[jesus marion joseph]

I was in the Phoenix airport yesterday, hiding behind an airline kiosk, plugged into an outlet and checking in on the PB via an open wifi network. There were three airline employees chatting with one another, and a guy comes over and mentions that he can't get a wifi signal with his iPad. Just then I finished what I was doing, unplugged and snapped my PB shut and started walking away. As I passed the ipad guy he said "Did you get a wifi signal?" "Yep, no problem", I said. He then gave the shoulder shrug with palms up, and I waved my PB around (with the logo conveniently showing) and said, jokingly, "You gotta get a Blackberry, man!" The three employees cracked up, and I walked on with a grin on my face.

[phylez]

Netflix needs WiFi, an iPad for Netflix and need a PB for WiFi... no one seems to get their way

PS. all in good fun.

[jesus marion joseph]

If the iPad guy could only view Netflix on my PB via a bluetooth bridge we would all have been in business!

[xamdam]

Or if he had the ipad 3g version he could then watch over mobile network, i have the playbook 32gb LTE model so i can browse where ever.

[Blackman91]

Lol awesome, it would be good if people shared their playbook anecdotes here.

[Techno-Emigre]

Great story. Thanks for sharing. I had a similar story two weeks ago. The airport was shut down & I had a long wait. I got some food, found a plug, and made myself comfy on the floor. A couple of people became curious so I explained the amazing Bridge. That is my favorite function.

[southlander]

I often use the bridging in places where there is no open WiFi. I think it confuses people. Lol.

[cdnynot]

I have a colleague that I work with and he's a complete Apple guy. Always going on about his Apple can do this and his Apple can do that and telling me I shouldn't have purchased the BlackBerry PlayBook.
Then I got a video call from another colleague using his PlayBook, went to check my calendar on a task, opened a Word document to give him some updated information for a customer site.
Came back to finish off the video call. After the call I looked at my Apple friend colleague and said can your Apple do that.

He hasn't brought up the Apple product since. =)

[GV2012]

The ipad guys were probably just trying to spark up the latest I-fart app anyway...so better they didn't get the signal and got back to work

[Anjohl]

I often use the bridging in places where there is no open WiFi. I think it confuses people. Lol.

Any modern smartphone will let you do a wifi hotspot, so the Playbook is not unique in that respect.

[blueberrymerry]

Any modern smartphone will let you do a wifi hotspot, so the Playbook is not unique in that respect.

The beauty of Bluetooth tethering or bridging is that it uses a lot less power compared to a Wi-fi hotspot, where both cellular and Wi-fi radios have to be on at the same time. Bluetooth is a much lower power protocol. The Playbook is the only tablet I know which supports this out of the box.

[carlyincanada]

Thanks for Sharing....that is hilarious!

[Morpheus]

I love it. I had something similar happen in the Ontario, CA airport. Guy sitting next to me with his droid tablet. Was fighting to get it in his bag. He glanced at me and said, "bet you like that small size o that kindle....wait....THAT'S A BLACKBERRY!?", as he leaned in and look closer I told him yeah its a beast in a small package...then he mutters...I couldn't get on the net....(I was surfing CrackBerry)

[Wongsky]

Or if he had the ipad 3g version he could then watch over mobile network, i have the playbook 32gb LTE model so i can browse where ever.

So can I with my WiFi PlayBook - I just tether to my 3g handset (using bluetooth in my case).

[youknwwho]

Met a Brazilian girl the other night. She has a 9900 and had never seen a PlayBook before. Needless to say the PlayBook turns it self into a real life "PlayBook" quite nicely =))

[Wongsky]

Met a Brazilian girl the other night. She has a 9900 and had never seen a PlayBook before. Needless to say the PlayBook turns it self into a real life "PlayBook" quite nicely =))

So you talked to her about american football strategies, right?

[southlander]

Any modern smartphone will let you do a wifi hotspot, so the Playbook is not unique in that respect.

Yes but lots of folks don't know that.

[Wongsky]

Any modern smartphone will let you do a wifi hotspot, so the Playbook is not unique in that respect.

Not all modern smartphones allow you to create infrastructure mode hotspots, though. One thing the PlayBook does that quite possibly is unique (although I think the HP TouchPad may do something similar) is natively provide bluetooth tethering.

[youknwwho]

So you talked to her about american football strategies, right?

No, its more of a Family playbook kinda thing

[Wongsky]

No, its more of a Family playbook kinda thing

Ah, so you watched cartoons instead.

Gotcha.

Anybody would think you were trying to imply you had sex...

[hreiner1]

1:
Lets not get confused
PB bridge is a Bluetooth connection using the BB phones dataplan, so you do not need to buy a separate dataplan
The cell phone carrier was not able to detect that is another gadget hooked up
the old RIM had made a mistake and did not check with the cell phone carriers before launching the PB in 2011, therefore some carriers did not allow bridging, and it took them several month to approve the software, I know ATT and Verizon gave RIM a hard time, therefore therefore sales tumbled, only T-Mobile worked from the very beginning, and that is why no US carrier ever carried the PB. I know from international carriers, in the Middle East, they did not accept it either
this was one of the main reason I bought a PB about 1 1/2 years ago,

2:
tethering is mostly a PB WIFI connection to a smartphone ( any model which allows a WIFI hotspot) for which you pay separate to your phone company
your cell phone provider can detect it and will charge you separate for the data used, or you have a separate data plan.

I personally use a prepaid Unlocked hotspot Huawei E585 3G hsdpa when traveling international. Using a prepaid SIM card

[SEAWARRIOR]

Or if he had the ipad 3g version he could then watch over mobile network, i have the playbook 32gb LTE model so i can browse where ever.

wifi models can browse bridged wherever too,,, that's why i don't understand getting a 4g/LTE PB,,, why add a line when you can do everything bridged??? cool story tho...

[el31415]

I have a colleague that I work with and he's a complete Apple guy. Always going on about his Apple can do this and his Apple can do that and telling me I shouldn't have purchased the BlackBerry PlayBook.
Then I got a video call from another colleague using his PlayBook, went to check my calendar on a task, opened a Word document to give him some updated information for a customer site.
Came back to finish off the video call. After the call I looked at my Apple friend colleague and said can your Apple do that.

He hasn't brought up the Apple product since. =)

FaceTime.

[cdnynot]

Definitely FaceTime is nice, but can you can't check emails, update a word document, go to your calendar to check your schedule. All whilst using the video chat at the same time.

I guess the BlackBerry PlayBook is a bit better at multitasking than the iPad. =)

BTW that is some Sweet hair there Moss!

[Wongsky]

1:
Lets not get confused
PB bridge is a Bluetooth connection using the BB phones dataplan, so you do not need to buy a separate dataplan
The cell phone carrier was not able to detect that is another gadget hooked up
the old RIM had made a mistake and did not check with the cell phone carriers before launching the PB in 2011, therefore some carriers did not allow bridging, and it took them several month to approve the software, I know ATT and Verizon gave RIM a hard time, therefore therefore sales tumbled, only T-Mobile worked from the very beginning, and that is why no US carrier ever carried the PB. I know from international carriers, in the Middle East, they did not accept it either
this was one of the main reason I bought a PB about 1 1/2 years ago,

2:
tethering is mostly a PB WIFI connection to a smartphone ( any model which allows a WIFI hotspot) for which you pay separate to your phone company
your cell phone provider can detect it and will charge you separate for the data used, or you have a separate data plan.

I personally use a prepaid Unlocked hotspot Huawei E585 3G hsdpa when traveling international. Using a prepaid SIM card

Regarding 2 - whilst tethering may be largely by creating a WiFi hotspot with your handset, the PlayBook specifically facilitates tethering over bluetooth, generically - ie not part of the bridge functionality.

At some point I'll check the HP TouchPad in the house, because I think that does it too - it certainly does for WebOS handsets. Outside of that, though, and I've never encountered another tablet that natively and so easily provides bluetooth tethering.

So yes, I can imagine there being some select scenarios where native 3G / 4G connectivity on the PlayBook would be a boon, but since the PlayBook is so easy to tether, using either bluetooth OR WiFi, I personally find little interest in native 3G / 4G connectivity for the PlayBook - given the cost overhead.