Motorola Xoom vs BlackBerry PlayBook

The battle for tablet superiority is going to be hard-fought in 2011, with flagship releases expected from every leading manufacturer. But there are those that have already been singled out from the impressive pack of contenders and ear-marked for great things. Two of these prodigious devices are currently slugging it out for the leader of the pack badge – RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook and Motorola's XOOM .

Display
The Motorola XOOM weighs in with an amazing 10.1-inch 1080p ready display, which makes web browsing and viewing media a pleasure. RIM's offering may be smaller but it certainly isn't inferior and the PlayBook's 7.1-inch 1080P display performs admirably. It's tough to separate them but we feel the Motorola just takes the tape ahead of the PlayBook.


Drivetrain
RIM's PlayBook boasts a hugely impressive spec sheet, including a 1GHz Ti-OMAP dual-core processor and 1GB RAM, which is more than enough to keep the device flying along, under even the most heavy of burdens. Motorola's little box of tricks, the XOOM, is equally powerful though, with a dual-core 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 chip and 1GB RAM. Both devices offer dedicated GPU support, enabling them to keep up with the latest games and visual requirements.

Operating System
The XOOM is the first device to be empowered by Android 3.0 (aka Honeycomb), which is a version of the hugely popular mobile OS that has been specially tailored to operate tablet PC's. Honeycomb offers redesigned apps for e-mail, web browsing and offline support for the new 3D version of the company's market leading Google Maps.

RIM's PlayBook brings something new to market though, in the form of the company's new QNX Neutrino based operating system, which looks on track to set the world alight. Both devices are cutting-edge in terms of operating software .

Cameras
Both tablets boast front and rear-facing cameras, ideal for snapping photos and video-conferencing. The XOOM offers a 5 mega-pixel rear with dual-LED flash and 2 mega-pixel front-facing effort.
The PlayBook ups the ante though, with a 5 mega-pixel rear-facing snapper and 3 mega-pixel front-facing, making it the tablet of choice for enterprise standard video-calling.

Connectivity
Motorola's XOOM comes with every conceivable connectivity option. It offers Wi-Fi (b,g,n), Bluetooth, USB 2.0 and 3G, as well as being future-proofed with support for 4G LTE.
The PlayBook, on the other hand, currently only offers support for Wi-Fi (a,b,g,n) though 3 and 4G versions are said to be in the pipeline. This needn't be a terrible encumbrance though. Even with its good points it can't take this bout from the XOOM.

So it's a pretty comprehensive victory for the Motorola XOOM, which offers everything a user could possibly want from a tablet PC, and a little bit more to boot. RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook is an amazing contender though, and it would be remiss of us to write it off when we know how solid and dependable RIM's other devices are.

RIM's BlackBerry 10 smartphones, PlayBook 2.0 will support Android apps

RIM’s co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie have been at the helm of RIM for nearly twenty years, but as the company loses consumer interest to Apple’s iOS and Android, investors pushed for a change and change has happened: the CEO duet has resigned in favor of ex-COO Thorsten Heins.

Heins has spoken of little drastic change, but one interesting thing he confirmed is that the upcoming BlackBerry 10 devices and the PlayBook 2.0 will come with an Android app player pre-loaded. This means that you’ll have the opportunity to run Android apps out of the box on BB10 devices this fall, which sounds awesome.

"Playbook 2.0 and BlackBerry 10 will also have an Android player on it," Heins said.

The new head of RIM also said he was confident about the new QNX-based platform, and the upcoming devices. Interestingly, it seemed that the new CEO thought RIM’s biggest shortcoming was in communication, and that’s why he’s planning on hiring a new marketing head. Do you agree with that? And would having Android apps on the newest ‘Berries make you consider them more?

Asphalt 6 Adrenaline HD for the BlackBerry PlayBook is priced at $0.99 for a limited time

Not too long ago, last month to be exact, iOS users were treated to a free download of the popular game Asphalt 6 Adrenaline, which is pretty nice all around since it normally carries a cost. Well, BlackBerry PlayBook owners have a special deal where they can pick up the game for very cheap.

Specifically, Asphalt 6 Adrenaline HD for the PlayBook is now priced at an easy to swallow price tag of $0.99 for a limited time. Even though it still carries a cost, as opposed to the free one that iOS users were treated to last month, it’s still not bad of a deal – especially when you take into account its usual price of $6.99.

Naturally, seeing that it’s tagged with the “HD” branding with its name, it’s enabled to work swimmingly with the PlayBook’s display and hardware. Therefore, you’ll be treated to a visually intensive game that’s sure to showcase the processing power of the compact tablet.

Who knows how long the game will be priced at $0.99, but you shouldn’t second-guess at making the purchase since it’ll provide hours of extensive game play on the go. Trust us, you won’t be disappointed by it – well, that’s unless they make the game free very soon.