Are the BlackBerry PlayBook and LG G-Slate ready to take on iPad2?

By ANDY IHNATKO ai@andyi.com Apr 22, 2011 10:22PM

The launch of Blackberry's Playbook tablet in Toronto Tuesday, April 19, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese

I’m not entirely sure that the tech industry will produce a tablet computer that can effectively compete against the iPad anytime soon. But it’s inevitable that somebody will produce a tablet that can succeed in the marketplace alongside the iPad, and it appears that the only way to design such a device is via the Braille Method: companies are just going to have to feel their away around until a clear answer reveals itself right under their fingers.

It’s the strong and slow boring of hard boards, as ideas are methodically tested and put out before the public. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, when you get right to the truth, is the Giant Smartphone that myopic prognosticators predicted the iPad would be. Motorola’s Xoom is a nice piece of hardware, but it can mostly be summarized as “It’s like the iPad, only without all of the advantages.” It’s a double-bacon-cheeseburger made out of laminated soy instead of cow and pig. Not inedible, but why on earth would you order one when the genuine article is actually less expensive?

Two new tablets came out this week: RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook and LG’s G-Slate (offered in the US through T-Mobile). Each represents a departure from the iPad mold. Well, enough of a departure that they’ll avoid Motorola’s mistake, anyway. And while each has their individual pluses and minuses, they share three elements that indicate future directions for the Not-Really-An-iPad market to go.

They’re Both Pocketable

. . . In the sense that it’s at least conceivable that you can carry the PlayBook or the G-Slate around without a case or a bag.

That’s kind of a big deal. The iPad’s 10-inch screen contributes to the device’s unmatched latitude of functions but it also means you’ll always be carrying it in a bag, or jerking your head back towards the table you just left, panicked that you might have left your iPad folio case behind. And then remembering that oh, yes, it’s right here in my hand.

The G-Slate is just as wide as the iPad, so you get a nice full page width to work with when you’re working on a document or reading webpages. But the display has a widescreen aspect ratio, which makes it two or three inches shorter. It’s still too big to be considered “pocket-sized,” but nonetheless I can fit it in plenty of back pockets.

The PlayBook is just about the right size for a small tablet. It’s closer to the size of a Kindle than an iPad and it slides easily in most of my back pockets (note: my fashion statement is “I’d rather have useful pockets than dignity”) and it fits in many coat pockets as well.

The difference between the PlayBook and the iPad (and even the PlayBook and the G-Slate, to a lesser degree) is that it moves the tablet closer to being a ubiquitous device. What good is the greatest tablet in the world to you if you leave it at home?

I’ve been pondering this over the past couple of weeks. There’s something more intimate and personal about these smaller tablets. I like the size. I can’t see myself doing as much with a smaller tablet as I can with a larger one, but the smaller size could be a major draw for someone who’s looking for a tablet that functions less as a computer and more as a content device with web and email.

They Both Work As Standalone Devices

Out of the box, an iPad is a $500 mirror until you connect it to a PC or a Mac and establish an ongoing relationship between it and an iTunes library. It can download media and apps on its own, and it can sync content from other sources and other iTunes libraries, but the tether between this iPad and that computer is like piano wire. It’s the only way you can back up the device and install updates.

Setting up the PlayBook was a quick and (mostly) painless walk through a series of setup screens. There was one progress-halting glitch, but only provoked me to sigh and chalk it up to The Version 1.0 Disease, instead of provoking me to chuck the device into the drywall like a ninja star.

Speaking of Version 1.0 Disease: the first thing the PlayBook did once I configured it for my WiFi network was locate and download an OS update. Nice: OS updates are important enough that the responsibility for finding and installing them should be taken off of the shoulders of the user, who, after all, just wants to hurry up and start playing Farmville.

The G-Slate is an Android 3.0 device. I signed in with my Google ID and minutes later, it was fully configured with my email accounts and all of the Android apps I downloaded and installed when testing other Android phones and tablets. The G-Slate effectively became a clone of the Xoom tablet I’ve been keeping an eye on for the past couple of months.

In fact, my only Whiskey Tango Foxtrot moment came when the G-Slate suddenly connected to my secure WiFi network. Not cool, Google: I would never have consented to storing a secure network password in the cloud if I’d have been asked. And there went an hour of my day, as I reset the password and updated the 1.8 million devices in my house that use that router.

So is an untethered experience superior? It’s really just a style choice. The benefit is simplicity and a streamlined “out of the box” experience. Setting up an iPad is slightly irky, but it’s smooth. And many folks (myself included) see an advantage in the fact that the secrets on your iPad are kept between your iPad and your desktop without any need to tell the largest data-collection company in the world who all of your friends and business contacts are.

They Both Play Flash Content

And here, Envy reared its ugly head.

Apple won’t put a Flash player on the iPad. Steve Jobs even issued a papal bull on the subject, to address the charge that Apple is just trying to steer its users away from free content on the Web and towards paid content available through the iTunes Store.

Naw, I believe Steve. Philosophically, Apple thinks they should promote the more open HTML5 standard for video and interactivity. On a more practical note, they cite their opinion that Flash on a mobile device is crashy, it uses so much CPU that the battery burns up too fast, and that it doesn’t even deliver a good video or gaming experience to the user. I also think that philosophically at least, Apple chafes at the idea of tying part of their fortune to the whims and quality-control systems of an outside software company.

So be it. Apple has every right to decide the destiny of their own device. So far, they do seem to know what they’re going, yes?

But I think Apple’s completely wrong about Flash. I’ve been watching Conan and Colbert all week long on the PlayBook and the G-Slate; Flash video works perfectly fine. The framerate could be described as “slideshow-esque” until the local buffer fills up, but after no more than thirty seconds, I’m watching an hour of smooth, sound-synced video.

What does Flash video playback do to the battery? It drains down about as much as you’d expect when you play streamed, compressed video for an hour. On both devices, I can watch a couple of hours of video and still have most of the charge left.

Is the Flash plugin stable? Why, my friends, it’s just as stable as the desktop Flash player.

(Yes, thank you; I thought we’d all enjoy a good laugh together. Sorry if you were drinking something when you read that.)

The plugin does crash the mobile browser sometimes. But it rarely happens in the middle of playback and it doesn’t happen frequently enough for any regular desktop Flash user to raise an eyebrow. Hell, I’ve had to restart my desktop browser just while writing this very column.

Yup, Mobile Flash is imperfect. Gaming in particular is a real problem: Adobe hasn’t figured out how to translate the ubiquitous “a mouse pointer is hovering over something but isn’t clicking it” user-interface to a touchscreen device.

But Flash video plays a damned-sight better on the PlayBook and the G-Slate than it does on the iPad. It’s as simple as this: I can watch last night’s “Conan” and “The Colbert Report” and last week’s “The Amazing Race” on these tablets without any problems. On the iPad, I can’t. I like those shows. I therefore see this as a drawback of my iPad.

Hence, the Envy. Pulling out a little tablet and watching a recent TV show while you’re out enjoying a morning bagel is wonderful. Doubleplus-so if you’re doing it for free instead of for $1.99 per download.

The last twist of the knife: Apple claims that “no Flash” brings a few advantages to the iPad. Okay, well, if any of these advantages appeal to a G-Slate or PlayBook user, he or she can open a Preferences box and simply turn Flash off. Or, they can remove the plug-in entirely.

Spotlight Dance: The BlackBerry PlayBook

I hesitate to formally review the PlayBook because it doesn’t appear to be truly finished yet. The current model (available with 16, 32, or 64 gigs of storage) is WiFi-only; RIM promises that a 3G/4G model will be out later this year. The current model has — holy cats — no email client, calendar, or contacts database: RIM promises that those apps are coming.

The pickings in the PlayBook’s app store are painfully thin. When I couldn’t find a version of the Kindle app, I just assumed there was something wrong with the Search feature. I mean, honestly, about thirty minutes after I put my Wall-E animatronic toy on my WiFi network by installing an Arduino board, the doorbell rang and it was someone from Amazon offering to create a Kindle app for this thing I’d just built.

The PlayBook comes with a built-in reader and store app for Kobo, so it’s not as though you can’t use the it for e-books. No, I’m more concerned about how (the bloody hell) a major device like the PlayBook hits the market without lining up such an obvious and willing ally. It seems incredible that this — and certain other no-brainer apps — weren’t available for download on launch day.

I shall be kind and reckon that the app store, too, will begin to straighten itself out in the coming months. I spent most of my time with the PlayBook in the web browser and it’s media player apps and for whatever it’s worth . . . I liked ‘em.

I’ve already mentioned that this is a computer that can’t even get email, except via a webapp, and that there are practically no third-party apps for it. I think you know where this is going but I hope you’ll keep reading anyway because what’s actually here is actually rather nice.

The PlayBook is a handsome device: solid without feeling heavy, durable without feeling clunky. It’s been finished and machined like a business device, echoing RIM’s personality as a company that makes business communication devices.

But why, oh why did they make the Power button a tiny nailhead that’s mounted flush with the bezel? It takes effort to engage it. This design choice seems to state “You’re never meant to manually switch this thing into and out of Sleep mode.”

Charging is done from a standard Micro-USB port (hooray) or via a set of metal contacts that settle into a cradle. There’s also a micro-HDMI port for driving displays up to 1080p in dual-display or mirrored mode. Front and rear-facing cameras shoot decent 3 and 5-megapixel photos, and 1080p HD video.

Sound and Vision: its screen is the first one I’ve seen that can rival the iPad’s for color and clarity, and they didn’t skimp on the internal speakers, either. The PlayBook delivers surprisingly loud and rich sound. Clearly, the media experience was a priority and the device certainly delivers.

You can load up your PlayBook with content via USB. Alas, it doesn’t simply show up on your desktop as a simple USB mass storage device. You’ll need to install a set of drivers first. Once that’s done, you can just drag stuff straight in without any middleware. Built-in players support most video, audio, and picture formats, and the full Documents-To-Go suite lets you read and edit most Office files.

The PlayBook’s user interface is extremely encouraging. It’s simple, effective, and actually quite pretty, though I reckon that this last element is mostly enforced by the determination of the developer. The OS and its built-in aps have flow and logic. I didn’t get lost even once throughout my time with the device.

The screen’s touch sensor actually extends all the way to the edge of the glass instead of ending at the bezel. This allows for a simple and easy-to-learn set of gestures for controlling apps. Swiping from the top of the device into the screen displays an app’s function menu. Swiping across switches between open apps. Swiping up reveals the app launcher and manager.

Corner gestures do things like reveal and hide the keyboard (when an app doesn’t pull it up automatically) and the system ribbon. They’re not as obvious, but it’s a natural and easy extension of the concept.

As easy as it is to remember these gestures, the PlayBook also gives you visual cues when appropriate. Overall, I really think the PlayBook is on to something, here. I wish there were more apps available so that this interface could really crack its knuckles and put on a show. Even as-is, RIM seems to have come up with a lovely solution to the problem of managing a great many functions on a pocketable screen.

A marquee-level feature of the PlayBook is how well it plays with your BlackBerry phone. Once you’ve linked the two, the PlayBook becomes an extension of your handset, delivering big-screen apps for the mail, contacts, and appointments on the device. It’ll also automatically inherit any secure connections that your phone has, and the PlayBook can share the phone’s internet connection.

I’ve often said — without much snark intended — that a BlackBerry phone is more of a fleet vehicle than a sports car. It’s the one that you’re issued when you take your job. It was designed to appeal to the poor schmoes who have to support and maintain the dozens or hundreds of phones their IT department distributes, and not the people who have to use them every day. Whatever else the PlayBook is, it seems consistent with RIM’s existing corporate philosophy: at its core, it’s not “a whole second tablet computer that needs support” . . . it’s an extension of an existing phone.

I can’t really recommend the PlayBook to anybody today. Its present features work very well, and it’s a highly appealing pocket tablet. If RIM’s CEO had offered the world a 90-minute keynote demo of everything this tablet can do today, suffice to say that the world would be extremely excited to get their hands on it in three months time when it’s finished.

Alas, it’s shipping this week. I join the chorus of people who will scan the spec sheet and say “Seriously? No email client?” Today’s PlayBook would have to be pretty damned inexpensive before anybody could overlook its omissions, uncertainties, and imponderables.

I’ll talk about pricing at the end but: no, the PlayBook is most assuredly not Pretty Damned Inexpensive.

Spotlight Dance: LG G-Slate

There’s much less left for me to say about the G-Slate. It’s an Android 3.0 slate, and therefore most of what I wrote about the usability of the Motorola Xoom a couple of months ago applies here. It’s a functional tablet OS with very little that seems exciting or even particularly clever.

Mostly, the Android OS is like the plumbing in your house. It shakes and rattles and if it were put together right it wouldn’t do that, but it works and you really take no notice of it. You’re neither a fan nor an enemy. The G-Slate, like other Android tablets, expresses itself through the apps you download. The Kindle app works fine. Cool, now I’m streaming music via Pandora. Etc.

The Maps and Navigation features kick the iPad’s built-in butt up and down the schoolyard, though. The G-Slate ships with the full 3D version of Google Maps. In practically any city with more than three Starbucks you can explore and navigate through a 3D model of the street map. Multitouch gestures are quick and agile thanks to the G-Slate’s dual-core processor.

Turn-by-turn voice navigation is free and easy. As usual, touch a button and say “Navigate to The Outer Limits in Waltham” and within a few seconds, you’re on your way to the comic book store.

The G-Slate specifically is highly appealing. I’ve already spoken of the appeal of a smaller tablet. The G-Slate, with its credible Android app library, can articulate that advantage much better than the PlayBook or the Galaxy Tab. The device comes across as A Wicked Awesome Reader (whether you’re reading books, websites, documents, or email) as opposed to a cut-down tablet.

That’s not meant to downplay the G-Slate’s capabilities. When hooked up to my Bluetooth keyboard, it became a perfectly serviceable word processor, though I point out that “perfectly serviceable” is several syllables off from “perfect” and several cuts down from the total solution that the iPad represents.

The G-Slate is a slim-and-trim tablet that takes most of its design cues from the iPad. It’s heavier than the iPad 2, though, and its smaller footprint makes it feel even heavier. Ports include the customary mini-HDMI and micro-USB ports and, annoyingly, a separate needle-thin hole for a special charger. File this under “another thing you have to remember to pack for your trip.” The battery lasts an iPad-standard “8 to 10 hours” in practice.

The screen is gorgeous: it’s a full 720p HD display (1280x768). HD videos — even streamed from YouTube — look great but the display really performs in detail-ey apps like Google Maps. Put it side-by-side against the iPad and the PlayBook, however, and you can tell that it isn’t rendering the same wide gamut of colors as the other displays.

The G-Slate is also the first major 4G tablet to hit the market. The Xoom promises 4G LTE speeds later this year, and that’s lovely, but for now, this is the only one that’s delivering. Bonus: T-Mobile doesn’t charge for WiFi hotspot tethering, so you can share your 4G connection to nearby devices for free.

(Here it comes…)

The G-Slate has front and rear-facing 2 and 5-megapixel cameras. As usual for tablets, they shoot decent HD video.

(Here it is…)

. . . And the rear-facing camera shoots in 3D.

I was lying about the Amazon rep coming to my house to write me a Kindle client but I swear I’m telling the truth about this: the G-Slate has two cameras and you can shoot video in HD, using either 1950‘s style red/green anaglyph (which you can view on any screen or on any print, if you’re wearing plastic 3D glasses) or side-by-side 3D (which only works on 3D TVs).

OK, well, yes: it’s a gimmick. But it’s a fun one. You will spend a silly amount of time shooting in 3D. You’ll also likely take 3D video of pretty much anyone you show this tablet to. You will shoot your own version of Dr. Tongue’s 3-D House Of Pancakes.

It won’t transform your life. The 3D video isn’t even terribly good. But look: it’s a fun feature and it’s not as though the G-Slate would have cost $100 less without that second camera. I sincerely say that I welcome the presence of a somewhat daft-but-cool feature in a major hardware release, so long as it doesn’t get in your way when you get sick of playing with it.

Back To The Similarities

So we have the PlayBook, which shows lots of promise but clearly isn’t ready for retail yet, and the G-Slate, which is actually quite an attractive little tablet, and at least offers an answer to the question “Why would I buy this instead of an iPad?”

Specifically: because it’s slightly more likely to fit into a pocket and it plays Flash. Neither of these are convincing answers but at least they’re credible ones.

Alas, both of these tablets are kneecapped by the toughest problem facing any iPad competitor: they’re way too expensive. The WiFi-only PlayBook costs $499, $599 and $699 for its 16, 32, and 64 gig models. It’s exactly the same pricing as the iPad 2. An utter nonstarter, particularly given the severe limitations of the device.

The 32-gigabyte G-Slate is available for $529 after applying an instant coupon and a mail-in rebate ... and after you sign a two-year contract. 5 gigs of data per month will run you $49 a month, which is the next step up after the damned-near-useless 200 megabytes a month plan.

The off-contract price is $749. By comparison, the 32 gig iPad 3G is $729, with 2 gigabytes of monthly data for $25 and no contract or additional charges . . . and remember, the cheapest “free and clear” iPad is $499.

The range of pricing options available for the G-Slate complicates things a bit but the conclusion is still pretty clear: it’s a tough sell. Even if, for the sake of argument, we say that the iPad’s OS and apps aren’t superior (a subjective opinion, but I’ll argue it until you want to gnaw your own ears off), and even if we say that the size of the iPad’s app library shouldn’t be a factor in the decision (but do keep in mind that you could buy every tablet-optimized Android 3.0 app in the Marketplace and still have enough change from a hundred dollar bill to go out for a nice dinner) . . .

. . .

. . . Where was I?

Well, whatever. The G-Slate takes the crown as My Favorite Android Tablet but that’s an aside. We must come right back to the point that anybody with $600 to spend on a tablet and who’s willing to spend another grand in wireless fees isn’t buying an Android device. They’re headed straight for an Apple Store. Where they still can’t buy an iPad for another couple of weeks yet, because several million Americans have already come to the exact same conclusion and they got to the store first.

Nonetheless, these devices show some of the gaps in the iPad’s armor. Some day, someone’s going to make a 7-inch or 9-inch Android tablet that can play Flash videos and they’ll sell it free-and-clear for $200 less than the cheapest iPad. Or, they’ll add a mix of features that Apple isn’t interested in but which this company has incorporated flawlessly.

When that day comes, people like me will stop talking about the finer points of the app store ecosystem and a well-thought-out interface and a high-quality user experience and will start saying things like “. . . but damn, for $250 it’s one hell of a great deal.”

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