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48 Comments

BlackBerry PlayBook with 4G makes another appearance

By Bla1ze on 6 Apr 2012 02:52 am
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Remember when RIM announced the BlackBerry PlayBook? At that time, they also announced there would be some 3G/HSPA+ and 4G PlayBooks coming in the future, then at Mobile World Congress they made that fact even more well known. As we now know it, the Sprint WiMax version got canned when Sprint decided they would be going to LTE and since then, the PlayBook 4G has appeared a couple of times.

We've spotted it in FCC documents, we've spotted it in some arguably fake images and let's not forget RIM roadmaps and now we're seeing it again as posted in the CrackBerry forums. Not a whole to say about it really, it's not as if it shows off BlackBerry 10 or anything like that but there have been calls for a summer release of the device and we know there has been BlackBerry App World vendors getting shall we say -- carrier connected -- PlayBooks show up in their device logs. So will it end up in the hands of consumers soon? 

Discuss in the CrackBerry Forums

Topics: BlackBerry Playbook BlackBerry PlayBook 4G News & Rumors

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48 comments

jechow

This device scares me. If for every 100 PBs sold they sell say five 4G PBs and RIM has shipped 500k PBs then they may sell 25k 4G PBs. As a shareholder, theses are scary numbers.

Although if they can get carriers to push these devices via data contracts then we may see some decent sales figures.

Skeevecr

They probably don't expect these devices to be big sellers, at this point it will be about getting something back in carrier stores and being the next stepping stone towards 4g bb10 devices as you can be sure that even if they did only sell 25k of them, that is going to be a fairly decent boost in the pool of people using stuff over the mobile network that is currently wifi-only.

VeGiTo

RIM shipped 1.35M PBs to date.

congz

I REALLY want one when it comes out. The only gripe I have with my playbook currently is the lack of 3G. The poor batt life of the os7 phones do not help the situation as I'm reluctant to bridge on the go.

312

"poor battery life of the os7 devices" ?? You're smoking something.

market58

Yes...the battery life!! It sucks on my 9930. Great phone, but need to be near the juice!!

Revord

You may want to consider getting a leaked os, or even a hybrid. I have a 9810, and am a moderate user with both pb and bb and still get most if not a full day charge out of it. Since I got 7.1, my battery rocks.

123berryaddicted

Very true. My 9900 is pretty good now... Still not exactly as good as my 9700 was, but close enough to keep me happy... Its leaps and bounds ahead of the Androids that's for sure...

Barefoot_Kevin

Updated my 9930 to 7.1 a couple months ago, only charge when I'm sleeping and still have 70+% by the end of the day.

eszklar

Get a second battery?

mssca

That's not a solution for a phone that is marketed as a "premium phone".

eszklar

Replace the battery with an extended battery then?

youknwwho

There are none

eszklar

For which BB model in particular? Thought Seido pretty much covered them all. And then there's Mugen batteries as well (if your BB is supported of course).

serversurfer

I cant confirm this.... My 9900 works very often "brigded" with my playbook, but I cant note any battery drain above average....
I think that this LTE/4G Playbook will become a small success of RIM. In opposed to the old Playbook it will be supported very intensive by all netproviders- they are interested in selling SIM-cards and dataplans!
Of couse this commercial success will be small in comparision with the capabilities of the GSM-Playbook- its just to late like everything what RIM has done in the past 3 years!!!
So I hope that germans will heal the world again (NO- not in the way we all know germans...with tanks in the past and as overweight and dull tourists later...that´s now the american job..:-D )... In Bochum (small and ugly city in Midgermany) is the only one development devision outside of northamerica... In former times it was a branch of nokia, but after consuming the european practice of subsidizing they are gone to Romania... RIM undertook this manufactur with around 100 employees and ramp up to around 300... The legendary Bold9700/9780 was developted (and build) there... we all know what kind of quality it was in opposite to the Bold9900 with all its "teething-troubles"... So I really hope, that BB10 (which is the priotity in Bochum) will be a solid relaunch of RIM... Thorsten Heins knows what to do...;-)

congz

Don't get me wrong. I love my playbook and my bb and I'm not switching it for anything. But my phone gets off the plug at 6am in the morning and only gets charged at 11pm at night. Often I have less than 20% of batt life left by the time I charge it. I'm reluctant to bridge because I'm afraid the phone will not last till 11pm or around there if I do.

If I can get a 3g playbook, I can do my surfing, streaming and media on the playbook with no effect on my bb's batt life. To me that's just extremely awesome!!

Paintedeyes

i wish my phone was like that! my phone turns on at 6 30am, i plug it in driving into work and i plug it in when I get there. My phone will still hit 20-30% even around 3 or 4pm!

Adhamalghamdi

I hope this device won't fail as first generation of PB !

JackKennedy

The fact is that it largely depends on the os because specs-wise, there can only be very little improvements if any except the data connection; maybe they manage to produce a higher resolution screen but there's really not much else they can do. If they don't get the software aspect sorted out, it's going to be pretty much the same as the current PB.

PB os 2 does not require the current specs on the Playbook...so if the os stays largely the same, there's really no point in bringing in better specs or a new tablet at all.

thelink74

Anybody know if we would be able to use the "Remote Desktop " app with the LTE on the PlayBook? If so I know I'll be getting one.....

Let's rock and roll this......

the-elf

I'll be getting one of these as soon as they become available in the UK.

eve6er69

I'm happy with my 9900 and the bridge.
No need for another contract in my life.

Cafeina

+1 on the no additional contracts.

El Cid

Well, I hope for the sake of RIM that whenever a 4G iteration of the PlayBook comes to fruition at the retail level it would be backed by a multifaceted ad campaign that will attract and hopefully convince consumers and businesses alike to buy it. My wife and me both own 64GB PlayBooks which we usually connect to our home's WiFi network, as well as, to our NetZero Hotspots which use Sprint's (Clearwire) 4G network (WiMax) when we're away from home. Both connections are quick, even when visiting websites whose pages contain ads and scripts galore like CrackBerry.com, I imagine that any future PlayBooks equipped with built-in 4G radios would perform equally or better than ours.

MusicsAllWeGot

That's something that has always been in my mind. I have a 4G phone from T-Mobile, with 4G speeds I can use the phone as a hot-spot as well. The question that I have always been asking myself though is if my PB is wifi only, would I still get 4G speeds on the PB through my phone or is it capped?

Gunner24

I believe tethering via bluetooth limits the speed possible to somewhere considerably below 4g

MusicsAllWeGot

Oh it's not BT though, it's a hotspot connection. BT for sure has low caps.

koool1

I am seriously considering buying one, BBM is only a matter of time. Bring it RIM.

GeneralHerzog

I've moved to the can't wait column. I'll link this new unit to my shared data plan and make use of carrier billing in App World.
The only bummer will be no more need to show off wifi hot spot.

saint613

Some people need to go back through the forums and fine the first person who posted a pic with the same sim slot and apologize for the flaming about it being fake.

eszklar

I'm interested in this model of PlayBook because it supposedly will have dual-core 1.5GHz processors. Not that interested in the LTE part given how fast one could blow thru their data allowance. Also, how much will they cost? They cannot compete against the new LTE iPad on price, the PlayBook got killed when first released because of pricing and well PB OS1 was half-baked. That being said I enjoy my 64GB PB that I bought last week for $300, but if the price difference between this and the same model but LTE were say $100 I'd be in.

El Platanero

All I need is the new LTE Blackberry 10 and then I will get just a god a signal on my playbook while bridged.

hundoman

I am using my RIM Playbook tablet and my RIM Bold 9930 phone all day and night long since I purchase the Playbook and had to upgrade from my beloved Nextel RIM 7250 phone that I had for 7 years (those big buttons are so much better than the small ones on the 9930).

But people do have valid points here as the RIM Bold 9930 when you use it in Bluetooth tether mode all day long does drain the battery and I can't even go close to a full day of use on either the phone or the playbook so I am forced to carry around the playbook quick charger as well as the usb charger for the phone.

The Playbook battery does last much longer than the phone as it can go to sleep but the phone is always communicating via the Bluetooth so it dies much quicker on the charge.

I have looked at various vendors USB battery power blocks but the problem is that the iSound people do not have a battery pack that will charge a Bold 9930 but it will charge other older units so that could be a work around for some people.

I do rotate on and off client WIFI networks throughout the day but just getting a working USB battery pack would be a work around for now. I shudder to think how long the 4G Playbook would last as it couldn't even go half a day in my opinion as 4G devices just suck batteries down like crazy.

all3n7

OMG! I JUST BOUGHT ONE 16GB AND ONE 64GB PLAYBOOK. WHY DO THEY NEED TO MAKE A NEW ONES?! I HOPE BB10 WILL BE A GREAT UPGRADE FOR MY PB AND OTHERS. I KNOW 2.0 IS STILL FRESH, BRIDGE IS GOOD BUT I HOPE THEY WOULD ADD SOME MORE TO IT. AND ALSO I WISH THEY COULD UPGRADE ON BATTERY SAVE MODE, JUST LIKE WHAT THEY DID ON 0S 7.1..

ANYBODY KNOW WHEN IS THE BB10 RELEASE DATE????

Bla1ze

Chill on the caps bro, lol.

CarBob

Bla1ze - Is RIM bringing out a 4G Playbook to compete with "the New" Apple iPad?

Just wondering.

- CB

crackcookie

Of course the BB dies faster when tethered via bluetooth, what device wouldn't?

You should try to keep your berry charged or even docked while it is tethering if possible.

CDM76

What are they giving out at BlackBerry World ? Playbooks ? Hmmm ..... Maybe 4g Playbooks which they might announce there ????

BBNation

My bridge experience with torch 9800 sucks, slow, halts..

lyledog

Hey folks, I have had the opportunity to play with this playbook 4g...............It is freaking fast. Very similar to my original PB as far as features but when it comes to speed, my home Wifi seems to lag. YouTube videos stream with no buffering wheel or delays. It is exciting to say the least. Just thought I would share that with y'all.

Long live BlackBerry!

pinlvs

Does LTE/4G matter for PB? the question is how do consumers use the faster speed? the decent apps on blackberry store is far away outdated compared with apple/android play. open the source to all platforms!! BBM is not unique anymore!have you guys ever heard about weixin? thats combines talkbox and BBM/whatsapp for chinese users! BBM sucks!

eblade

Over 80% of my PlayBook apps are listed as "carrier: Verizon Wireless" on my sales reports. Must be bogus.

TheWolf1965

I am gonna throw my two cents on this one to the website developers. RIM is trying to climb back up the ladder here. They are trying to come out with new and inventive Items and software to run on them. Everytime they try and get ahead of the competition,you website owners are blabbing about the new products way ahead of the release date. The competition just has to come to any of these websites and take a look and go.....oh Rim is gonna try this to win back some market share. Then they develope something before and advertise it like it is gold pressed latnum and when RIM does come out with the product, it seems like nothing in comparison due to RIM's poor playbook marketing. To sum up they lose ground instead of gaining it because you website owners let the competition in on all the info.

Why not wait til just before release of a product and then blab all you want and the competition will not be aware and not scoop them with something new and highly advertised crap, that they will make appearances of grandeur on.

The rumours are not helpful at all to RIM's cause. Sure it is nice to see they are trying as hard as they can but, fighting these website rumours as they fight the competition.

Please stop the rumour mongering. By the way I am a RIM supporter, if that was not clear.

TheWolf1965

Posted Twice for prominance reasons

I am gonna throw my two cents on this one to the website developers. RIM is trying to climb back up the ladder here. They are trying to come out with new and inventive Items and software to run on them. Everytime they try and get ahead of the competition,you website owners are blabbing about the new products way ahead of the release date. The competition just has to come to any of these websites and take a look and go.....oh Rim is gonna try this to win back some market share. Then they develope something before and advertise it like it is gold pressed latnum and when RIM does come out with the product, it seems like nothing in comparison due to RIM's poor playbook marketing. To sum up they lose ground instead of gaining it because you website owners let the competition in on all the info.

Why not wait til just before release of a product and then blab all you want and the competition will not be aware and not scoop them with something new and highly advertised crap, that they will make appearances of grandeur on.

The rumours are not helpful at all to RIM's cause. Sure it is nice to see they are trying as hard as they can but, fighting these website rumours as they fight the competition.

Please stop the rumour mongering. By the way I am a RIM supporter, if that was not clear.

joforg

I'm probably a small percentage of the user community, but I like the idea. I've had the PB since launch, but recently what has made the PB a more potentially interesting tool is the keyboard in conjunction with the ability to connect to a couple of workplace apps, like sharepoint and citrix, and salesforce. They work well on wifi, but are a bit clunky when I'm sitting with someone and using the bridge. So I'm pretty excited about the idea, but it has to be faster than 3G

tunes666

The Blackberry phones bat life is no worse than the rest, most phones go quicker now because they do so much.

My Blackberry torch is about the same as my iphone was.

If people have been having problems then make sure you are closing apps when you finished and not letting them run in the back ground. Also be careful what apps you download and use as there have been a few lousy ones that will not only drain your Bat during use, but also after!, I have had to delete one or two apps because of this.

zeteo

I unplug my 9900 at 6 a.m. and plug it in at 11 p.m. with 40-50% battery life remaining. Numerous text and emails and up to a dozen phone calls~ this is indeed a great phone!