[katiepea]

Yeah looks like android tablets will end up like their phones, rim missed a big opportunity here before Google had a foothold, woulda coulda shoulda

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[morfy50]

I think ultimately this will be a blessing for RIM and the PlayBook. I think if the government and military decide to purchase a lot of them it will jump start more QNX development and it will be up and running!

I doubt this will jumpstart anything. Sure, RIM will sell more PB's but they'll be in their current form. The most RIM will add is more security enhancements and regular OS updates or patches.

Now if PB really hits with consumers, then we'll see development (in-house and 3rd party devs) get moving.

[_StephenBB81]

What does this actually mean? I have seen other tablets that are marketed towards government but what does the FIPS mean? Or this only pretaining to the "new" style tablets that are not running full OS's. Serious question.

a couple of things to Point out

"No other tablet on the market has gained FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) certification from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is required under the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA)."

This is the first Commercially available Tablet to be FIPS approved, some special case project specific tablets have existed since the 90's


WHAT this means to the Government is lower cost in utilizing tablet technology in security sensitive areas due to mass production.
What this means for RIM is they have bragging rights, and a leg up on the competition for federal agency who have technology budgets.

What this Also means is NOW there is a reason for Governments to be developing internal application for the playbook, Company's that made software for security firms will now HAVE to at least look at the Playbook as a platform or their competitors will. And a Big firm WILL tell RIM what they need out of SDK's and HOPEFULLY it will mean consumer app dev's will get better SDK's

[_StephenBB81]

I doubt this will jumpstart anything. Sure, RIM will sell more PB's but they'll be in their current form. The most RIM will add is more security enhancements and regular OS updates or patches.

Now if PB really hits with consumers, then we'll see development (in-house and 3rd party devs) get moving.

I think it will Jump start big development houses that make software for government use to look and develop for RIM

sure it wont help the Skype, and the Kindle, and the Netflix apps happen any faster, but I suspect VNC type apps, AutoCad style apps, and document format reader apps will start to emerge

[lnichols]

a couple of things to Point out

"No other tablet on the market has gained FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) certification from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is required under the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA)."

This is the first Commercially available Tablet to be FIPS approved, some special case project specific tablets have existed since the 90's


WHAT this means to the Government is lower cost in utilizing tablet technology in security sensitive areas due to mass production.
What this means for RIM is they have bragging rights, and a leg up on the competition for federal agency who have technology budgets.

What this Also means is NOW there is a reason for Governments to be developing internal application for the playbook, Company's that made software for security firms will now HAVE to at least look at the Playbook as a platform or their competitors will. And a Big firm WILL tell RIM what they need out of SDK's and HOPEFULLY it will mean consumer app dev's will get better SDK's

The US Federal gov't only has an IT budget of about $81 Billion. That isn't a huge potential market is it?

[_StephenBB81]

The US Federal gov't only has an IT budget of about $81 Billion. That isn't a huge potential market is it?

Well with Mass purchasing discounts, lets assume 15% off of $500
so $475ea

$81,000,000,000/$475 =~ 170,000,000 Playbooks, or 1 playbook per family in the USA! plus 1 for every government employee! hehehe

[brucep1]

a couple of things to Point out

"No other tablet on the market has gained FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) certification from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is required under the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA)."

This is the first Commercially available Tablet to be FIPS approved, some special case project specific tablets have existed since the 90's


WHAT this means to the Government is lower cost in utilizing tablet technology in security sensitive areas due to mass production.
What this means for RIM is they have bragging rights, and a leg up on the competition for federal agency who have technology budgets.

What this Also means is NOW there is a reason for Governments to be developing internal application for the playbook, Company's that made software for security firms will now HAVE to at least look at the Playbook as a platform or their competitors will. And a Big firm WILL tell RIM what they need out of SDK's and HOPEFULLY it will mean consumer app dev's will get better SDK's

Ok I am a little lost here, so if I say anything that doesn't make complete sense please correct me..

First, this is great that RIM has a certification that no other company on the planet does.

However, does this has something to do with no email client, calender, or contacts? Wouldn't it be much easier to get this certification if the tablet wasn't cabaple of running native apps?

[Dapper37]

I think it will Jump start big development houses that make software for government use to look and develop for RIM

sure it wont help the Skype, and the Kindle, and the Netflix apps happen any faster, but I suspect VNC type apps, AutoCad style apps, and document format reader apps will start to emerge

Agreed, to add to your though theres a big element of critical mass with the development of software on the PB, as we all know the i fans keep telling us. Critical mass is just that and it don't matter where it comes from to a large degree. Once the word is out that the PB is easy to develop for and that lots of dev's are doing just that. whatever industry them come from, There she goes.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Ok I am a little lost here, so if I say anything that doesn't make complete sense please correct me..

First, this is great that RIM has a certification that no other company on the planet does.

However, does this has something to do with no email client, calender, or contacts? Wouldn't it be much easier to get this certification if the tablet wasn't cabaple of running native apps?

This news was HUGE for FOSE this year and the PlayBook was awarded best in show. FOSE is a big convention for Federal Gov IT.

No it doesn't have anything to do with those, because all aspects of the tab must meet the cryptographic module standards, bridge included. So basically the tab meets the cert regardless of how it's being used.

This is going to drive overall sales of the PlayBook up tremendously. Yes it won't be in the Private sector, but it will contribute quite a bit to sales numbers. It's also spectacular for the coming QNX handhelds as they will be compliant as well thus helping RIM's bottom line. Good news all around.

[Laura Knotek]

This news was HUGE for FOSE this year and the PlayBook was awarded best in show. FOSE is a big convention for Federal Gov IT.

No it doesn't have anything to do with those, because all aspects of the tab must meet the cryptographic module standards, bridge included. So basically the tab meets the cert regardless of how it's being used.

This is going to drive overall sales of the PlayBook up tremendously. Yes it won't be in the Private sector, but it will contribute quite a bit to sales numbers. It's also spectacular for the coming QNX handhelds as they will be compliant as well thus helping RIM's bottom line. Good news all around.

I think the Playbook will be a niche product for government and other enterprises that need that type of security. I do not see it as becoming a consumer product. I would not be surprised if it disappears from shelves of retail stores completely and is just sold to the government/contractors/enterprises directly by RIM.

[lnichols]

Ok I am a little lost here, so if I say anything that doesn't make complete sense please correct me..

First, this is great that RIM has a certification that no other company on the planet does.

However, does this has something to do with no email client, calender, or contacts? Wouldn't it be much easier to get this certification if the tablet wasn't cabaple of running native apps?

The crypto kernel not only encrypts the Bluetooth link for the Bridge, but it also encrypts data on the device itself, will encrypt the data to the BIS/BES when available, etc. Now that they have this they can put native PIM and e-mail on the device, and that data can be encrypted on the device with an approved module. To the ordinary consumer it doesn't mean anything. To the US Government and Military, it means that they could use a Playbook for e-mail/PIM, and the module should be available via API's to encrypt data in custom applications too. This should mean more Playbook sales, more devices out there, requiring more developers to support the platform. Also when QNX handsets become available, they will probably have the same revision of crypto kernel (v 5.6) running on those devices so they go to the Military and say we'll have this phone out, it will be approved because it has the same crypto module, and it can meet your needs for a phone too, oh and it can run Android apps too.

If I were RIM management, since they make their own phones, I would be working on a MIL Spec rugidized QNX prototype phone running QNX for the US Military.

[lnichols]

I think the Playbook will be a niche product for government and other enterprises that need that type of security. I do not see it as becoming a consumer product. I would not be surprised if it disappears from shelves of retail stores completely and is just sold to the government/contractors/enterprises directly by RIM.

Yeah but if the product is good, and available commercially too, then things have a way of spreading outward. BB phones started out in Government and Enterprise and worked their way out to consumer. I think that once they get everything done on the Playbook, and QNX phones start hitting the market, development for the platform will improve and it will be much more appealing.

[Laura Knotek]

Yeah but if the product is good, and available commercially too, then things have a way of spreading outward. BB phones started out in Government and Enterprise and worked their way out to consumer. I think that once they get everything done on the Playbook, and QNX phones start hitting the market, development for the platform will improve and it will be much more appealing.

The current trend for many areas other than government is consumer devices being adopted by enterprise, not enterprise devices being adopted by consumers. It all started with the iPhone, and it is continuing with Android. That is why many corporations are allowing those devices, and some corporations are eliminating BES completely.

[_StephenBB81]

I think the Playbook will be a niche product for government and other enterprises that need that type of security. I do not see it as becoming a consumer product. I would not be surprised if it disappears from shelves of retail stores completely and is just sold to the government/contractors/enterprises directly by RIM.

Blackberry was once a Niche product unto itself

The Playbook only needs a few very small things to make it a very viable consumer product, and RIM needs to release those things 6 months before Apple releases a 7" tablet.

RIM CAN exist head to head with Android 7" tablets, because they will be fighting eachother AND fighting the Playbook, but Apple could come in an sweep that market with the 7" model, though at the expense of their 9" model so it isn't yet time for them to do so.

The Things RIM NEEDS
Quality OFFICE application like MS Office,
Reason: Small business consumers, Students, Sales forces, they used OFFICE and they need office, right now Only Windows Tablets provide a solution for this
Quality Entertainment support ( E/A Games continuing to release games)
Reason: Consumers play games, the Playbook DOES provide a fun user experience with NEED4Speed, if E/A Games can bring more titles to the Playbook, it gets the entertainment factor up there.
Content Delivery:
Reason: Consumers want Netflix, they want mp3's they want movies, RIM needs to address this and ensure consumers can get these easily linking services like Netflix / Amazon mp3 etc to BBID's for single location payment would be a great solution!

[_StephenBB81]

The current trend for many areas other than government is consumer devices being adopted by enterprise, not enterprise devices being adopted by consumers. It all started with the iPhone, and it is continuing with Android. That is why many corporations are allowing those devices, and some corporations are eliminating BES completely.

Enterprise adopts what consumers want because they are trying to reduce costs, if they adopt the Bring your own phone model then they don't have to support hardware.

As Business moves forward, you will see that consumers don't want Enterprise to limit what they can do on their personal devices, and then we'll be back to work issued devices, and that will be lead by IT departments who are influenced by technology the government uses, and is approved

Also as security regulations become more strict over user data, again company's will go overboard at first and adopt Government solutions then they will be adapted to consumer grade.

[Laura Knotek]

Blackberry was once a Niche product unto itself

The Playbook only needs a few very small things to make it a very viable consumer product, and RIM needs to release those things 6 months before Apple releases a 7" tablet.

RIM CAN exist head to head with Android 7" tablets, because they will be fighting eachother AND fighting the Playbook, but Apple could come in an sweep that market with the 7" model, though at the expense of their 9" model so it isn't yet time for them to do so.

The Things RIM NEEDS
Quality OFFICE application like MS Office,
Reason: Small business consumers, Students, Sales forces, they used OFFICE and they need office, right now Only Windows Tablets provide a solution for this
Quality Entertainment support ( E/A Games continuing to release games)
Reason: Consumers play games, the Playbook DOES provide a fun user experience with NEED4Speed, if E/A Games can bring more titles to the Playbook, it gets the entertainment factor up there.
Content Delivery:
Reason: Consumers want Netflix, they want mp3's they want movies, RIM needs to address this and ensure consumers can get these easily linking services like Netflix / Amazon mp3 etc to BBID's for single location payment would be a great solution!

This would definitely help the Playbook sell.

Another big thing though is that Windows tablets are not going away. Right now the big focus is on Android and iPad, but there are more Windows tablets on their way. E/A already has many PC games, so Windows tablets would be logical choices for folks who want Office and games.

Windows 8 actually looks like it will be better as a tablet OS than as a desktop OS from what I've seen so far.

[ADGrant]

The current trend for many areas other than government is consumer devices being adopted by enterprise, not enterprise devices being adopted by consumers. It all started with the iPhone, and it is continuing with Android. That is why many corporations are allowing those devices, and some corporations are eliminating BES completely.

Many companies are eliminating BES for cost reasons. Others are only issuing BBs to senior staff and either using GoodLink or EAS to push corporate email to the user device.

[ADGrant]

This would definitely help the Playbook sell.

Another big thing though is that Windows tablets are not going away. Right now the big focus is on Android and iPad, but there are more Windows tablets on their way. E/A already has many PC games, so Windows tablets would be logical choices for folks who want Office and games.

Windows 8 actually looks like it will be better as a tablet OS than as a desktop OS from what I've seen so far.

Windows Tablets have been around for years, much longer than the iPad. Very few consumers want them.

[_StephenBB81]

This would definitely help the Playbook sell.

Another big thing though is that Windows tablets are not going away. Right now the big focus is on Android and iPad, but there are more Windows tablets on their way. E/A already has many PC games, so Windows tablets would be logical choices for folks who want Office and games.

Windows 8 actually looks like it will be better as a tablet OS than as a desktop OS from what I've seen so far.

I Probably will be coming home with a Windows tablet net week, I really have wanted one since seeing it,

that said the games made for Windows, might not port so well to tablets as many are built to take advantage of desktop and laptop hardware. not the tablet hardware, so Company's making games will have to take that into account moving forward when making Windows Based games.

I think that Windows tablets will remain in the 9-11" space, just do to how Windows is laid out, which is great! I can have my 7" playbook and my 11" Windows Tablet. as a PC replacement.


RIM just needs to make sure it KEEPS its friendly relationship with Microsoft. let them co-exist and Enterprise gets to be ruled by Microsoft Servers still

[Laura Knotek]

Many companies are eliminating BES for cost reasons. Others are only issuing BBs to senior staff and either using GoodLink or EAS to push corporate email to the user device.

That is true. I know someone who was a BES admin for a company. He still handles the smartphones for the company, but they eliminated BES completely. They issue company smartphones, but they are Android.

[_StephenBB81]

Windows Tablets have been around for years, much longer than the iPad. Very few consumers want them.

Technology was the prohibitive factor for previous Windows tablets

having played with MANY from 2000 till now, it wasn't until the Playbook I finally WANTED a tablet, and now I am seriously looking at a Windows tablet while I am in the US next week

[ADGrant]

Technology was the prohibitive factor for previous Windows tablets

having played with MANY from 2000 till now, it wasn't until the Playbook I finally WANTED a tablet, and now I am seriously looking at a Windows tablet while I am in the US next week

I think Windows was the prohibitive factor for previous Windows tablets.

[Laura Knotek]

I Probably will be coming home with a Windows tablet net week, I really have wanted one since seeing it,

That sounds nice. I hope you like it.

that said the games made for Windows, might not port so well to tablets as many are built to take advantage of desktop and laptop hardware. not the tablet hardware, so Company's making games will have to take that into account moving forward when making Windows Based games.

Very true! The games would have to be different for tablets, since many are so graphics card/processor intensive. Many desktops/laptops cannot even handle certain games.

I think that Windows tablets will remain in the 9-11" space, just do to how Windows is laid out, which is great! I can have my 7" playbook and my 11" Windows Tablet. as a PC replacement.


RIM just needs to make sure it KEEPS its friendly relationship with Microsoft. let them co-exist and Enterprise gets to be ruled by Microsoft Servers still

I guess we will have to wait and see what happens, since they did appear to be on good terms after BlackBerry World.

[flyersfan76]

I Probably will be coming home with a Windows tablet net week, I really have wanted one since seeing it,

Which one are you getting?

Motion Computing
Tablet Kiosk
View Sonic

I am planning on getting a Tablet PC when Windows 8 comes out but a lot can change between now and then.

Anxious to see how you like it.

[_StephenBB81]

Which one are you getting?

Motion Computing
Tablet Kiosk
View Sonic

I am planning on getting a Tablet PC when Windows 8 comes out but a lot can change between now and then.

Anxious to see how you like it.

I've been looking at the Acer Icona W500 extensively
I want one with a dock for the keyboard so I can remove one of my laptops form my travel bag.