BlackBerry makers Research in Motion just proved it can innovate with the PlayBook, a major new platform that vaults BlackBerry out of its doldrums and potentially back into the top rank of hot consumer technologies.
The 7-inch PlayBook is a radical break for a company that's been used to evolutionary steps, and some of its specs beat the competing iPad and Samsung's Galaxy Tab easily. The PlayBook's dual-core, 1-Ghz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, for instance, is faster than anything the competition has to offer.
The PlayBook runs a new operating system, which is based on QNX Neutrino, a product RIM bought earlier this year. Neutrino is a modern, UNIX-like operating system that currently runs in many embedded systems, including cars. According to RIM, developers will be able to build apps for the PlayBook based on a range of technologies, including Java, Flash, Adobe Air, OpenGL, and RIM's "WebWorks" HTML widget platform.
The PlayBook has two cameras, 1080p HD video playback, but shockingly no 3G. Instead, it has Wi-Fi, and may also rely on pairing with an existing BlackBerry handheld.
This could be either smart or dangerous, depending on how it's marketed. A Wi-Fi only tablet means the PlayBook doesn't have to be approved by carriers, but at the same time it may not get sold by carriers; where will people buy this device? If it's marketed as a partner for a BlackBerry, people get confused by "one thing that requires another thing." Even Apple has trouble getting some iPhone owners to sync with their PCs. If the right enterprise apps are available, though, businesses may take to this easily managed, secure solution. But if RIM gets the sales story right, the PlayBook could actually be the first RIM device someone owns - and they might then follow up with a phone.
Almost as importantly as the device itself, the PlayBook shows that RIM isn't boring. The mobile market seems to be dividing into two camps: fast innovators such as Apple and Google, who adapt quickly to market conditions with a dizzying array of new software, and lumbering behemoths such as Nokia and Microsoft who seem to always be a year behind.
When RIM launched the BlackBerry Torch earlier this year, analysts worried that it was too conservative, too worried about its enterprise base, and too comfortable with its number-one position in the U.S. to want to upset its apple cart. The BlackBerry Torch and BlackBerry 6 OS got good reviews (not least from myself), but they were seen as an evolutionary step.
The PlayBook is not evolutionary. It's big, it's exciting, and it's risky. It's an aggressive gamble that could set the agenda and actually cause Apple to chase behind—or it could be an expensive boondoggle that falls flat.
Which way the PlayBook goes depends, in large part, on sales, marketing, and app developers. Like with the Samsung Galaxy Tab, RIM is staying mum on the PlayBook's price. That's worrying. The device also has to have the right apps, and RIM needs to explain to users why they want it and how to use it. Will it be sold through business channels? Through carrier stories? At Best Buy?
RIM is taking a huge set of risks here, but only big bets win big. A successful PlayBook could keep RIM where they want to be, at number one.