RIM officially entering the tablet battle

RIM has made a move and has confirmed today that it will be releasing a new table device to be called Playbook. It is expected to hit the US market in early 2011 and Europe in Q2 2011.

At first sight the design is pretty sleek and well designed. Some of the Playbook's strengths include multitasking (runs on an OS called QNX, which RIM has presented as capable of doing "things that you have never seen before"), front and rear cameras, it will support wifi, 3G, 4G and bluetooth, among others.

The feature that has surprised me the most is its size. It has a 7-inch screen, which makes it significantly smaller than the iPad (9.7" screen), making it lighter and easier to carry around. I just wonder whether this means if the Playbook and the iPad will be competing for the same users. The device is name is pretty good one and does not resonate to the typical "business" theme usually associated with Blackberries; pretty much the opposite.

Another big battle is coming. I have no need yet for a table device - my laptop and iPhone work good enough for me - but I look forward to looking into this further as months go by and new players come to the market.

Takeaways from traveling

I have had the opportunity to enjoy a 3-week trip to Australia over Xmas time. In addition to swimming trunks, sunglasses and short-sleeved t-shirts, I took my "technical" equipment with me. A couple of quick takeaways:

(1) I really need to be connected. I haven't watched tv, I haven't spoken on my cell much...but I have really longed for an internet access all the time. Not from a laptop but, more importantly, from my phone. I can survive easily sending emails rather than calling, I like updating my Facebook status and uploading pictures, Google maps is a life-saver, mobile access keeps you entertained while waiting for the bus... No doubt, I do need it.

(2) My Storm sucks. This is nothing new, though. In addition to being slow and battery-consuming as hell, the installed applications (from Facebook to Google Maps + push email) will not work with another carrier, even if your phone is unlocked (I guess this applies to all Blackberries). I still find this hard to believe. I am sure there is a way... but it is not user friendly, at least for me. I had to access everything through my browser. A pain in the neck. Hope Android and Apple do a better job at this.

(3) Telcos are dinosaurs. They do operate in a lively sector, they are supposed to provide state-of-the-art new services, they are at the forefront of technology... but at the end of the day they are dinosaurs. How is it possible that a global company such as Vodafone -my service provider in Spain- cannot offer me a better deal in Australia -where it is present- than any other carrier? Rather than global companies, they are a sum of local ones. Same thing applies to the Telefonicas and Oranges of the world, I pressume.

Had Vodafone offered me a good deal, I would have gone with them while in Australia. On the contrary, by not giving me the unlocking code, they forced me to go to Storm Unlocker (check it out, really cool, quick and effective, and even featuring Paypal) and switch to another carrier instead.