[Enyigma]

The following is a wire story originally from the Canadian Press. There is nothig new here, just a restatement that BB10 is coming to the PlayBook some time before the end of the year and that a successor to the PlayBook might come if there is a business case for it.

The only reason I put this up is that the local CTV news channel had a spot on the PlayBook on the 6 pm newscast that mostly repeated the wire story. I'll post a link to the broadcast item if it becomes available.

New Playbook still a possibility, Heins says | CTV Kitchener News

Text:

TORONTO -- BlackBerry chief executive Thorsten Heins hasn't ruled out taking another swing at the tablet industry, after earlier versions of its PlayBook failed to catch on with consumers.

"We're thinking about it," the head of the smartphone maker said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.

"But we're thinking about it also in the context of BlackBerry 10."

The BlackBerry 10 operating system is the latest system software from the company and the foundation of its new smartphone models.

An April Fools' Day joke Monday sparked conversation about the potential for another BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to arrive this year. Images purported to be a "road map" for the new tablet were posted on Twitter before the anonymous user revealed it was a hoax.

"Was trying to stir up discussion and excitement for the future!" the poster tweeted later in the day, with apologies.

But Heins said developers at the company are considering how to make another tablet that would integrate with "other screen environments."

"That's how we're thinking about it that right now," he said last week.

The original PlayBook was intended to pair with existing BlackBerry smartphones to make a seamless multi-screen environment that allowed users to access their BlackBerry email through the tablet. When the PlayBook hit stores, some of the technology wasn't in place to link the two devices, though software updates have since resolved those problems.

The coupling of bad reviews and the popularity of Apple's iPad sealed the fate of the PlayBook launch. BlackBerry, then known as Research In Motion, took a US$485-million writedown in late 2011 to recognize the deep discounts it took to sell the tablet to consumers.

The existing PlayBook devices have the ability to operate on the company's BlackBerry 10 operating system, but a software update has not yet been released. A spokeswoman for BlackBerry said the update will be available by the end of the year.

Heins said there are numerous factors to consider when weighing whether it's worthwhile to release another tablet.

"The hardware alone is very difficult these days to make money with," he said, acknowledging that few competitors have made it a profitable venture.

"The question is, what are you putting around the tablet as a service or an experienced value proposition that allows you to make money with it, other than just put the pure hardware out there."

The PlayBook was also criticized for a scarcity of apps compared with both BlackBerry's smartphones and competitors like Apple. The company tried to quell those concerns by launching an international roadshow last summer to motivate developers and meet with major companies to open up new discussions.

Heins said the company continues to talk with developers about bringing their apps to the new BlackBerry, which includes the BlackBerry Z10 touchscreen phone and the BlackBerry Q10 keypad version due later this month.

Some of the most popular apps are still missing from BlackBerrys, including Netflix and Instagram, though others like chat program Whatsapp recently launched on the device.

"It is something that you need to constantly work on," he said, noting that developers want to be assured that investing in another platform will be a smart business decision before they take the plunge.

[Andrew4life]

The tablet as we know it is dead.

I think the Z10 and the Q10 will be "the tablet". At some point later in the year, BlackBerry will be releasing software update and separate hardware that runs with the Q10/Z10 and they will be the new "mobile computing" platform.

[blueberrymerry]

Coming soon, end of the year... it all sounds too familiar.

While Herr Heins is "thinking about it" and waffling about, Samsung has 7" and 8" tablets ready for release in May. The Galaxy Tab 3 has a 7" screen with the same 1024x600 resolution as the Playbook but with expandable MicroSD storage, a GSM/HSPA model that doubles as a phone, Android 4.1, all priced less than the Playbook. There are rumours of an ASUS Win8 7" tablet as well.

So yeah, nobody will pay an iPad premium for a large BB10 tablet and nobody will pay Playbook money for a small one either, not when there are more compelling alternatives already in the market and in the pipeline. That effectively shuts out Blackberry from the tablet market.

[greg_z]

Herr Heins, did you mean at some point in the year 2015 ? Here we are again old good RIM, Blackberry.

[FF22]

I'd like to know what he meant by:

"But Heins said developers at the company are considering how to make another tablet that would integrate with "other screen environments.""

Huh? What are "other screen environments"?

[FF22]

The following is a wire story originally from the Canadian Press.

Your quote/link led me to the page with this picture and caption:


"How to keep large trucks off the West Montrose Covered Bridge?"

Maybe if they spelled TON correctly!

[rupam95]

"End of the year...."


Awesome. Now we know it won't be May, June, July, August, September, October, nor November. The only logical date is December 31 2013 11:59 PM EST.

Thank you for the most coherent and logical date. Thank YOU!

[blueberrymerry]

I'd like to know what he meant by:
"But Heins said developers at the company are considering how to make another tablet that would integrate with "other screen environments.""
Huh? What are "other screen environments"?

As in, nuclear reactor control screens and spaceship displays? While they're "considering how to make another tablet that would integrate with other screen environments" everyone else is busy actually making tablets.

To Thorsten Heins: we don't need to integrate with other screen environments you fool! Apple, Samsung and Microsoft don't positions their tablets as secondary screens to laptops or smartphones, they're standalone mobile computers. All that's needed is for BB10 to support multiple screen resolutions and dynamic UI scaling. What's so damn hard about that?

Palm made the stupid mistake of making their Foleo as a dumb companion to their Treo phones. Blackberry did the same thing with the Playbook... now it looks like they want to make the same mistake again. What the heck is going on over in Waterloo?

<facepalm>
<looks for brandy>

[trickymobile]

Your quote/link led me to the page with this picture and caption:


"How to keep large trucks off the West Montrose Covered Bridge?"

Maybe if they spelled TON correctly!

West Montrose is a village in the Township of Woolwich in the Region of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

Being in Canada also means that the official means of measurement is metric, hence the word TONNES, The tonne (SI symbol: t) is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms.

[Symeonify]

... Maybe if they spelled TON correctly!

it is spelt correctly... in french :P

[BoloMKXXVIII]

Thorsten Heins Will Allegedly Discuss Tablet Plans at BlackBerry Live - N4BB

[mmarco]

I'd like to know what he meant by:

"But Heins said developers at the company are considering how to make another tablet that would integrate with "other screen environments.""

Huh? What are "other screen environments"?

Like Ubuntu, the ideia is one phone, with power to run in a pc.

With one piece you 'll make the some word that with three

[Bakamushi]

Shut up Heins and work on your BB10 for Christ's sake !

[2ndHalfCor]

I think Heins might have a point. He's paid to envision several years out into the future, not to try to compete with the big manufacturers like Samsung and Asus. BB10 devices seem to be doing very well (contrary to almost all predictions) and are rewarding his kind of vision.

I have two tablets, a Playbook and a Nexus 7. Both are excellent devices with their own strengths and weaknesses. But I also have a Nexus 4 phone that does everything the tablets do and more. (I don't have a Z10 or Q10 at this point because they lack some software I need, but would if the software were there). The Nexus 4 is also more portable than the tablets -- it fits in my shirt or coat pocket. I'm finding I'm using the tablets less and less and the phone and my small laptop (an Asus S200E) more. I would like to have a bigger screen available when I need it, but it's not worth carrying around. Perhaps, in the future, screens that our mobile devices can talk to will be ubiquitous enough that we can simply tell our mobile device to display on what whatever screen is available. I have two large display screens in my office. Doesn't it make sense to have my pocketable mobile device display on one of those when I'm in the office, and on whatever other screens are available in whatever location I travel to? Or on the screen in my car? Or on the screen on my airline seat? In a future like that, who needs to carry around a big screen?

Is that the future? I don't know, but Heins is paid to see it before I do. Who knows, but maybe he does?

[BB_Bmore]

I reject His future predictions.

[sad_old_man]

The following is a wire story originally from the Canadian Press. There is nothig new here, just a restatement that BB10 is coming to the PlayBook some time before the end of the year and that a successor to the PlayBook might come if there is a business case for it.

The only reason I put this up is that the local CTV news channel had a spot on the PlayBook on the 6 pm newscast that mostly repeated the wire story. I'll post a link to the broadcast item if it becomes available.

New Playbook still a possibility, Heins says | CTV Kitchener News

Text:

TORONTO -- BlackBerry chief executive Thorsten Heins hasn't ruled out taking another swing at the tablet industry, after earlier versions of its PlayBook failed to catch on with consumers.

"We're thinking about it," the head of the smartphone maker said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.

"But we're thinking about it also in the context of BlackBerry 10."

The BlackBerry 10 operating system is the latest system software from the company and the foundation of its new smartphone models.

An April Fools' Day joke Monday sparked conversation about the potential for another BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to arrive this year. Images purported to be a "road map" for the new tablet were posted on Twitter before the anonymous user revealed it was a hoax.

"Was trying to stir up discussion and excitement for the future!" the poster tweeted later in the day, with apologies.

But Heins said developers at the company are considering how to make another tablet that would integrate with "other screen environments."

"That's how we're thinking about it that right now," he said last week.

The original PlayBook was intended to pair with existing BlackBerry smartphones to make a seamless multi-screen environment that allowed users to access their BlackBerry email through the tablet. When the PlayBook hit stores, some of the technology wasn't in place to link the two devices, though software updates have since resolved those problems.

The coupling of bad reviews and the popularity of Apple's iPad sealed the fate of the PlayBook launch. BlackBerry, then known as Research In Motion, took a US$485-million writedown in late 2011 to recognize the deep discounts it took to sell the tablet to consumers.

The existing PlayBook devices have the ability to operate on the company's BlackBerry 10 operating system, but a software update has not yet been released. A spokeswoman for BlackBerry said the update will be available by the end of the year.

Heins said there are numerous factors to consider when weighing whether it's worthwhile to release another tablet.

"The hardware alone is very difficult these days to make money with," he said, acknowledging that few competitors have made it a profitable venture.

"The question is, what are you putting around the tablet as a service or an experienced value proposition that allows you to make money with it, other than just put the pure hardware out there."

The PlayBook was also criticized for a scarcity of apps compared with both BlackBerry's smartphones and competitors like Apple. The company tried to quell those concerns by launching an international roadshow last summer to motivate developers and meet with major companies to open up new discussions.

Heins said the company continues to talk with developers about bringing their apps to the new BlackBerry, which includes the BlackBerry Z10 touchscreen phone and the BlackBerry Q10 keypad version due later this month.

Some of the most popular apps are still missing from BlackBerrys, including Netflix and Instagram, though others like chat program Whatsapp recently launched on the device.

"It is something that you need to constantly work on," he said, noting that developers want to be assured that investing in another platform will be a smart business decision before they take the plunge.

That man has more faces than the instrument dials have on a 747!

[ypvs]

Hmmm, in an interview with Bloomberg he says ALL tablets will be dead in 5 years

BlackBerry CEO Questions Future of Tablets - Bloomberg

EDIT Or Here

http://forums.crackberry.com/news-ru...ars-th-801446/

[derob882]

3 t is 3.30693 T (tonne to short ton)

[derob882]

Your quote/link led me to the page with this picture and caption:


"How to keep large trucks off the West Montrose Covered Bridge?"

Maybe if they spelled TON correctly!

3 t is 3.30693 T (tonne to short ton)

[SEAWARRIOR]

i think Thor's losin' it,,, seriously,,, playbook, no playbook, tablets are dead,,, ,,, instead of blowin' hot air, he should be talking about what is, (going to/not going to get done, i.e. PLAYBOOK UPDATE/DEVICE RELEASES!!!), not what ifs...

[silvanus55]

Tablets will not be replaced by cellphones in the future. People will still enjoy the comfort and have the need for a larger screen when they are at home or traveling for a long period of time.

[FF22]

Tablets will not be replaced by cellphones in the future. People will still enjoy the comfort and have the need for a larger screen when they are at home or traveling for a long period of time.

I think what folks are doing is projecting that the CELL PHONE will connect with a dumb screen that merely enables larger images (mirrors if you will) of what is showing on the phone rather than full-blown computer within that screen (which is now called a tablet). Maybe it will also accept touch input like a tablet.

So folks will still be schlepping along a 7" or 10" screening device. Since it would presumably lack computing chips, its battery might last longer and it would be lighter in weight.

[CairnsRock]

I think what folks are doing is projecting that the CELL PHONE will connect with a dumb screen that merely enables larger images (mirrors if you will) of what is showing on the phone rather than full-blown computer within that screen (which is now called a tablet). Maybe it will also accept touch input like a tablet.

So folks will still be schlepping along a 7" or 10" screening device. Since it would presumably lack computing chips, its battery might last longer and it would be lighter in weight.

The phones do that today easily thru the hdmi to TV cable. All done already.

[joshua_sx1]

So folks will still be schlepping along a 7" or 10" screening device. Since it would presumably lack computing chips, its battery might last longer and it would be lighter in weight.

Have you seen the Asus PadFone2? It is a dockable smartphone in tablet combo...


Posted via Z10

[FF22]

Have you seen the Asus PadFone2? It is a dockable smartphone in tablet combo...


Posted via Z10

No, I have not. To be honest, I went for the pb because of its BRIDGE to my bbphone. Otherwise, I was not very interested in Tablets and I'm not an Apple fan so never really gave consideration to that. I had briefly looked at a friend's Android Samsung something and was not impressed.

But I guess that may be the wave of the future - some form of docking with a fully-developed phone hooking into a system of peripherals - hopefully, wirelessly.

As for hooking the pb or phones to an hdmi - again, wired is a tangle and the pb with either the keyboard or the bbphone does not work all that smoothly - cursor move and scrolling is just not quick or smooth. But it's still early in this evolution.