SquareTrade drop tests the BlackBerry Playbook

Dropping your brand new BlackBerry PlayBook to test its durability isn't really suggested. But luckily for us, there are people out there interested in these sorts of things and as such, they've done the dropping for everyone. SquareTrade, which offers extended warranties for your BlackBerry PlayBook has done a drop test video for us all. Sit back, press play and check out the destruction. Also, if you head on over to the YouTube page and leave a comment about what you want the to drop next -- you'll be entered to win some warranty coverage. This is of course, their contest -- not ours. So please, don't leave any comments below expecting to win; you'll need to hit YouTube to enter.

If you're worried about dropping your PlayBook when you're out in the elements, you can always plan ahead and "drop" it in a BlackBerry PlayBook case ahead of time. OtterBox is the ideal choice, but if you are a bit more careful you can get away with something like a zip sleeve as well.

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BlackBerry PlayBook Native Clock App First Look!

Following up on our CTIA 2011 quick looks at the BlackBerry PlayBook's native calculator and weather apps, next we dive into the PlayBook's native clock application. Tapping open the app there's a sense of recognition of the clock app as it is on BlackBerry Smartphones running OS 4.6 or greater (the black background, etc.), but from there you quickly realize this app has been seriously overhauled. Instead of being hidden behind the menu key, the Timer and StopWatch sub-apps are found easily on the main clock screen. And one feature that I REALLY love is the ability to create multiple clocks (different time zones, etc.) and set multiple alarms. Very cool and very handy.

On a side note, one of the things I re-realized today is the importance of the down swipe from the top on the BlackBerry PlayBook and BlackBerry Tablet OS. With the PlayBook not having a menu key as is in place on the traditional BlackBerry Smartphone OS, all of your off-screen/non-displayed options are become visible when you swipe down from the top. This gesture-based way of doing things is really nice as it maximizes screen real estate and keeps apps looking clean, but the trick is you do need to think/remember to do that quick swipe down in apps to see what options are available. If you never swipe down, you could miss a lot!

Be sure to check out the video above for a closer look at the BlackBerry PlayBook's native clock app. Enjoy!

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First Look: Facebook on BlackBerry PlayBook Web Browser - Allows Facebook Chat and Uploading of Photos from Camera App!

I have had quite a few opportunities to go briefly hands-on with the BlackBerry PlayBook now, but for some reason always forget to login to Facebook and see what it loads like on the PlayBook's webkit browser. This time I remembered, and as you'll see in the video above recoreded at CTIA 2011 it really is the FULL Facebook.com that loads. We're talking Facebook Chat and everything.

I didn't have too much time to spend on the device, but I did want to test out one thing in particular to see how the PlayBook handled it and was pleasantly surprised. On the Facebook homepage (within the web browser), I was able to use the share photo functionality flawlessly... when choosing to upload a photo, the PlayBook pulls up a file browser (photos, movies, music) and allowed me to choose which photo I wanted to share. Nice!

I'll be curious to see what happens with Facebook on the BlackBerry PlayBook over time. The full experience is definitely a little tight on the 7" PlayBook, but I don't think there's any sort of application planned at this time as there is a Facebook app on BlackBerry Smartphones. On a device like the iPad you get a bit of a toned-down/optimized version of Facebook which reduces some of the clutter, but also lacks some of the features. The PlayBook's web browser is definitely powerful, but I'm sure there's a blurry line that in some cases it'll be better to use the web browser to serve up content, while in other cases an app could make for a better experience. Be sure to check out the video above!

Sumber :Crackberry

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