RIM demos PlayBook at Adobe MAX, vows some free dev units
updated 02:55 pm EDT, Mon October 25, 2010
RIM shows live BlackBerry PlayBook at Adobe event
RIM at Adobe's MAX conference today showed the first instance of the BlackBerry PlayBook running live. The demos showed a mix of both real and concept apps, including a concept health care app, HD video, Salesforce Chatter and SAP's business tools like CIO Cockpit. All of the apps were shown running on Adobe AIR, which is now the official SDK for RIM's new tablet.
As part of the demo, RIM showed how well mutlitasking worked on the PlayBook, switching away from the HD video without seeing a drop in frame rate. The prototype was also "stolen" from the stage for a quick hands-on after the show, including a brief demo to show guest Martha Stewart.
The device was first shown in physical form at its unveiling at BlackBerry DevCon in September, but at the time it wasn't shown working and even at demo areas was simply running a video loop. It suggested that RIM has been advancing quickly and may be on track for its promised early 2011 target.
Along with the appearance itself, RIM co-chief Mike Lazaridis also promised that early PlayBook developers would be "eligible" to get a free BlackBerry PlayBook as an incentive to write for the platform if they submitted an app that was approved for App World. RIM has been under pressure to improve interest in its devices and will have to compete with Apple's iPad platform, where about 35,000 apps are already native to the larger screen size.
