[Matt J]

I was at the mall with my daughter yesterday and she wanted to go into the Apple store to play a "Dora game" on the Mac they set up for kids... OK...

So, while she was playing, I asked one of the Apple "associates" how much a Bluetooth keyboard costs. He asked which Apple product I wanted to use it with... I said, "no, it's for my PlayBook, I heard it works...." I then pulled my PB out to show him.

Needless to say I demonstrated its awesome power. I loaded up the pre-loaded movie, mimimized it, and then loaded up Need for Speed, minimized it, and loaded up the the calculator. I them proceeded to play NFS minimized while the movie ran.... then started switching between the three apps.

He was amazed and admitted that the iPad2 couldn't even come close to doing that. Then I loaded up the browser and ran a flash site (UpToTen - the fun place to learn online) while everything else was going on. The PB didn't slow down or lag. The look on his face was priceless!

[rjkolo]

You should have taken an HD video of his face with your PB all at the same time...lol. But yes I have let "loyal" Apple lovers play with my PB as well and they are amazed as well at what it can do. Makes me realize that this isn't a throw away device in 6 months like most Apple products are...

[mark_rivers19]

well, not to Burst your bubble, but working in an Apple store doesn't equate to Apple Fanboi.
i have a friend who's an Apple Genius and he owns a lot of things that are not from Apple..is he a geek. yeah! is he an apple fan.. nope.

[s219]

If this story is even true, I am sure he was just being polite (diplomacy is a key training point there). When I showed my PlayBook to some fellow iOS developers, the reactions included 1) NFS is OK, but it's seriously about 3-4 years behind the best mobile games right now, and 2) what good is Flash if half of the Flash websites we tested were horrible on touchscreen devices?

I know NFS is impressive for a typical BB user, but you guys need to stop holding it up as something special, because that is not the case. The latest and greatest mobile gaming showcase is Infinity Blade for iPad 2, which uses all the latest OpenGL technologies and takes full advantage of the GPU in the iPad 2 (which is a generation ahead of the PB hardware by the way). Stop acting like NFS is some holy grail -- it's at a 2008 technology level.

As far as Flash, I keep telling people to visit sites like hyundai.com and then come back here to brag.

Seriously, we need to demand better from RIM, not accept mediocrity and hold it up like it's awesome kung fu. Bragging about an old game on last generation GPU hardware is just lame. You're lucky the Apple store guy was being polite, because he could have trotted out Infinity Blade on the iPad 2 and stomped you.

[donnation]

At what pint were you going to watch the movie while playing NFS? I can't get over how this is an answer for the PlayBook's problems: "Yeah but I can have a movie playing in the background while I'm doing something else"

So what, that feature is completely useless. It might demonstrate the power of it but useless power means nothing.

[ummie4]

At what pint were you going to watch the movie while playing NFS? I can't get over how this is an answer for the PlayBook's problems: "Yeah but I can have a movie playing in the background while I'm doing something else"

So what, that feature is completely useless. It might demonstrate the power of it but useless power means nothing.

Maybe its kinda like why most people buy Lamborghinis. will they ever do 220 mph in it? Probably not, that being said I want to make it clear that im not saying the iPad is compared to a Kia

[Foreverup]

Whoo whoo this thread has potential 3 posts in everyone is taking it way too serious. Can't wait to check back in a hour and see it locked

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Matt J]

Jeez...and I thought it was just a fun (and true) story....

[BlackBerry Guy]

I don't doubt the story. People are going react with a little bit of surprise when they encounter products that can do things their own can't do.

ie. When the iPhone 4 first came out and I saw the retina display and facetime, I thought it was pretty cool cause my BlackBerry couldn't do that.

[zamzarvideo]

Multitasking is impressive at first, but then you realize that on a mobile device that can only DISPLAY one application at a time, it's pretty useless other than for audio uses and presentations.
I don't understand why all these PlayBook users are so amazed by NFS; there are two games in the NFS series after Undercover available on iOS, and NFSU is starting to show its age.
Hopefully app selection will get much better once the NDK is out.

[Matt J]

I don't understand why all these PlayBook users are so amazed by NFS; there are two games in the NFS series after Undercover available on iOS, and NFSU is starting to show its age.
Hopefully app selection will get much better once the NDK is out.

It's not that I'm impressed with NFS... it's just the only game I had loaded on my PB. I don't really use it to play games. It's not that multitasking is that important to me either, it's just that the iPad2 couldn't do anything I was demonstrating.

[Snoke]

People were missing the OP point of multi-tasking power that the Ipad2 can�t do. Then some caught on but quickly discount it as useless ? Come on you can�t be that petty or short sighted � can you ? Besides the obvious ability for work with presentations, or listening to audio at either home/work. That same power, as an example could be as simple as watching a video at home hooked to the TV with the kids etc. You don�t want to interrupt the movie but you have browsing or e-mails to check whatever, you can do it.
More power, multi-tasking means more options. Don�t hate the playbook, hate the game !

[Matt J]

People were missing the OP point of multi-tasking power that the Ipad2 can�t do. Then some caught on but quickly discount it as useless ? Come on you can�t be that petty or short sighted � can you ? Besides the obvious ability for work with presentations, or listening to audio at either home/work. That same power, as an example could be as simple as watching a video at home hooked to the TV with the kids etc. You don�t want to interrupt the movie but you have browsing or e-mails to check whatever, you can do it.
More power, multi-tasking means more options. Don�t hate the playbook, hate the game !

Exactly. It's just that what I was doing on the PB couldn't be done on the iPad2. I guess this just means that the PB has more *potential* than the iPad2. Nothing more.

[Matt J]

ipad 2 has multi-tasking its just painful having to double tap the home button each time just to bring up your opened apps then scroll through them to find what you want.

It's not "multitasking", it's "last state switching", meaning that the iPad2 remembers the last state and picks up from there. The PB can actually run multiple apps at the same time.

[Shake]

I think everyone is missing the point the OP was trying to make and that is... When will the Dora game be available on the PlayBook so he doesn't have to take his kid to the Apple store?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[Skeevecr]

At what pint were you going to watch the movie while playing NFS? I can't get over how this is an answer for the PlayBook's problems: "Yeah but I can have a movie playing in the background while I'm doing something else"

So what, that feature is completely useless. It might demonstrate the power of it but useless power means nothing.

Not a useless feature when you can very simply hook the playbook up to a bigscreen to play the movie and then keep playing the game on the main display, having the two things active in windows on the small screen is simply a more impressive demo of capabilities.

[rjkolo]

I think everyone is missing the point the OP was trying to make and that is... When will the Dora game be available on the PlayBook so he doesn't have to take his kid to the Apple store?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Now this is the TRUTH!!! Don't want that child to be come corrupt and turn to the dark side ;-)

[Skeevecr]

The latest and greatest mobile gaming showcase is Infinity Blade for iPad 2, which uses all the latest OpenGL technologies and takes full advantage of the GPU in the iPad 2 (which is a generation ahead of the PB hardware by the way).

You should probably label it a mobile gaming graphical showcase because infinity blade simply isn't a very good game, there are plenty of games that are far superior on the ipad and even some on the playbook that are better actual games for the simple reason that they are more fun.

[Matt J]

I think everyone is missing the point the OP was trying to make and that is... When will the Dora game be available on the PlayBook so he doesn't have to take his kid to the Apple store?

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

Finally someone that sees the point!

[Matt J]

Now this is the TRUTH!!! Don't want that child to be come corrupt and turn to the dark side ;-)

LOL! My heart sank when she said, "Daddy, can I go to the Apple Store?"

[Shake]

LOL! My heart sank when she said, "Daddy, can I go to the Apple Store?"

Don't worry. I am sure only a few of us have reported you to Social Services for neglect.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[donnation]

Not a useless feature when you can very simply hook the playbook up to a bigscreen to play the movie and then keep playing the game on the main display, having the two things active in windows on the small screen is simply a more impressive demo of capabilities.

Yeah. I'm gonna take my PlayBook, take some wires and hook it to my TV, and then play a game when the movie is playing. Why go through all that trouble at home when at home there are multiple ways to watch movies without needing my playbook. If I'm gonna watch a movie I'm gonna watch a movie. If I just want noise in the background while playing a game I'll turn on the tv.

[UnifiedTechs]

what good is Flash if half of the Flash websites we tested were horrible on touchscreen devices?

I agree many flash sites are horrible on touchscreen devices.... but at least I have the option on a PB. That's like Ford saying our newest vehicles get better gas mileage on highways then side streets so we coded the car so it will not allow you to drive on side streets.

You're lucky the Apple store guy was being polite, because he could have trotted out Infinity Blade on the iPad 2 and stomped you.

And play it at the same time as a movie? I don't think the OP ever said the employee was impressed by the NFS game, (or see many PB users bragging that NFS is some super great game) but with the fact he could do what is 2 processor intensive things at once smoothly should impress any developer who understands the capabilities and possibilities of the platform.

[Matt J]

Don't worry. I am sure only a few of us have reported you to Social Services for neglect.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

But then again... she is 6 years old... so the Apple Store seems appropriate.

[Mister-E]

If this story is even true, I am sure he was just being polite (diplomacy is a key training point there). When I showed my PlayBook to some fellow iOS developers, the reactions included 1) NFS is OK, but it's seriously about 3-4 years behind the best mobile games right now, and 2) what good is Flash if half of the Flash websites we tested were horrible on touchscreen devices?

I know NFS is impressive for a typical BB user, but you guys need to stop holding it up as something special, because that is not the case. The latest and greatest mobile gaming showcase is Infinity Blade for iPad 2, which uses all the latest OpenGL technologies and takes full advantage of the GPU in the iPad 2 (which is a generation ahead of the PB hardware by the way). Stop acting like NFS is some holy grail -- it's at a 2008 technology level.

As far as Flash, I keep telling people to visit sites like hyundai.com and then come back here to brag.

Seriously, we need to demand better from RIM, not accept mediocrity and hold it up like it's awesome kung fu. Bragging about an old game on last generation GPU hardware is just lame. You're lucky the Apple store guy was being polite, because he could have trotted out Infinity Blade on the iPad 2 and stomped you.

Playbook is far from last generations hardware. i will also brag about Flash because the iPad cannot and will NEVER run any form of Flash. BTW, i checked out hyundai.com, but it kicked me over to the Canadian site. i spent a couple of minutes on it without any problems on my Playbook.

Sure NFS is 2008, but it would have cost RIM a **** of a lot more to put on the latest and greatest game out there. As for Infinity Blade, boring. Sure it has awesome graphics but there is hardly any story and it is finished quickly. More companies are licensing the unreal engine and we should get better games coming out and hopefully for the Playbook.