Last month we brought you a slideshow of the HP TouchPad Tablet Teardown by UBM TechInsights. Now, we unravel the packaging and design internals of the PlayBook tablet from Research in Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry smartphone.
Early reviews of seven-inch tablet, which was released in April, were lukewarm, largely because people expected there would be more available applications and better native support for email and calendars. Our main objective was to find out how the hardware held up. Our teardown compared the Playbook to competitive tablets such as the iPad 2, the Xoom, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which are all roughly in the same class, spec-wise.
Click the image below to view a slideshow of the RIM Playbook tablet in various stages of disassembly:
The PlayBook is the first tablet from the smartphone maker BlackBerry (Source: RIM.)
Once we opened the PlayBook -- no easy task, due to its robust and right construction -- we immediately recognized that Texas Instruments would be the major design winner in terms of chips. Leading the list is the use of the TI OMAP4430 as the Playbook’s applications processor. To coincide with that selection, RIM seemingly decided to stay with the OMAP 4 platform by selecting key components like the TWL6040 power management IC and the PS63020 high-efficiency single inductor buck-boost converter.
Looking at the overall construction, it’s obvious that RIM was designing the PlayBook to survive the drop test. The solid construction and layout shows that RIM placed an emphasis on protecting information. The board itself is placed compactly within the tablet, and the case is manufactured in a very rigid yet shock-absorbing plastic. Kudos to RIM for recognizing that some of us have butter fingers.
It's also worth noting that the PlayBook is the first product to feature a new operating system called Tablet OS, one of the fruits of RIM's acquisition of the RTOS vendor QNX. Tablet OS promises support for Android applications, which will open up the PlayBook to a huge library of existing apps.
For further reading:
The Design News story "HP TouchPad Tablet Teardown" is posted here.
The accompanying image gallery, "Slideshow: HP TouchPad Tablet Teardown," is posted here.
UBM TechInsights' complete teardown report on the HP TouchPad tablet can be purchased here.
Information on UBM TechInsights' subscription service for tablet product teardowns can be accessed here.
UBM TechInsights' teardown report on the RIM PlayBook tablet can be accessed for free here.
A Samsung Galaxy teardown from DesignCon is posted here.
Solid construction aside, RIM's PlayBook isn't getting the traction the company (or industry watchers) expected or wanted. The company just reported worse than expected earnings last week, which led to all kinds of speculation about whether it would continue to keep at the Playbook (remember, HP isn't moving forward with its TouchPad). The question pundits seem to be asking is whether there really is demand for tablets or if there simply demand for iPads. In any event, it looks like RIM is facing an uphill battle.
You're right, Beth. From my own completely unscientific survey, it seems people really don't want another OS. We have the iPad systems and the Android systems that attract their own followers. Unless they can show that there is some real wow factor (even given the fact that it might run Android apps), it's going to have a hard time breaking into the general market. Maybe there is some niche it could fill?
That said, very interesting articles on these teardowns!
When RIM cleared out playbook inventory recently at $200 apiece, stores were attacked by a feeding frenzy of demand. I personally picked up one, and it is pretty good. I also have a Samsung powered generic Android tablet that I picked up for $162 from online mail order, and it survived a few accidental "drop tests" two of them onto hard tile. The playbook at $40 price premium has a better screen; better built-in storage; has bluetooth and GPS whereas the generic did not; better accelerometer, etc. But I can play Angry Birds and most if not all Android Market apps on the generic, whereas the playbook cannot until February 2012 (when OS 2.0 will arrive including Android support).
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