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Geek Fun: Hooking the BlackBerry PlayBook up to a TV and Controlling it with a Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse!

By Kevin Michaluk on 14 Apr 2011 02:12 pm
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One of the cool bonus features I discovered while working on CrackBerry's BlackBerry PlayBook Review was the device's support for a Bluetooth Mouse. I had assumed a Bluetooth keyboard would work, which it does, but was really shocked to see the PlayBook pair with my Apple Mighty Mouse (for those wondering if you can use your BlackBerry phone's keyboard to type on the PlayBook, that doesn't seem to be the case from what I've figured out so far). With a Bluetooth mouse paired, a cursor pops up on the PlayBook's display and you can navigate the PlayBook without having to touch it with your fingers at all.

What's the usage case here? Well, it's sitting on couch with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and having your PlayBook hooked up via HDMI on a big screen tv, which is exactly what I did in the video above. Party time! Also, without having the software keyboard taking up precious real estate when typing now, in browser apps like Facebook chat become more user friendly. I think the longer term goal of course is to make BlackBerry a powerhouse in mobile computing (they're no longer just a Smartphone maker). Having mouse support built-in is huge for this. You have a tablet for leisure mode, or when you're on the go, and at the office you hook it up to a mouse, keyboard and monitor and get your work done. 

Note, it took me a while to figure out the process for bezel gestures with a mouse (jump to 5 minutes into this video to see how excited I get when I do finally figure it out). To gesture on the PlayBook with a Bluetooth Mouse connected, you click and hold down on the right mouse button when at an edge or corner of the display, and swipe back towards the middle of the screen. Update: ACTUALLY, all you have to do is RIGHT MOUSE click when near an edge and it will do the gesture. No need to hold down and swipe. Briliant!!! Spread the word on that! 

While this might not be a feature PlayBook owners put to use every day, it's definitely a cool feature that once again showcases the underlying power of the QNX-based BlackBerry Tablet OS. Check out the video above.... it felt like I was making history with this one. :)

Topics: BlackBerry Playbook News & Rumors Devices BlackBerry Accessories

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Kevin Michaluk Kevin Michaluk 3674 (articles) 3017 (forum posts)
40 comments

07thking

Very Cool indeed! Hey Kevin, do you know if there will be netflix streaming app at launch? I noticed a queue manager in the app world demo at 0:41.

luqman24

It will have silverlight support so you will be able to play it straight from the browser. So excited for the playbook!!

dcscott

Any idea when the Silverlight support is expected? If I could have Netflix, SlingPlayer,Pandora combined with a BT keyboard and mouse on the coffee table - heaven.....

jjetson

Best video of the whole review. BlueTooth keyboard and mouse support is amazing. Imagine someday walking into work, plug your PlayBook into a screen on your desk. Working for the day, then unplugging it, put it in your pocket and go home. I'm really excited about where this functionality may lead.

Kevin Michaluk

Totally agreed! Updated the post a bit adding that context to it.

001104

Hey Kevin,

Bought the same Apple wireless keyboard and Apple mouse. Mouse was paired with bluetooth on the PB, but by pairing the keyboard it's asking for a code. Can you or someone else help me on this?

Thanks!

Najo

I don't see using this at home, where my laptops and desktops reside, but while traveling you could hook up to the hotel rooms flat screen, and BAM full screen bliss!

WillieLee

This is a glimpse of where RIM is going with mobile computing. Having a non-proprietary means of expanding the viewing area will be very important as tablets get the processing power of desktops.

dsquared2

I'd like to know if more affordable keyboard+mouse bluetooths work with it haha i can't afford $100+ to drop on that :/

R1cowl

I wish that RIM would make a BT keyboard and trackpad. That would be awsome.

elle-ade

Actually, I read on berryreview.com that RIM is making a BT keyboard with a trackpad. It was in one of the training videos they put out.

R1cowl

Awesome! thanks for the update. I would hate to have to by an Apple keyboard for my playbook. (ahem.... Kevin) ;-)

elle-ade

http://blackberryrocks.com/2011/04/12/rim-blackberry-mini-bluetooth-keyb...

jmarkey77

I was worried about using the HDMI out feature. This changes my worry completely. Now to find good affordable (cheap) Bluetooth mouse and keyboard!

Sashko

The big question is if it'll work with something like this: tinyurl.com/3ocqnh9

Nice and affordable :-D

carelesscroc

What about using the Apple Magic Trackpad ? does this work in the playbook. I can see this as a better way to control the playbook from the couch when hooked up to TV, if its at all possible. Someone needs to test this.

Fr3lncr

I was really hoping to be able to use my phone keyboard on the Playbook... I hope they add that down the road since, if you have a blackberry anyways, why carry an extra keyboard? (Especially if the new Bold Touch has a great keyboard!)

blackmoe

Wow! what's next? Imagine an all in one device with a flat screen, keyboard and trackpad - hey wait a minute...

Ivan604

That's funny, right on!

It's still pretty cool. I think this video just sold it to me. (I was debating if I should wait for a 3G/4G version)

frankzaman

Now, if only RIM could come up with a bluetooth device about the size of a remote control, that had a small keyboard and a touchscreen (or trackball) on it, that you would likely carry around with you anyways.....

wait a minute....that sounds suspiciously like a blackberry phone (Bold touch or Torch 2 would be ideal)

This is just going to get better and better. Can you imagine plugging your playbook into your 85 inch flatscreen or a monitor at work, sitting down with your new Bold Touch, and doing pretty much anything you want from there? With the physical keyboard you will be able to look up at the screen while typing. With a small touchscreen mirroring the the playbook desktop you can use your finger for navigation which is even better than a mouse.

With Moore's law, computer parts are just going to get smaller and smaller. That means that the end result will that someday all computers will be small. By making the Playbook powerful enough to compete with regular computers (ie laptops and desktops), RIM is skating to where the puck will be. In time, tablets and phones will be powerful enough to replace even a pretty powerful desktop by today's standards. That, combined with improving wireless technology, will allow people to seamlessly move from work, to home to where-ever and just bring their "computer" with them. Sit at work and control your playbook with a bluetooth keyboard and mouse, move to your couch at home and use your phone instead.

Moore's law can have a very disruptive effect. Just look at the iMac for example. Computers got so small that Apple was able to gracefully attach the computer to the back of the screen. This proved brilliant for its time, but in the future do you think that people are going to want their "computer" pasted to the back of a large screen sitting on their desk? Here are a couple of obvious reasons for the strategy of decoupling the "computer" with the display.

1) You can take your "computer" and use it at any display.
2) A display can be used for multiple people and their computers, just plug in the HDMI. (Or maybe with wireless HD someday, just sit in front of the screen)
3) Keeping the computer and screen separate allows you to replace each separately (ie if the iMac screen conks out, the whole thing is affected)
4) encourages everyone to have their own computer (great for sales!)

With bluetooth control, the Playbook also goes after the TV box "market", so far very unispiring. Who is going to buy an underpowered Apple or Google TV box, when they can just use their playbook? Did you guys see the TAT 3D video from a couple weeks ago? Check it out, it's on youtube.

OK, so far, the playbook (WIFI and 4G) will compete with smaller smartphones like the iphone (good mobility with 4X the display), contemporary laptops and desktops, TV boxes, other tablets, industrial displays (ie on cars, in factories, controlling things like alarm systems for example). With computer parts getting ever smaller, and QNX capable of handling up to 32 cores, how much better positioned could RIM be? The long term vision far outweighs the short term painful transition to QNX IMHO.

rasincane

This is VERY VERY COOL where's why: Take this into consideration. This is HUGE for enterprise business. Why? Think about Citrix Virtual Desktop ( a windows desktop on a virtual machine hosted in a data center, the user accesses his "desktop" through a network connection from the data center - this is huge and is growing with enterprise)

So picture this: You walk into work but do not have an assigned cube, you sit where you want. In the cube is a monitor, bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Plug in your PlayBook to the monitor via HDMI and configure the bluetooth keyboard and mouse with the PlayBook, next launch the Citrix app and log in. You will have the option to launch your virtual desktop. Use that app to connect to your virtual desktop.

Citrix XenDesktop is HUGE and is growing in the enterprise space right now.

TS_Cycle_Salvage433

You mean I can watch porn on my TV via my Playbook?! Where the hell do I sign up!

T.roy

This is something I was hoping you could do with the Playbook. I hope they come out with a "monitor/tv mode" option in the future along the line of their presenter mode option. Something where I can resize different app or video windows to fit as little or as much of the large screen as I want.

ex: I stream a mlb game to the LCD from the PB and have it take up 2/3's of the screen. I could use the other 1/3 to run the browser and open mlb gameday to follow stats. Maybe open facebook in another tab of the browser to carry on a chat well watching the game.

zrobert

That makes the wait to have one even longer!

ummie4

I want to be able to do all that right now!

tomtomtom

Looks like Kevin has filed his tax return and got your refund. 0.08/10:03

jwn66

That was effin amazing.

mydragoon

now i wonder if there's some sort of citrix apps in the works like what's available with atrix.

doug1010

Haha, that was a great video. I love your "Eureka!" moment :D

mkye86

QUESTION: Does the PB charge while connected via HDMI, like when a phone is connected via USB?

Gamesdmc3

lol figured it out on cam lol

rasincane

Hey Kevin - It looks like this feature of the mouse cursor has been taken out of the launch build of PlayBook.....

ptpete

Hey Kevin, Try Pairing the Apple magic trackpad!!

srtorius

Upon some research the Microsoft bluetooth 5000 mouse does not pair to the playbook. Like you were saying the Apple magic mouse doesn't scroll in the web browser but the Apple wireless mighty mouse (last generation) does scroll in all applications with its small scroll ball. That seems to be the one to get at the moment if you want full mouse scroll.