[snuci]

Now that I've used the PlayBook for a little while, I must say that those without Blackberry phones are really missing out on the Blackberry Bridge experience. I, too, would be frustrated without those apps (as we have heard time and again from reviewers) but I think I have a way around this for everyone, if someone (RIM) were to build it.

The Bridge apps email/calendar/contacts are not mind-blowingly comprehensive but seem to be more simplistic but are still very effective. That said, the star here is not exactly the apps themselves but the idea of bluetooth bridging. As someone who maintains phones and other mobile devices at work, bluetooth bridging greatly simplifies the multiple copies of inboxes and calendar syncing issues that can occur when one has two data devices plus a desktop. Additionally, you don't require a second data plan for a tablet device which is cost-effective since you generally already have a data plan on your phone. In fact, once the 3G/4G PlayBook models become available, I think we will still be buying Wi-Fi only PlayBooks because having a data plan on these is superfluous for most casual users.

I think that most reviewers curse RIM for not having a native email/PIM client but they discount the Blackberry Bridge too quickly. They don't do enough research into how it works and because they have an iPhone or Android phone, they don't care. That, unfortunately, is where RIM misses the mark. What RIM built in the Bridge apps is a native PIM client that works extremely well... provided that you have a Blackberry phone. That is the catch and that makes this feature a non-feature for most. RIMs immediate reaction was to speed up the development of the native non-Bridge client for the upcoming 3G/4G models but I'm not sure was the right choice for the WIFi only PlayBook.

What I think RIM or even a third-party developer needs to do is to build an iPhone and an Android Blackberry Bridge client for the respective phones to be able to talk to the Blackberry PlayBook. The PlayBook shouldn't need any additional development because the Blackberry Bridge must have a well defined standards based protocol. I definitely see expansion into cars through the other QNX partnerships so expanding the Blackberry Bridge to other phones becomes even more important since this could be a standard way to communicate between devices.

I'm not sure how much of the bluetooth stack is exposed on those two platforms or if it's even pobsible but if an iPhone or Android phone were to be able to talk to the PlayBook in the PlayBooks own language via standard Bluetooth profiles, they would immediately benefit from the Bridge Apps and make this stigma that the PlayBook doesn't have native PIM apps disappear.

This is some "out of the box" thinking, I think, and one would hope that RIM thought about this but I see no indication of going in this direction. RIM needs to write a native non-Bridge client anyway for the upcoming 3G/4G models but going in this direction could have solved a lot of problems very quickly, I think.

What do you think? Could this work? If you do not have a Blackberry phone, would you jump at the chance to download an app for your non-Blackberry phone to be able to access the Blackberry Bridge apps?

[mjs416]

I would think a bridge app for the Android OS would be fantastic. We may actually see it someday once the PB can start using Android apps. I did have a Droid 2 and did not care for it (kept crashing on me) but for droid users - it would be great!

[kbz1960]

I would think it's possible just like I think someone can make it so you can use your bb keyboard to type on the playbook with.

[ibobby]

Has their been any talk about the "BB Bridge" app for laptops/computer?

[papped]

Support on android devices across the board would be a nightmare alone, ignoring other platforms... It would actually make a lot more sense to ignore android entirely and just support ios...

[technology_fanboy]

Support on android devices across the board would be a nightmare alone, ignoring other platforms... It would actually make a lot more sense to ignore android entirely and just support ios...

I think this is a great idea and wished RIM had incorporated an iPhone Bridge right out of the box with the PB. I imagine this would require a little investment on RIM's part but would open up some opportunities to gain iPAD market share!

[hackerguy]

I think there is almost zero chance of seeing BB Bridge for any phone except a BB. Just my opinion.

[Blacklac]

I cant see Apple approving any RIM made Apps that would obviously benefit RIM like that.

[tstrike34]

Problem is that the Apple Bluetooth DUN is incompatible with the Playbook Bluetooth apparatus. I tried pairing a IP4 with PB... no dice