher MacManus
Crave contributor Christopher MacManus regularly spends his time exploring the latest in science, gaming, and geek culture -- aiming to provide a fun and informative look at some of the most marvelous subjects from around the world.
Christopher MacManus
Big ideas still exist at RIM. Will this futuristic shared-space concept app ever see the light of day? Screenshot by Christopher MacManus/CNET

Despite the aura of doom and gloom surrounding Research In Motion, the company demonstrated an amazing concept app at Mobile World Congress 2012 that could make you a believer again.

Confetti, a colorful collaboration app for PlayBook tablets, aims to make meetings more lively by adding a little flair to file and image sharing. The setup creates a virtual space for PlayBook tablets, and a demo shows that an optional cheap QVGA Webcam allows you to position PlayBooks in multiple configurations (like in a circle or together in a cluster) for enhanced interactivity. File sharing appears simple, as you can flick content from one device to another over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

BlackBerry enthusiast Web site Crackberry shot video of the colorful software developed by RIM's Swedish division and describes the experience in further detail.

It could make a meeting more fun, as with this aspect of the experience described by Crackberry: "Before a meeting starts, there's a casual game of virtual catch that you play by tapping your screen's dot. It shoots a streaming of jagged, funky pixels over to another member, and you keep bumping it around until the meeting is ready to start."

When asked about a possible release, the RIM rep in the video says, "This is just an inspirational concept showing the power of the Blackberry Platform."