First impressions in consumer electronics, like dating, a world of difference: blow the launch and you're in for a hard landing.

That's why the BlackBerry PlayBook has been getting such dim reviews--if it's not love at first sight, a second look of a consumer, in particular with the handsome, capable Apple iPad out there are not.

Let us be clear, that no one doubts that BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion to build a killer business tablet can--but for some reason the company yet.

I've been using the PlayBook for a few days now and found a catalogue of shortcomings: no email, no calendar, no contacts, no 3 G cellular service, very few apps. The list goes on. Sure you can some of these functions if you link with your existing BlackBerry phone, but come on--this stuff must be baked right in.

And if you don't have a BlackBerry you'll be left feeling that this company does not want anything to do with you.

Open up the BlackBerry App world market on the PlayBook takes you to a half-abandoned strip mall where the only shops left a general Dollar and a laundrette. Look, it's not the amount of apps that matter, it is the quality. Apart from a paltry few dozen apps, those who created it in the store look like they were made in a long weekend.

RIM claims to be a whopping 3000 apps already submitted. We'll see--not yet ready, and we have no indication when they will be ready. And brace yourself: The PlayBook will not play any of the apps available through the BlackBerry App Store.

That's right, that the BlackBerry PlayBook App Store is completely independent from the BlackBerry App store. Huh?

Consumers will demand a few quality core apps that simply don't exist yet, it seems. I wanted to Pandora--nope. I wanted a quality Twitter app--nope. Quality games--nope. I was able to find a ' how to speak Swedish ' app.

What frustrates me most is that the user experience does not match the hardware. The PlayBook and offers a nice rubberized design, a beautiful screen, dual quality speakers at the front for stereo sound and two beautiful cameras (one on the front side a on the back). It is a fast, powerful and solid, but the experience is half-baked.

The operating system feels like a cross between Palm's Web OS and Apple's iOS, thanks to a sprinkling of features here and there as a pinch-op-zoom, map stack, and the ability to hold your finger down on an icon to remove or rearrange an application.

The BlackBerry PlayBook has the most beautiful multitasking experience of a tablet, in his favor--swipe up to show your apps available, from left to right the apps that you run, or swipe down to see your toolbar to see. It felt just right, and I've really enjoyed that.

You are not going to beat Apple by Apple to copy, and initially I thought RIM maybe the company to compete by creating something original. A company tablet for the Wall Street PowerPoint-loving crowd, perhaps? Not only did RIM's PlayBook not to compete with Apple not to compete in the very niche it calls the bread and butter: the business user.

BlackBerry might certainly these flaws within the next few months. But the first impressions matter.

View the original article here

Do you like this article? Share It!