Poor job by CES reviewers of Playbook

I posted this in another thread, but i think it deserves its own, because I am interested in what you all think...

I have found the so-called reviews coming out of CES crappy myself. If i was going to review the Playbook, I would have brought along an OTG cable with USB flash memory, a bluetooth headphone to test the features of the Playbook, and maybe even a laptop with some files to play, see if they have enabled MKV and AC3, maybe the FM radio is enabled, try a PDF file maybe to test the reader, and get the scoop! I would have at least asked the questions, but it seems the reviewers didn't even do that from what I have read to date... maybe I missed something?

What I have read is basically all RIM want to tell us. The features are nice but damn WEAK reviews. It is weird and i can't explain it.

There is so much of the tablet's potential still uncovered and half baked. Hope OS2 unlocks the power in the tablet - they have had long enough.

I just similar thoughts about this. check out my thread: "Questions from CES"

Yes, I read your thread after I made mine. Funny that. Great minds think alike! :)

It is a tradeshow, not a setting for in depth test drives. I haven't exactly seen any detailed reviews of anything previewed, nor do I expect them from such an event. As for grabbing an OTG cable, etc., why would you expect RIM to allow that on a (still) beta OS in a public setting? If something goes wrong due to a bug currently being addressed, RIM has wasted all of the positive press coming out of the event. Only Apple can get away with hosting an event to announce a new phone and then not get buried in bad press when it doesn't work on stage. RIM, like most companies, does not have that luxury from its client base. To open yourself to a detailed evaluation at a fashion show is bad business by any reasonable estimation.

People also really need to get over themselves with respect to the idea that RIM owes them something beyond what has already been promised. No one has promised OTG functionality and I see no reason to expect it. Just wait a few weeks and you can make your own assessment. Yes, it has promised for a long time but it is only weeks away at this point.

It is a tradeshow, not a setting for in depth test drives. I haven't exactly seen any detailed reviews of anything previewed, nor do I expect them from such an event. As for grabbing an OTG cable, etc., why would you expect RIM to allow that on a (still) beta OS in a public setting? If something goes wrong due to a bug currently being addressed, RIM has wasted all of the positive press coming out of the event. Only Apple can get away with hosting an event to announce a new phone and then not get buried in bad press when it doesn't work on stage. RIM, like most companies, does not have that luxury from its client base. To open yourself to a detailed evaluation at a fashion show is bad business by any reasonable estimation.

People also really need to get over themselves with respect to the idea that RIM owes them something beyond what has already been promised. No one has promised OTG functionality and I see no reason to expect it. Just wait a few weeks and you can make your own assessment. Yes, it has promised for a long time but it is only weeks away at this point.

You can't just plug in random drives to demo units and copy content back and forth and whatnot...

The only thing reviewers talk about is email, calender n contacts. I saw about 6 videos the only thing they review is the above 3 features.

One reviewer said that 2.0 will have Quake 3, dont know if its true.

I agree with the OP 100%. :)

What? There were three playbooks at the CES sideshow just waiting for someone to plug in an OTG cable for example! They aren,t being watched by high security are they, behind glass?

And why not at least ask the questions?

People can slam RIM, do a drive by shooting, but they can,t sneak a couple of things in to test the functionality of a tablet or ask questions... it is crappy journalism on all fronts imho. They are just parroting the RIM line, which is strange cause they are not afraid to shoot.

There must be some strange rules of engagement :D

Every single demo unit has someone staffed practically on the other side of the desk.

A lot of these units are watched closely simply because they aren't always highly secured. You're supposed to be industry professionals here too for the most part, btw...

People can steal stuff right under the nose of security, haven,t you heard of a diversion? Anyways the photo i recall from the sideshow was not that secure.

And ask the question. Report that you asked the question and that RIM said "...". So much for industry professionals :)

There weren't that many people at the BB booth in comparison to every other major phone manufacturer, both in media coverage and general visitors.

So perhaps that's why nobody was asking the questions...

I'm not sure the coverage at CES 2012 was about proper reviews, but more about getting media coverage of consumer technology and I certainly won't expect technical performance reviews to be part of this kind of tradeshow.

0S2.0 is not even fully completed yet so can't imagine RIM subjecting it to a 3rd party full hands on review before they're ready.

Originally Posted by cathulu15

I posted this in another thread, but i think it deserves its own, because I am interested in what you all think...

I have found the so-called reviews coming out of CES crappy myself. If i was going to review the Playbook, I would have brought along an OTG cable with USB flash memory, a bluetooth headphone to test the features of the Playbook, and maybe even a laptop with some files to play, see if they have enabled MKV and AC3, maybe the FM radio is enabled, try a PDF file maybe to test the reader, and get the scoop! I would have at least asked the questions, but it seems the reviewers didn't even do that from what I have read to date... maybe I missed something?

What I have read is basically all RIM want to tell us. The features are nice but damn WEAK reviews. It is weird and i can't explain it.

There is so much of the tablet's potential still uncovered and half baked. Hope OS2 unlocks the power in the tablet - they have had long enough.

Really? You want reviewers to haul along a bunch of peripheral crap to make a product look good? It's up to RIM to make sure it's set up to look good.


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Windows 8 was under glass and they wouldn't let anyone even touch it. How long has that been in development? Longer than BB10 and they give RIM crap for BB10 missing things when that had to start from a kernel. MS has all of windows to build on and all the background from it.

So it's true! They do come out at night!

take the nice reviews and be happy. cant win with some people. while there at it why dont they bring a hammer and see whats inside of it. we all know the strengths and weakness why would a reviewer bring any of those thing to a tradeshow only to write a mini 3 paragraph review. its not a hardware or software conference. take a nice review and smile.

OK, so many are ok with mediocrity... I still stand by my comments. Nobody even asked the questions, and it is not like the questions required exceptional perception to find, they are right there in front of all our noses being asked a thousand times.

Call me a troll, or I should just shut up and not say a word, it might be criticism of RIM! Well this aint about RIM, it was about poor quality reviews... The units were hands on!

Anyways I made my point. I am done :D

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Originally Posted by cathulu15

Call me a troll, or I should just shut up and not say a word, it might be criticism of RIM! Well this aint about RIM, it was about poor quality reviews... The units were hands on!

I don't think you are a troll. I just think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of CES. There are no reviews of any products announced at CES. This is a trade show that previews upcoming products and ideas, many of which never come to market. Even products that are ready for market do not get reviewed until the reviewer has had that product in a test lab for a few days or weeks. CB Kevin probably has the best access to the latest builds. You might try asking him about specifics. He may not be able to comment due to NDAs.

CES is about previewing what companies have to show. When there is a final product ready for review, the company will send it out to reviewers for full inspection. You can't review a cake until it is baked. 2.0 is still in the oven.

dandbj13 is 100% correct. CES is nothing more than a fashion show. I do find it remarkable that the PB has gotten a fair amount of positive attention from the show. RIM took a beating in the press in 2011. They really need to be able to turn that around in 2012. From what I have read and seen coming out of CES, I think they have a good start.

I would really like to see RIM take advantage of this and get their marketing dept. in high gear. They have a little buzz going. Now is when they need to turn the volume up. Way up.

I noticed the lack of questions from CES-goers as well but chalked it up to the fact that RIM was there to mainly show off the PIM apps. I don't doubt some of the Crackberry guys asked some of the questions we all wanted to know about USB OTG, video formats, and the like but I believe they (RIM) aren't willing to go on record/demonstrate those features until February. Certainly they'll have some grand announcement in February and they want to have some new things to talk about; otherwise, everyone will just ignore them as they've already seen everything/received all their answers at CES.

In general, it seemed like most of the press in attendance (e.g., Crackberry, gizmodo, engadget) just took what they were showed and ran with it out of respect of each company. Most videos I saw regarding new products weren't full of "when", "how much", "will this work" as much as I wish they were!

EDIT: I also completely agree with justincase1911 about marketing. I haven't been too impressed with the BeBold campaign but it's certainly a foot in the right direction (actually doing some marketing!). Now if they could only come up with some catchy ads for the Playbook.

All the comments on this thread are valid - but i believe one more thing to take into account is that RIM did address the main deficiency in the PlayBook by adding all the PIM functions. I think everyone was over excited about the PIM stuff and we're all guilty of temporarily forgetting some of the "smaller" issues - pdf reading, file managment, network share browsing, etc.

Originally Posted by kbz1960

Windows 8 was under glass and they wouldn't let anyone even touch it. How long has that been in development? Longer than BB10 and they give RIM crap for BB10 missing things when that had to start from a kernel. MS has all of windows to build on and all the background from it.

Heh...wait until RIM launches QNX Desktop.....:eek:

Originally Posted by cathulu15

I posted this in another thread, but i think it deserves its own, because I am interested in what you all think...

I have found the so-called reviews coming out of CES crappy myself. If i was going to review the Playbook, I would have brought along an OTG cable with USB flash memory, a bluetooth headphone to test the features of the Playbook, and maybe even a laptop with some files to play, see if they have enabled MKV and AC3, maybe the FM radio is enabled, try a PDF file maybe to test the reader, and get the scoop! I would have at least asked the questions, but it seems the reviewers didn't even do that from what I have read to date... maybe I missed something?

What I have read is basically all RIM want to tell us. The features are nice but damn WEAK reviews. It is weird and i can't explain it.

There is so much of the tablet's potential still uncovered and half baked. Hope OS2 unlocks the power in the tablet - they have had long enough.

I agree. The interviews rarely ventured outside of the topics the RIM employees raised and certainly it wasn't investigative journalism. RIM have done surveys listing all the things we want so a journalist could simply ask, "of the umpteen features you mention in your survey, which of those are coming in OS 2 next month?". The CB crew certainly know what everyone is clamering for so was their lack of curiosity because they were told not to ask or are they bound by NDAs so didn't bother asking (I'm sure there are other possibilties)?