ShortFormBlogtablets Archives

150,000 tablets number of BlackBerry PlayBooks RIM sold in the third quarter; to compare, RIM sold 14.1 million smartphones
$450 million size of the financial hit RIM took in the third quarter, partly as a result of lackluster PlayBook sales source

» Why is the PlayBook flopping? If you asked RIM, you’d get an answer that sounds pretty jargon-y: “Recent shifts in the competitive dynamics of the tablet market and a delay in the release of the PlayBook OS 2.0 software.” Here’s the English version of that answer: “The iPad, the Nook Tablet and the Kindle Fire.” But that’s just us talking. Meanwhile, RIM has been trimming the price of the PlayBook from an absurd $500 to as low as $199 — in part to clear inventory for the next version of the device, though we’re guessing the fact that other seven-inch tablets are selling for roughly that price doesn’t help.

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$199 the amount the Amazon Kindle Fire, launched earlier this week, costs
$209.63 the amount the Amazon Kindle Fire’s parts are estimated to cost source

» Loss leader vs. straight-up leader: Amazon knows that the thing that was going to get the Kindle Fire to sell was the price, and it appears that even though the device is going to sell at a $10 loss per unit, they’ll make that back quickly through the sale of music and other stuff. This is a situation unlike that of Apple, which sells its devices at a profit and makes money through the sale of content. But that said, Jeff Bezos is looking particularly Jobsian these days.

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included Amazon’s foray into the whole tablet thing (photo here) will be a totally affordable $199 and based on a slick Android-based interface that’s been face-lifted specifically for this freakin’ tablet.
missing It’s only 7 inches — a bit small for you iPad fans — and lacks such amenities as a microphone or camera. On top of this, the device is wifi-only — no 3G. Is no 3G a deal-breaker, guys? source

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one Despite the fact that the one thing the BlackBerry does better than any other mobile device is e-mail, the Playbook doesn’t allow you to use e-mail unless you’re tethered to a BlackBerry phone. Wait, what?
two The device reportedly has very few native apps — not even obvious ones like Facebook or Twitter. Or calendar apps. RIM says it’ll get Android apps at some point, but why didn’t they have it ready for launch?
three And that “not ready for launch” thing gets at the heart of the problem — the product seems rushed because updates keep coming. It makes it seem like they almost missed a major opportunity. source

» Getting a tad too defensive: One of Research in Motion’s main men, co-CEO Jim Balsillie, used this sentence of utter nonsense in defending his company’s inexplicable decision to avoid allowing e-mail over wi-fi on the Playbook: “I don’t think people realize the threat matrix to your own personal information and your PCs and a lot of different smartphone architectures is a lot greater than people realize.” What? “Threat matrix”? Really? That’s BS.

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600,000 number of Android-based Galaxy Tab units the company has sold in its first month of launch
1 million number of iPads that sold in the first month of ITS launch; they’re now hovering around 7.2 million source

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This is the first iPad competitor we’ve seen that actually seems like it might have a real shot of taking on Apple. The fact that it’s from RIM, who has been seen as a bit of an also-ran in the phone market, is a bit surprising. The reason? The OS is QNX, meaning it’s a total break from the past for the BlackBerry maker. It also has a better name than the iPad. Hello, Playbook. source

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02 Dec 2011 12:55