[GSGFlash]

Saying that you don't need native contacts/calendar is one thing, saying that you prefer not having them is just plain silly. It's all about options.

For someone like me, who doesn't have a BB smartphone, I would love native email/calendar/contacts on the PB, and, honestly, the Playbook, as a tablet, will feel unfinished as long as it doesn't have those things.

[Kerms]

I completely agree - all native stuff would do is bring more Droid drones and iDroids in complaining and comparing stuff.
It should be a requirement to have a BB phone to even use the thing in my world - that assures a tight integration with the phone and a lot less of having to accommodate other phone platforms. It may even draw people AWAY from other phone platforms so they can use the unique features of the Playbook and phone integration. RIM needs to lead again, not accommodate and play follow the leader..

BUT I'm sure there are zillions who will disagree - it's been discussed to death so I'm sitting this one out.

You're welcome.
.

And yet many can't wait for the Android player to have those apps that Droid users have on their device.

Oh and requiring a tablet to be tied to another device isn't going to draw more people in, it's going to cause them to over look it. To draw people in they should have had an on tablet PIM app and the bridge. This way it won't matter what phone you have and you may get more people to say I want that bonus feature and buy a BB.

RIM did it backwards IMO

[falconeight]

very true...I don't need all those things on my tablet. I don't need netflix. hulu, movie download service, or anything else that makes a tablet a tablet. I just want a black slab to put my coffee cup on so my table doesn't get wet.

[caboose01]

I would agree if it was easier to move attachments between the PB and the phone. It is easy enough to attach an outgoing file made on the PB to an email but I can't save an incoming file to the PB, at least I haven't figured out how to do it.

Not to highjack the thread, but you say it's easy to attach files made on the playbook to an email? I use hotmail, but don't see how I can attach a file to an outgoing email. Any help?

[Skeevecr]

Now I use an iPad2, Galaxy Tab 10.1 and occasionally an HTC Flyer... and all three have native email. I can't even remember a time I've ever used a tablet when I didn't check my email. I'm always doing it, and not having it on the PB was untenable for me.

As a counterpoint, I have owned an ipad for over a year now and have used the native email client a total of one time because other than a larger frontend it offered me nothing that I couldn't get from a webclient for my personal email and for my work email both my phone and my computer were far superior than the ipad so there was no point using it for that either.

Personally, I want them to hurry up and release a native email client on the playbook, not because I intend to use it, but because it will be one less stick for people to use to beat rim about and maybe there is a chance of discussing the product more objectively and acknowledging that it does some things great (multitasking, gestures etc.) and in other areas like big name 3rd party apps (kindle etc.) it is still sorely lacking.

[BoldBigWorm]

The Playbook not having a phonebook,spell check,note pad,password keeper and a few more minor things is a stupid move on rims part. I honestly think they tried to sabotage the playbook software wise.

I love my playbook to the death of it but is seems un finished...

[falconeight]

For the LOVE of god rim bosses give me email and a got damn im app! Its all I need and I will shut up for ever.

[pythons]

IMO it was a mistake to be left off when you tout your device as being for the business professional. Corp users for the most part are either on Exchange and using Activesync or Exchange using a BES. There are a few exceptions.

Why limit yourself to only BB users when you're trying to enter a market and then try to compare your device to other devices.

They should have at a minimum had a native PIM that was EAS,POP3,IMAP compatible and also included the bridge for those he needed the security of a BES until RIM was able to put it on the device as a native client.

This way you're not limited yourself to BB user, iPhone & Android users could take full advantage of the device and may like it enough to switch their phones to a BB phone.

As for keeping them sync'd. If your use a push service they stay insync without you having to manually do it.

RIM got hammered for it and it doesn't matter how good something may be, once it get's a bad rep over something it's very hard to turn that around.

You're absolutely correct - RIM created a tablet that for the business user isn't functional unless that same user already has a blackberry phone. With business users leaving RIM in droves for Apple & Android why would RIM make a product that requires it be matched up with another device people are running away from?

If anything the "new to BB" people who bought the Playbook are for sure ruined as future blackberry phone users...
...I'm still in shock that RIM didn't put in it's perfectly solid "Password Keeper".

[jamesbondOO7]

Normally, I am okay with it, but it would be nice to be able to type up email on a plane.

You just have to do it on you smartphone.

[jamesbondOO7]

For me, it works absolutely perfectly, and it did not with my iPad.
My 9900 synchs automatically with my Outlook via bluetooth (it backs up once a day as well). Being asked for conflict resolution happens not even once a week.
I do my file transfers via wifi.
I don't have to worry about having to synchronise the tablet.
I back up the PB once a week which is the only time I have to connect it.
The PB is an extension of my Bold, a surfing device and a presentation tool (and one can surf whilst making a presentation via HDMI, how cool is that? )

[engin]

I work for an organisation that deals with some ocnfidential information. I am currently looking to initiate a PB Pilot project once the PBAS server is released.

To me, the thought of tethering to the BlackBerry handset is a security plus point and not a negative.

The fact that the handset is already secured via BES IT policies and that the data (whether mail, contact, or work documents) remains on the handset means that, the rollout of PBs is simplified and also that we have minimal data "leak points".

Yes, for some a native mail / contact package is a good thing, but as already stated earlier in this thread, near as dammit everyone has a webmail interface nowadays for public mail access.

If the pilot is succesful, I will be pushing for an BPAS IT Policy to disable native apps.