[FF22]

If you type your search in the address bar and hit return the browser does search. Under options general you can even set which site to use for your search.

I mean trying to search for "string" on the currently displayed page - I don't think you can do that.

[Darlaten]

Where are all these wonderful, interesting apps? How do you uncover them? I'm willing to bet that 90% of buyers spend little time searching for them. In my view, the whole app thing is mainly hype, benefitting Apple primarily. For me, both tablets do the job, the Playbook functionality makes it better.

As with anything with apps, it depends on what we define as "wonderful" or "interesting". In my case, the Playbook simply cannot and does not compete in the realm of medical apps; medical imagining apps; or neuroanatomy applications. For example, look at apps by 3D4Medical Brain & Nervous System Pro III for iPad on the iTunes App Store - they have a whole series of high quality applications whereby you can slice through the human body in sections in order to dissect the tissue underneath - a valuable learning tool for students and a valuable illustrative tool for physicians/doctors with their patients. There are apps on muscular disorders and eye disorders - including one that is used to show to patients the type of illness that they are suffering thereby increasing their understanding of their disease.

This is hardly "hype" as you put it by Apple. It's about "getting things done" to quote RIM, i.e., using the device in the field of medicine as a tool to help patients understand more about their bodies; or for students to better study with; or even for the general public to better educate themselves regarding biology.

I had hoped, given the size and portability of the Playbook, that many medical application developers, including a unique project that University of Stansford Medical department is working on whereby the entire digital human genome project will be made available on the ipad as an app, would start to support the Playbook. Sadly, almost every medical developer that I have contacted have outright said no - they wont support the Playbook.

But it's not only medical that I'm interested in; it's the quality of the apps on the Playbook compared to other tablets. Take for an example, the News360 app that we have compared to what is now available on the iOS system - they are like two different apps - one excellent and one barely passable. Guess what platform has the barely passable app.

The point of this long winded rant - the whole notion of apps being childish, foolish, or only for the brainwashed apple fans is utter nonscence. Applications increase the diversity and utility of whatever tablet you have - they are needed. They are what makes the tablet truly professional.

[Hgouck]

I mean trying to search for "string" on the currently displayed page - I don't think you can do that.

Sorry for not understanding. You are correct. In that I don't think you can search within a Web page.

[masqueofhastur]

It's very simple, if there's an app you want, and it's not on the playbook it's frustrating. A lot of people want netflix or skype, but even if they're the only person with a playbook who wants a particular app, it's still frustrating. It gets more frustrating when there's more apps you'd like but can't have (without buying another device).

[THBW]

As with anything with apps, it depends on what we define as "wonderful" or "interesting". In my case, the Playbook simply cannot and does not compete in the realm of medical apps; medical imagining apps; or neuroanatomy applications. For example, look at apps by 3D4Medical Brain & Nervous System Pro III for iPad on the iTunes App Store - they have a whole series of high quality applications whereby you can slice through the human body in sections in order to dissect the tissue underneath - a valuable learning tool for students and a valuable illustrative tool for physicians/doctors with their patients. There are apps on muscular disorders and eye disorders - including one that is used to show to patients the type of illness that they are suffering thereby increasing their understanding of their disease.

This is hardly "hype" as you put it by Apple. It's about "getting things done" to quote RIM, i.e., using the device in the field of medicine as a tool to help patients understand more about their bodies; or for students to better study with; or even for the general public to better educate themselves regarding biology.

I had hoped, given the size and portability of the Playbook, that many medical application developers, including a unique project that University of Stansford Medical department is working on whereby the entire digital human genome project will be made available on the ipad as an app, would start to support the Playbook. Sadly, almost every medical developer that I have contacted have outright said no - they wont support the Playbook.

But it's not only medical that I'm interested in; it's the quality of the apps on the Playbook compared to other tablets. Take for an example, the News360 app that we have compared to what is now available on the iOS system - they are like two different apps - one excellent and one barely passable. Guess what platform has the barely passable app.

The point of this long winded rant - the whole notion of apps being childish, foolish, or only for the brainwashed apple fans is utter nonscence. Applications increase the diversity and utility of whatever tablet you have - they are needed. They are what makes the tablet truly professional.

Interesting that our comments would cross. I work in the medical field and I have no problem accessing 3D taxometric infomation on my playbook. Frankly, if you have to build an App for this information, there is something seriously wrong with your browser. This just highlights my previous point which is that Apple relies far too heavily on App development to compensate for platform weakness. Best of luck to the Stanford Medical department.

As to genomic information, it is beyond me why you would make an App. Use your browser and go to the national library of medicine. Easy as pie, everything works.

[soren203]

Three problems with app world

1)Big name apps are missing
2)Many developers stop updating their apps
3)Most apps are lacking in quality

oh and as a bonus
4)For some reason there is like a million book apps

[Bla1ze]

Its partially a Y generation effect. I bought your tablet and deserve everything I want that someone else has (thanks a lot to modern day sports giving trophies to the losing teams).

I lol'd. A lot.

[abhishekpradhan32]

I lol'd. A lot.

Many people over here say that apple and android have only quantity (in terms of number of apps). I admit they do have quality apps. But i've got to say- when it comes to games, appworld is very good (except for the ridiculous price tag). But when it comes to apps section, appworld neither has quality nor quantity. In short, app-starved appworld that too accompanied with exorbitant price. Its not that i dont like PB. To me, it is the best device. I would pick it over others anyday. But appworld is just pathetic. It would be better off without appworld.

[abhishekpradhan32]

The list is unending. No skype, no gtalk, no yahoo messanger, no msn messanger, no netflix, no native opera mobile or dolphin hd (the ported one is a garbage). Don't say that pb browser is good enough. It is a barebone. On some sites, it works brilliently. While on some sites, it lags badly giving u a jerky experience. The worst thing is that it has whole lot of checkerboarding. flash has some serious issues. It doesn't play flash video on some sites. While a few sites say , pb is not supported. On the other hand, from what i've seen and used, nothing is as smooth as opera mobile. Even native dolphin hd is very good. And google chrome ( for android and ios). I wonder what all the fuss is about! I bough pb for internet surfing. For i had heard a lot about the browser from u guys. On the contrary it fell well short of my expectations.

[D Mac]

The problem is everyone knows the playbook OS will be completely dead and will not exist anymore in six months.

As a developer or as a company why would you develop for a platform that will not even exist 6 months down the road?

You wouldn't and that is why there is so little development or updates for PBOS.

In case anyone doesn't know what I am refering to: RIM has said that the PB will be updated to BB10. So, of course, as a developer you write for BB10, not PBOS.

[BBplaybookJS]

"Kindle? I would not use it if it came with Playbook." - Well, just because you won't use kindle on your Playbook, the other one million people wouldn't use it?

If my examples are poor, then please tell. What do you think are some "BASIC" apps?

A good book reader app
An full featured office suite
A good map app
A news reading app

That along with the Playbooks native software is, in my opinion about all that is needed. Now if you want to state that those apps should have come fully developed with Playbook I won't argue the point.

[abhishekpradhan32]

The problem is everyone knows the playbook OS will be completely dead and will not exist anymore in six months.

As a developer or as a company why would you develop for a platform that will not even exist 6 months down the road?

You wouldn't and that is why there is so little development or updates for PBOS.

In case anyone doesn't know what I am refering to: RIM has said that the PB will be updated to BB10. So, of course, as a developer you write for BB10, not PBOS.

thats what we're hoping for. That is the only silver lining in the dark cloud- that Playbook will get BB10. Lets hope playbook will get better and BB10 will be a success.

[abhishekpradhan32]

A good book reader app
An full featured office suite
A good map app
A news reading app

That along with the Playbooks native software is, in my opinion about all that is needed. Now if you want to state that those apps should have come fully developed with Playbook I won't argue the point.

map app that comes with playbook is next to nothing. The browser need a lot of improvements. Video player is very limited. Adobe reader is just a toy. And what not?

[Sergeant HCR]

I compare app stores to that of grocery stores.

The App World is like your corner store with the bare necessities, and not even all the necessities. There is a good chance you will not find an item of food you are looking for. And if you do find what you need, it may be just one brand. Basically, limited selection.

The Apple App Store is like your large grocery store with every item of food you can think of, and you will never try every item of food but it is highly unlikely you won't find something you are looking for. There is also multiple brands of many items which offers you much choice.

So where do you go/want to buy the bulk of your groceries? the local corner store or a big grocery store?

[abhishekpradhan32]

I compare app stores to that of grocery stores.

The App World is like your corner store with the bare necessities, and not even all the necessities. There is a good chance you will not find an item of food you are looking for. And if you do find what you need, it may be just one brand. Basically, limited selection.

The Apple App Store is like your large grocery store with every item of food you can think of, and you will never try every item of food but it is highly unlikely you won't find something you are looking for. There is also multiple brands of many items which offers you much choice.

So where do you go/want to buy the bulk of your groceries? the local corner store or a big grocery store?

In your style, a map app, adobe reader, video player (able to play most formats), etc etc are the basic food items that a tablet lives on. And you don't have these basic items. Thats what i'm on about. I just checked out 'Samsung Galaxy tab 7 plus'. It runs on Android 3.2. While i'm not a fan of android ( don't hate it either), its video player impressed me a lot. It could play any codecs up to 1080p. Be it flv, mkv, fob,.... Any format. Its browser was very good to. You have more options like opera, chrome etc. Now don't tell me that playbook browser is better than these 3rd party browsers.

[elderberryman]

The PlayBook apps do most everything that I need. I don't play games so I could care less about most entertainment apps. However I get insulted every time I see a TV or magazine ad, or a quote in a newspaper atricle, that refers to an app that is only directed to Apple users. I have a feeling that there are more BB users reading the WSJ or Financial Times than they think. I send emails asking why they don't seem to care if BB users view their articles or products. Of course they do not relpy.

[Bakamushi]

Irrelevant thread. Tablets are all about apps.

Those are questions you ask when you haven't used an Android or Apple tablet.

[Jethro-Ten]

I am constantly amazed by the constant complaints regarding the "lack" of applications for the playbook. I do understand that there are a few that always come up. Those being Skype and netflix. Is this the reason people are not purchasing? Or is it a deeper need to be part of something else? Does the need for more dictate their decision? Or is it just as simple as not wanting to be more involved in the research of a product and just buy whatever they are told to ?

I suppose if I could figure that out I would be able to sell ice to Eskimos.

for me, it happens that those "few" it doesn't have are actually really big ones.
If it had got skype, and Netflix etc. back at the beginning, the PB wouldn't be as screwed as it currently is.

J

[esk369]

The list is unending. No skype, no gtalk, no yahoo messanger, no msn messanger, no netflix, no native opera mobile or dolphin hd (the ported one is a garbage). Don't say that pb browser is good enough. It is a barebone. On some sites, it works brilliently. While on some sites, it lags badly giving u a jerky experience. The worst thing is that it has whole lot of checkerboarding. flash has some serious issues. It doesn't play flash video on some sites. While a few sites say , pb is not supported. On the other hand, from what i've seen and used, nothing is as smooth as opera mobile. Even native dolphin hd is very good. And google chrome ( for android and ios). I wonder what all the fuss is about! I bough pb for internet surfing. For i had heard a lot about the browser from u guys. On the contrary it fell well short of my expectations.

I'm truly sorry that the browser doesn't live up to your expectations and l say that without a wiseguy bone in my body I used to have the checkerboard problem and a little lag and then I went and spent the coin on the best router i could afford and that solved 99.9% of my problems flash has never been a problem.
On my t300 sideloading flash was a bit of a pain and that only works when it wants on the t300 the stock browser is possessed it crashes quite frequently. As far as opera not so good dolphin hd for tablets beta is a better option but not by much.
I guess my point is that each os each device has its strengths and its weaknesses thats why I bought my android tablet because it does somethings my pb cant .
In the end people should buy whats right for them and what they can afford more times then not I grab my pb because it works for me.

[sophace]

I know its easy to say apps are irrelevant, browser is all you need, other app stores are full of 1000 fart apps. While other app stores are full of crappy apps, they are also full of very useful ones, apps you would never even think of unless you have specific interest in a product or industry. When you see a lack of support from big names like Kindle, Netflix, Skype, and others (Twitter doesn't even have a native app) then you don't even realize the other smaller eco system of apps that go unsupported.

Just because you don't use Kindle or Netflix or Skype, doesn't mean they aren't important. Amazon has built a multi billion dollar business around the Kindle. Skype was bought for $8.6 billion by Microsoft and has 663 million users. Netflix was a pioneer in the industry and has over 20 million users. These are just three examples of companies that have million of users that have no way to access their product via a playbook. To give a more niche perspective, I bought a fitbit the other day and it has an iOS app and an android app - no blackberry app or playbook app. Yes I can use the browser, but this is a format where an app actually adds value vs. the browser.

I think its short sighted to say just because you don't use apps its not a big deal, its hurting RIM and playbook sales which in the long run could spell the end of a great tablet. Oh, and whenever RIM wants to give the playbook the ability to sort browser bookmarks, that would be nice too.

[esk369]

Irrelevant thread. Tablets are all about apps.

Those are questions you ask when you haven't used an Android or Apple tablet.

I respectfully disagree it might be irrelevant to you but not to the people who are posting I didn't think this thread would have the legs that it does people expressing freely their opinions and with a few exceptions no bashing.
If its irrelevant to you then again with all do respect im sure you can find a thread that fits your criteria for relevancy.

[abhishekpradhan32]

I'm truly sorry that the browser doesn't live up to your expectations and l say that without a wiseguy bone in my body I used to have the checkerboard problem and a little lag and then I went and spent the coin on the best router i could afford and that solved 99.9% of my problems flash has never been a problem.
On my t300 sideloading flash was a bit of a pain and that only works when it wants on the t300 the stock browser is possessed it crashes quite frequently. As far as opera not so good dolphin hd for tablets beta is a better option but not by much.
I guess my point is that each os each device has its strengths and its weaknesses thats why I bought my android tablet because it does somethings my pb cant .
In the end people should buy whats right for them and what they can afford more times then not I grab my pb because it works for me.

You know, different people have different opinions. And why would u say sorry if PB browser doesn't come up to my expectations? Its not that i hate Blackberry. I'm also a blackberry fanboy. And i'm saying it honestly. But i'm not a blind fanboy. I like my PB a lot but there r some areas where it lags behind badly. So i just point it out over here. What i don't like is people start shouting madly at me for no reason. Thats really painful and disappointing. I again speak it out that if we write something against a device's feature, that doesn't mean we r tring to disparage or insult this company. Still, i don't care about them. I just want this company to do well and make progress. I do believe that RIM has true potential to overtake others and get to top. And i can bet on it that BB10 will be way better than iphone 5. My best wishes r always with RIM. Dont think i'm from Canada. I'm from India. But the behaviour of so called fanboys r difficult to get over.

[esk369]

You know, different people have different opinions. And why would u say sorry if PB browser doesn't come up to my expectations? Its not that i hate Blackberry. I'm also a blackberry fanboy. And i'm saying it honestly. But i'm not a blind fanboy. I like my PB a lot but there r some areas where it lags behind badly. So i just point it out over here. What i don't like is people start shouting madly at me for no reason. Thats really painful and disappointing. I again speak it out that if we write something against a device's feature, that doesn't mean we r tring to disparage or insult this company. Still, i don't care about them. I just want this company to do well and make progress. I do believe that RIM has true potential to overtake others and get to top. And i can bet on it that BB10 will be way better than iphone 5. My best wishes r always with RIM. Dont think i'm from Canada. I'm from India. But the behaviour of so called fanboys r difficult to get over.

No worries my friend I was not apologizing to you or apologizing for rim if your browser is not working properly or just not up to your expectations im expressing that I wish that was not the case I want everyones browser to work for them regardless of weather its a BlackBerry android or ipad im a humanist it was just hard to understand what your point was from your one sentence post and whether your from Canada India or wherever makes no difference to me at all because regardless of religion nationality skin color we are all human its all good .
And just for the record im not a fanboy of anything except maybe the new york football giants and my girl I didn't say you were a fanboy.
I read your opinion and i respect your opinion.
Like I said no worries its all good as long as we respect agree or disagree.

[dtango]

I am constantly amazed by the constant complaints regarding the "lack" of applications for the playbook. I do understand that there are a few that always come up. Those being Skype and netflix. Is this the reason people are not purchasing? Or is it a deeper need to be part of something else? Does the need for more dictate their decision? Or is it just as simple as not wanting to be more involved in the research of a product and just buy whatever they are told to ?

I suppose if I could figure that out I would be able to sell ice to Eskimos.

ios app store has 700,000 apps, the ios apps for ipad is 250,000. the main blackberry app store has 75000.

[DuexNoir]

I am never one of those who demand lots of apps, since I don't use many at all. What BB has perfectly satisfies me but not so with many others.

The thing with the "many" apps demands is that people just want it available in the case that they may need or use it in the future. In other words, I want it on hand, that is all. For each individual out there, the list of "must have" apps will always be different; there will always be one or more apps that is on one list and not on another. But if those one or two apps are not available, they will say "there aren't enough" of an ecosystem. So, unfortunately, you can't satisfy everyone unless you have them all. Like I said, people want it simply to be available.

Also, there seems to be a new mentality among users and that is a competitive mentality: "the platform I'm using has all this...and yours?"

On another note, I haven't used news apps and similar apps - I simply browse on the Net for that. So I don't really understand why the need for certain apps that one can simply use a browser for? Web browsing on tablets and phones are getting a whole lot better and easier nowadays anyway. But this may simply be my own ignorance.