[grindcorefan]

I want my bb10 with skype thats all thank you

[Mystic205]

I dont doubt the veracity of your statement but its a bogus point on behalf of RIM..

You can get skype, or other voip calling on Symbian, IOS and Android.. and given now that there is other VOIP calling services now available on BB it is pointless NOT to get skype included

My contact at rim who is higher level than watching the data stream has told me there will never be a skype client. Rim doesn't want to off the carriers. Then i asked about the playbook as it's not carrier dependant. No comment.

Apple can dictate to the carriers as it has the consumer wrapped up. Rim dictates to the consumer to keep the carriers happy. And it's failing that part badly

[Mystic205]

The skype app for Verizon BB is not VOIP .. it offers skype chat (which you can get with IM+) and voice calls are directed to a local calling gateway.. effectively no better than using a calling card... so skype it is, VOIP it isnt.

There are now true VOIP alternatives for the BB so low cost international calling and low cost international roaming are finally available.. my skype account has been closed.

and there are now better and cheaper services

I think we'll see a skype app for Blackberry devices.

Skype has been bought by Microsoft who has said it's now focusing on integrating it into it's live platform. So i'm guessing they'll try and fuse MSN Messenger and Skype. Maybe one brand will disappear (no clue).

But the fact of the matter is, there already is a Skype app for Blackberry, it's unfortunately exclusive to VERIZON blackberries. But the basics, the groundwork is there, they just need to develop it further and release it as a non-carrier exclusive app.

Although it won't be anytime soon, i'm pretty sure it will come.

[crackcookie]

It is already here, https://imo.im/

[HabsSuck]

Unfortunately this is an accurate summary of what's been going on at ground zero ( the carrier stores )...
...No one in the sore has anything good to say about RIM for exactly the reasons listed above.
...& the only thing worse than the reality of the situation is the disgusting apologetics some people use to defend RIM's bed soiling.

To this day I can't take an HD video with my 9930 and email it to someone ( like I can with my iphone 4s )...
...To this day I can't open a simple 92 page PDF on my playbook like I can with my ipad.
...To this day I can't open an email of any size on my 9930 like I can on my iphone.

Not having a bare bones business tool like skype ship out with every berry product is just plain stupid...
...And the apologetic of claiming RIM does not want to anger the carriers is even worse.
...Given that the most popular phones today that have been cleaning RIM's clock all have it.

Can RIM pull out it's head in time? I sure hope so because there is much I really like about BB....
...I would like to see nothing more then RIM coming back and taking back what was once it's customers.
...We will only see that if RIM wakes up and ceases charging todays premium prices for 3 year old outdated JUNK.

The way I see it RIM has ONE last chance with it's next generation of phones and if it doesn't WOW the critics....
...It's all done - the company will simply be a bottom feeder device for those who can't afford an iphone or Droid.
Here is what needs to happen.

A Blackberry MUST be able to process as large of an email as a Droid or Iphone, period!

A Blackberry MUST be able to open a PDF as good as a iphone or Droid.

A Blackberry MUST be able to use SKYPE ( and support video chat )

A Blackberry MUST go back to an AF camera instead of cheap Fisher Price junk it's got now.

Blackberry MUST either get on board with some ROCKING business APPS or focus it's attention on the fun stuff....
...As of right now they about 2% of the fun and 2% of the business Apps the other guys do!
...This simply will not work out well if RIM keeps this up.

I just opened a 95 page pdf document on my PlayBook, maybe the problem is the Indian not the arrow.

[Mystic205]

that offers skype messaging only.. a feature already provided by other apps for BB..

It is already here, https://imo.im/

[bounce007]

I just opened a 95 page pdf document on my PlayBook, maybe the problem is the Indian not the arrow.

Read pythons post again... By "A Blackberry" he means the BlackBerry Handsets... BlackBerry Handsets can't open a 4 page PDF without frustration. It's ridiculous the way handsets deal with PDFs.

But this is a PlayBook forum... and the PDF reader for the PlayBook is sub-par as well

[masqueofhastur]

I have a lot of contacts on Skype, but hardly any of them sign on anymore. Same with MSN. WhatsApp is where it's at right now, and video chat is never going to take off. It'll be a niche function used by families who are separated by distance, and not much of anyone else. Skype isn't a big deal. And the fact is, if Skype limits which platforms it's on, another service will come along and offer full cross-platform video chat and IM, and that will end up being the service to topple Skype - the same reason WhatsApp is killing BBM.

[Umedon]

I just opened a 95 page pdf document on my PlayBook, maybe the problem is the Indian not the arrow.

yep. Largest PDF on my playbook is a 213 page work schematic/map tech brief. Well brief it's not but I do use Android Repligo Reader. It works really well.

[slipsam]

I do business with customers around the world and most have a skype account. I video chat to my colleagues in the usa on almost a daily basis. It is a vital business tool for me. It is a cross platform system. Its only blackberry that is out in cold. When i bought my playbook it did not even occur to me that it would not have skype but how many people have i had to tell this to now. I dont want to but they ask if they can skype me on it.

[BigAl_BB9900]

I do business with customers around the world and most have a skype account...... It is a vital business tool for me. It is a cross platform system. Its only blackberry that is out in cold. When i bought my playbook it did not even occur to me that it would not have skype but how many people have i had to tell this to now. I dont want to but they ask if they can skype me on it.

Agree completely with slipsam - the only difference for me is that there is much less business video calling (the majority of my business skype use is for voice conferencing). I DO use skype video calls as well, but this is usually for personal stuff

When i bought my playbook it did not even occur to me that it would not have skype.... because pre-launch RIM Execs were talking about Skype and the PlayBook, and releasing images of the PlayBook with Skype Icons on them....

[BigAl_BB9900]

yep. Largest PDF on my playbook is a 213 page work schematic/map tech brief. Well brief it's not but I do use Android Repligo Reader. It works really well.

I just use the standard Adobe Reader that came with my PlayBook (if it wasn't pre-installed then I must have installed it for free)

Have only had one problem reading a PDF on the PlayBook, and that was because it had brackets eg "(" & ")" in the filename - as soon as I renamed the file the pdf opened fine

Most of the PDFs on my PB are 50-150 pages long and include lots of images that were originally created in Visio, Project, Primavera, etc... file sizes are generally 500k - 4Mb - the images are crisp and can easily be expanded for examination (lots of very dense flow charts with 6 or 8 point fonts)

I have never had an issue (other than the aforementioned weird characters in the filename) with reading PDFs on my PB

Would like to point out, that for me (disabled traveller), the PB is the best handheld device I have ever used for reading PDFs whilst on the go.
Why? Big enough screen to be functional (smartphones & PDAs are too small), not too heavy (the iPad weighs too much for me), pocket size (fits in the pockets of my winter and summer coats), easy to fit into a small satchel / man-bag / thingy, and much easier than a laptop to read on your lap in the plane/tube/train/etc

Note: sometimes PDF's don't read on certain PDF Readers because of the PDF version being newer than that of the PDF Reader - if you suffer from this - open the PDF in Acrobat, and save as an earlier version...

Hope this helps

[anon(1464249)]

The skype app for Verizon BB is not VOIP .. it offers skype chat (which you can get with IM+) and voice calls are directed to a local calling gateway.. effectively no better than using a calling card... so skype it is, VOIP it isnt.

There are now true VOIP alternatives for the BB so low cost international calling and low cost international roaming are finally available.. my skype account has been closed.

and there are now better and cheaper services

I am aware of this, what i meant was that the APP itself is there and it connects to the SKYPE network, meaning they don't need to start from scratch. They just need to update/upgrade the existing app.

other TRUE VOIP apps? Tell me about them?
I have yet to come across a VOIP app for blackberry that is FULL DUPLEX, meaning not walkie talkie style but full on conversation.
All existing apps use HALF duplex cutting one person out of the conversation until the other has stopped talking.

Tringme, is the only VOIP app that worked on my blackberry btw but the HALF duplex effectively kills it for me.
Skype is FULL duplex so it acts like a regular phone.

[aazidane]

skype is coming to playbook, guys at rim know about this problem and working hard to solve it. You will see it soon enough.

[victorshikhman]

skype is coming to playbook, guys at rim know about this problem and working hard to solve it. You will see it soon enough.

How do you know that? So tired of this. It's coming. It's not coming. It's coming. It's not coming. Wait, it's coming. Nope, it's not. Guys at rim knew this was a problem a year ago and did nothing. Seriously, if "it's coming", why not just release it? How long could it possibly take - a week max, while drunk? - for two or three coders to port the Android Skype app to Playbook? And then just be done with it.

I need to make a choice this month to get PB or not. All the other tablets tell me what I CAN do. It's only Blackberry where you start looking at the product by having to ask, what can't it do. Ridiculous. If the hardware on the PB wasn't as good as it is, for that cheap, I wouldn't even bother, but it's a compelling enough selling point.

[ManiDhillon]

PB and BB in general is a dead platform like Symbian. So it is very unlikely that skype will be available for PB or BB.
The problem is not with skype but with RIM. Not just skype, there are lots of applications which are available for iOS and Android but not for PB because RIM and the PB platform in general were unable to interest developers to try their hands on it, skype is just following other devs. Why should they develop an app for BB when no one else is doing so.

[Flexin]

PB and BB in general is a dead platform like Symbian. So it is very unlikely that skype will be available for PB or BB.
The problem is not with skype but with RIM. Not just skype, there are lots of applications which are available for iOS and Android but not for PB because RIM and the PB platform in general were unable to interest developers to try their hands on it, skype is just following other devs. Why should they develop an app for BB when no one else is doing so.

How is it a dead platform. I think it is way too early to put on a toe tag. Some are waiting for the phones to be released. If it sells well then there is a larger base of customers for the apps. If it was launched complete it might have sold better from day one. Better sales would have pulled in more developers. A phone is a little easier to sell compared to a tablet so there will be larger numbers. Will they be big enough? It's hard to say but we will see at some point.

James

[pythons]

I just opened a 95 page pdf document on my PlayBook, maybe the problem is the Indian not the arrow.

I can assure you what you opened wasn't the admin user guide for a Mitel phone system...
...I emailed it to my go - to at Sprint which has a Playbook & he couldn't open it either.
...You can see all the page numbers & nothing loads.
...It's the arrow HabsSuck & it's time people start realizing it's it the arrow - that way they can fix it.

[CairnsRock]

When I talk about PlayBook in glowing terms to my friends. I of course then have to tell them that there is no Skype.

End of discussion. I just sold an iPad.

[victorshikhman]

When I talk about PlayBook in glowing terms to my friends. I of course then have to tell them that there is no Skype.

End of discussion. I just sold an iPad.

Ok, no Skype; that sucks, I agree. But mention also the price differential. $200 vs $399. $250 vs $499. $300 vs $599. For half the price if Ipad you do get a lot for your money. Even if you just use PB for ebooks, web surfing, an occasional movie, it's got value at this price.

[Tre Lawrence]

Ok, no Skype; that sucks, I agree. But mention also the price differential. $200 vs $399. $250 vs $499. $300 vs $599. For half the price if Ipad you do get a lot for your money. Even if you just use PB for ebooks, web surfing, an occasional movie, it's got value at this price.

Agreed, but then, at the lower price, you get the Kindle Fire nipping at its heels. Without the ecosystem, it's tough for the PB to compete, even at the low price.

[victorshikhman]

Agreed, but then, at the lower price, you get the Kindle Fire nipping at its heels. Without the ecosystem, it's tough for the PB to compete, even at the low price.

To get really pessimistic, remember that while the PB is treading water on the hardware strengths it has, and RIM is trying to catch up on ecosystem, other companies are moving forward. The current Kindle Fire is good for content consumption, not much else. But the next Fire is already in production. In the time it took RIM to deploy 2.0, Amazon is halfway to shipping a second generation Kindle Fire, when the first one only launched last fall.

I think I'm still getting the PB (found a $20 off coupon for Radio Shack, which takes the 32GB down to $230), because I mainly need it for mobile viewing PDF textbooks and manuals, and for the price, at that feature set, it's still the best option. But I'm definitely going to be exploring everything Dingleberry has to offer in maximizing the hardware value. Maybe they can figure out a way to make the Android skype app work.

[Thunderbuck]

Agreed, but then, at the lower price, you get the Kindle Fire nipping at its heels. Without the ecosystem, it's tough for the PB to compete, even at the low price.

Kindle Fire is not much of a competitor for the Playbook. No Bluetooth, no cameras, intentionally limited app environment... Great device for consuming Amazon content, yes, but not available outside the USA.

[Thunderbuck]

To get really pessimistic, remember that while the PB is treading water on the hardware strengths it has, and RIM is trying to catch up on ecosystem, other companies are moving forward. The current Kindle Fire is good for content consumption, not much else. But the next Fire is already in production. In the time it took RIM to deploy 2.0, Amazon is halfway to shipping a second generation Kindle Fire, when the first one only launched last fall.

I think I'm still getting the PB (found a $20 off coupon for Radio Shack, which takes the 32GB down to $230), because I mainly need it for mobile viewing PDF textbooks and manuals, and for the price, at that feature set, it's still the best option. But I'm definitely going to be exploring everything Dingleberry has to offer in maximizing the hardware value. Maybe they can figure out a way to make the Android skype app work.

I wouldn't count on any backdoor way to sneak the full Skype experience. I have heard chatter to suggest that RIM wants to incorporate it into their own video chat client, but I guess we'll see...

BUT speaking of that vid chat client on the Playbook... I know people who have purchased Playbooks for faraway family members just BECAUSE of the vid chat. It's arguably much better than Skype.

[drummer_god]

I know people who have purchased Playbooks for faraway family members just BECAUSE of the vid chat. It's arguably much better than Skype.

i fall in that category.