RIM’s co-CEO Jim Balsillie shows off the BlackBerry Playbook at GITEX
By Bla1ze on 18 Oct 2010 12:17 pm
This year at DevCon we got to see President and Co-Chief Executive Officer Research In Motion, Mike Lazaridis speak about the BlackBerry PlayBook. Now, come time for GITEX (Gulf Information Technology Exhibition) we get to hear Co-Chief Executive Officer Research In Motion, Jim Balsillie drop his thoughts on the upcoming tablet. In addition to introducing the BlackBerry PlayBook to the Middle East, Jim Balsillie also announced BlackBerry App World 2.0 and the BlackBerry Torch. While not much new was noted, any PlayBook news is great news to us. You all still excited?
Source: TBreak
bighap Oct 18, 2010 at 12:26 pm
Don't remember seeing battery specs mentioned before. 5300mAhr is pretty beefy.
MOESTEPP Oct 18, 2010 at 12:28 pm
Ok its good stuff but this guy stinks! He is no more interested in his own company than a fly to the moon! They need a hype man to give these presentations, not this guy. It's exciting times, not boring boring blah blah blah. I can't wait for the Playbook...
Ghostnyc Oct 18, 2010 at 12:51 pm
He seems like he just read the specs on the trip over to the presentation. He doesn't seem interested in the product at all. And did I hear correctly 1080p connector? Does he understand the product? Can we get the guy from QNX to talk about the playbook all the time? He was excited about the playbook and knew his stuff.
Skeevecr Oct 18, 2010 at 4:50 pm
Presumably he meant the hdmi connector supports 1080p output.
As far as him being boring our whatever, he is the finance side of the CEO pairing and this was probably the kind of presentation to give at something like this even if he seems less excitable than the qnx guy or Mike L were when they did the devconn announcement.
fury2g Oct 18, 2010 at 8:09 pm
that was simply painful to watch....
BBThemes Oct 18, 2010 at 12:28 pm
16 32 and 64gb, nice bit of choice :)
edhoru Oct 18, 2010 at 12:30 pm
At 3.44 and 4.32 he use his blackberry to change the slides, it would've been better if he used the PlayBook instead.
From the video it looks like RIM doesn't have a working prototype yet. :(
jlb21 Oct 18, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Yeah..noticed that. Oh well. Sad, really......
jussimple Oct 18, 2010 at 2:06 pm
They have always been on but with no interaction other than being held. I would love to see the tablet in action.
stevejb Oct 18, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Can't see the video as it's blocked by my companies software.
Is there a demo of it running or actually doing anything?
jlb21 Oct 18, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Whoever did the slides should be fired....
Sure, he said HTML5 gives you the Internet OF tomorrow.
But in the slide it says "HTML5 gives you the internet tomorrow."
I don't want to wait that long for my surfing.....
I love BB. But I miss the polish of an Apple/Jobs presentation. Or perhaps I just miss seeing someone wearing a turtleneck.
WillieLee Oct 18, 2010 at 1:15 pm
It's supposed to say that. Above it they have "Flash gives you the internet today" that transitions into "HTML5 gives you the internet tomorrow". You don't need a preposition to convey the idea.
jlb21 Oct 18, 2010 at 1:23 pm
I beg to differ. Since I have nothing better to do.
Saying, for example, "HTML gives you the internet tomorrow" implies that HTML5 won't give you the internet until tomorrow.
But HTML5 gives you the internet of tomorrow, conveys to me, IMHO, that it is capable of handling today's internet, as well as whatever type of internet comes down the pike years from now.....
WillieLee Oct 18, 2010 at 1:37 pm
That's what they're saying. HTML5 is still in development. Saying that HTML5 will be able to handle anything that "comes down the pike" years from now might not be accurate and could potentially be libelous.
I now plan to keep a file on you and your promises of HTML5's capabilities. You best put a lawyer on retainer. Good day sir.
tidebuzz Oct 18, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Well that was a complete waste of time.
jlb21 Oct 18, 2010 at 12:40 pm
I watched the video again.......forgetting for the moment that I am excited to see a PlayBook in action......
Watching that video makes me want to go try someone else's tablet. That was sooooooooo boring......
Umms, Ah...1080p....um....connector.....
RIM, please hire someone that can excite an audience. Hell, I am not a huge fan of the iPhone, but gosh darn it, I like watching live blog coverage of Apple events. They just seem so damn exciting....at least compared to anything you have done.....
Kevin Michaluk Oct 18, 2010 at 12:46 pm
The funniest thing about the PlayBook here is that the display never powers down... I wonder if ShaoSoft already did up a BlackBerry Tablet OS version of Leave It On?! lol.
I realllly want to see a live demo of this thing already... fingers are crossed RIM can get this thing built and running on time and it performs as well as it looks like it should be able to given the specs and os.
R1cE Oct 18, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Wow I thought Mike Lazaridis was bad, this guy doesnt act like the co-ceo, he speaks like an intern they just hired. He seems to know nothing!
Bla1ze Oct 18, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Jim is the money man, Mike does the ramp up.. then, Mike Kirkup gets us all excited.. :D
HTC_Droid_EvO Oct 18, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Of time...ZZZZzzzZZZZ
mrspock2002 Oct 18, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Flac support baby!
jlb21 Oct 18, 2010 at 1:24 pm
zzzzzzz....zz....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...zzzzzzzz.....zzzzzzzzzzz....zzzzzz
jasonsteel Oct 18, 2010 at 2:01 pm
That's now twice RIM has shown a PowerPoint presentation / CGI video instead of demoing the actual product. Until we actually see someone using the damn thing, it's vaporware. And really, Crackberry editors? This is what you consider "showing off?" A list of bullet points, and a boring suit talking in monotone?
And again with that stupid dancing commercial for BB6? Someone really needs to tell RIM: You're advertising sucks.
paspals Oct 18, 2010 at 2:10 pm
...as the 1 in the glass window by crackberry people...
Strange days indeed... +it looks to me that some1 got ahead of time with the announcement a few weeks back.. RIM probably needs much more time then they sad, which is bad...
rich.x87 Oct 18, 2010 at 2:16 pm
lol.. its true.. jobs would have done a great job presenting de Playbook, maybe RIM can hire him for keynote presentations and products announcementes... lol..
cant waite to put my hands on a PlayBook!...
CODrules Oct 18, 2010 at 2:55 pm
This guy is boring but I still want a Playbook!! :D
tumer Oct 18, 2010 at 3:05 pm
Steve jobs showed the pad just before it was released not 4 months in advance so just relax Cx had stated recently that the pb will be a hit and when released and that the qnx is a way better os then apples and when he says something believe it!
ipwn#cb Oct 18, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Did he actually say dual ghz processors?
Ive met Jim before when I did security there, and he was really nice, but does he know anything about what he's supposed to be selling?
I'll probably buy it, jus because I love BB's...but find a new salesman lol
Redz20 Oct 18, 2010 at 3:43 pm
WHEN on earth are they gonna release flash for the blackberry PHONES if they are so aware that so many websites today are flash based?! X_X
stolzyboy Oct 18, 2010 at 4:55 pm
Mike is a much better speaker and is much better at making products sound fun and interesting.
Jim reads too much and is VERY boring!!!
abdul Oct 18, 2010 at 6:07 pm
How about announcing what's coming to Verizon,America largest phone carrier.I want to replace my pearl with a new phone.
Culex316 Oct 18, 2010 at 6:09 pm
and I still don't get why they STILL have not shown the tablet in action? Just waving it and showing videos isn't enough, hook it up to a projector and give us a hands-on presentation of what it can do.
rookie83#cb Oct 18, 2010 at 7:08 pm
I just saw the video of PlayBook at GITEX and the spec slide shows 1gb system memoery I home this is more than enough to run many apps with out the Storm 1 issues. I know the software will be different so all we can do is wait and see until the public gets hands on !!!!!
R1cE Oct 18, 2010 at 9:32 pm
It comes in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB Models and it has 1GB of RAM.
slashd0t Oct 18, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Seriously who's decision was it to have this guy present their competitor to the freaking iPad!?! This is seriously one of the worst presentations I have ever seen! I get the fact that this guy is the "money" guy, but, hell, get one of the rim product managers up there exciting the crowd about it!
Hell, get anyone but that guy!
egranlund Oct 19, 2010 at 1:55 am
I'm starting to feel that by the time they release this device, or even let someone touch it Apple will have jumped ahead of them.
I'm really excited to get my hands on this device...it's painful to watch RIM let the opportunity to jump ahead of Jobs and co go right past them...