“If Research in Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook is to succeed at market the way the company hopes, there are a few engineering hurdles to overcome,” John Paczkowski reports for AllThingsD. “The most significant, according to Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu, is the device’s relatively poor battery life.”
“Sources tell him the tablet currently lasts just a few hours per charge, compared with rivals like Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, which lasts about six, and the iPad, which lasts upward of 10,” Paczkowski reports. “If true, that’s an untenable situation for RIM, which really needs to hit the mark with the PlayBook, and it may cause a delay of the launch–if only for a bit. ‘From our understanding, this [is] likely why RIMM pushed out its launch to the May 2011 quarter,’ Wu writes.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Dead Company Walking.
But my vapourware PlayBook has a battery life 100 kazillion hours.
of
They just don’t fscking get it. What Apple does is not easy. They spend untold effort getting a product to perform as it does. RIM is a bunch of engineering hacks!
It’s entire interface is AIR, isn’t it? AIR includes Flash, so maybe it’s Flash that’s causing the issue.
From what I understand, Apple helped develop the battery technology they are using. They didn’t just go to the Sanyo battery store and just pick out some AA’s. This stuff is not for the faint of heart.
It is not just the battery, it is also how the processor, memory and screen are optimized to work together.
Sounds like a playbook taken from the SF NWhiners.
Apple’s learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent pad. Phone guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.
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This delay will surely allow RIM to figure how to increase battery life 5 fold to be competitive with iPad.
AND the only reason Samsung is in any kind of shape to come in a distant second (works for sandisk on fake ipods) is that Apple taught them how.
My guess is that Apple is finding new chip fabs that do not say Samsung on the building.
My advice: increase battery size and rebrand as the Playbrick.
dijonaise:
I wonder if Samsung gives Apple first dibbs on Samsung’s best hardware technologies in return for allowing Samsung to learn from their relationship?
RIM was going to have a hard time gaining any traction in the market before this delay. Now, if the iPAD 2 comes out before this, RIM might as well cancel the project.
A4 chip. make-believe iPads can’t have ’em.
It’s disgusting how MDN roots out critical comments made on the web about potentially competitive products.
I’m an apple fanboy for sure, but sheesh! Give it a rest, MDN.
I really do wish RIM the best. And I was hoping to get my hands on a playbook.But they seem to just be digging themselves a deeper hole with their hyperbole. I love their email client, but that’s all they got.
What’s wrong with you, man? This is solid news, pure and simple . . . especially when it comes to RIM blowhards who go out of their way–OUT OF THEIR WAY–to brag about their new “PlayBook” and how far ahead of the iPad it is in every way.
Does this kind of unmitigated hubris not gall you to your core? Someone comes up to you, slams your kids, your job, your house, your car, your wife, ad infinitum, and you say NOTHING when it is revealed that he’s a braggadocious, lying ass in every way?
Wow. Your cheeks must be red and raw from turning them so much!
@ BiteanAAPL
Excuse me, but that’s MDN’s job, the rooting part. If you were a fanboy you wouldn’t have called yourself one. Now go back to your Windows or RIM site.
But I thought their co-CEO said it was the most advanced OS in the world…. Wouldn’t that mean it’s efficient code with power management built in? Guess his definition of “advanced” is different than mine.
That is why I love my iPad – I NEVER have to worry about battery life.. It is great
@bezoar
That was pure genius. Thanks to you for making me shoot beer out of my nose.
One, take Shaw Wu’s analysis with a grain of salt, as he’s been wrong before.
Two, the big question surrounding the PlayBook has always been battery life. We know it’s got a dual-core chip, and it runs Adobe Air, so it must be using alot of juice, but the weight of the device seems normal for a 7″ screen. So, short battery life was always a concern.
Three, this also explains why QNX is not coming to BB phones for a while. Not only does QNX require a dual-core chip, but they need a chip that isn’t going to be crippled by weak battery life.
OMG!!!
They went back to the PRE iPhone years; forgot it was 2010-11.
Just get a new set of AAA batteries for it. Durcell should do nicely.
@bezoar
Brilliant!
Just remember that various analysts were speaking out of various orifices about the iPad and iPHone before they was introduced.