Good news, everyone!

RIM UK PlayBook shipments took off in Q4 as price cuts finally convinced distributors to increase their orders.

According to data from Context, the number of RIM fondleslabs sold to UK wholesalers during Q4 was up nearly three fold on a sequential basis to 32,000 units, taking market share to 3.4 per cent.

Oh.

BlackBerry OS 7.1, which begins rolling out to BlackBerry smartphones today, includes a variety of new features. BlackBerry Tag allows users with NFC-enabled phones to exchange information by bumping their phones together. Mobile hotspot functionality has been added as well, along with enhanced search capability.

"Last Thursday, a truck carrying 22 pallets of BlackBerry PlayBooks (estimated to have 5,000 units) was stolen from an Indiana truck stop while the driver was busy eating and taking a shower. With no tracking device on the vehicle, there's little word on the thieves or where they're headed, although a local police spokesman has named Miami as a popular destination for stolen goods."

"Aviva commercial property surveyors who carry out risk assessments on UK premises are being issued with PlayBooks to record commercial risk. The devices are currently being used by 10 commercial property surveyors and will be issued to 120 staff over a six-month period from early 2012."

Thanks to @jforbes for the link. Hope they're buying them at the new, lower price.

"First off, we have decided to defer the inclusion of the BBM™ application to a subsequent BlackBerry PlayBook OS release. We are committed to developing a seamless BBM solution that fully delivers on the powerful, push based messaging capabilities recognized today by BlackBerry® users around the world and we’re still working on it. In the meantime, BlackBerry smartphone users will be able to continue to use BlackBerry® Bridge™ to securely access BlackBerry® Messenger™ on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet’s high resolution display."

"Another tablet's price has been slashed, with Research in Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook now £150 cheaper at one major retailer.
Currys and PC World have announced £150 off all models of the PlayBook, with the low end 16GB version dropping from £399.99 to £249.99.

“'It looks like they need to get units moving, and it will be interesting to see if this is only PC World and Currys or comes from RIM,' said Geoff Blaber, director of devices and software platforms at analyst firm CSS insight."

It comes from RIM. It also comes straight off RIM's bottom line. Its financials are going to be woeful next quarter. (Our local Currys had one on display. Then it didn't. And none replaced it.)

"As Research In Motion Ltd. executives prepared early this year for the launch of their first tablet, the PlayBook, one big question loomed: Who was the device for?

"Some executives, like RIM's technical visionary and co-chief executive Mike Lazaridis, saw the gadget as an extension of the BlackBerry, long favored by corporations and business people. Others were pushing for more focus on ordinary consumers, people eager for games, music and movies, according to executives close to the company.

"'There's an internal war going on around the marketing message. Even the guys at the top don't agree,' one executive close to the company said at the time."

The first ad agency' tag line was "Go Pro". They got fired. (Link may require subscription.)

"The PlayBook numbers are really, really bad. Just 200,000 shipped versus estimates of 600,000 to 700,000."<br />
<br />
Oh. Erm.

"When leading electronics retailers dramatically cut the price of a tablet just to get it off the shelves, conventional wisdom and recent history suggests that device is likely failing to post a challenge to Apple Inc.’s iPad.<br />
"Canaccord Genuity financial analysts Michael Walkley and Matthew Ramsay raised those very fears about Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry PlayBook over Labour Day weekend, after Best Buy discounted the RIM tablet  by $50 to $150, depending on the model."<br />
<br />
The analysts have cut their estimates for 2011 Playbook sales from 2.2m to 1.5m, and for 2012 from 3m to 2.5m. Anyone know of any pre-PlayBook launch forecasts from RIM itself?

Jim Dalrymple: "RIM fans were quite upset when I compared the PlayBook tablet to the iPad. In fairness, it wasn’t a good comparison because the iPad is so much better. They were also upset when I compared the PlayBook to the legendary Etch A Sketch (probably because the PlayBook lost).<br />
"Now there is a new competitor from LeapFrog. The best part is that you don’t need a BlackBerry to use the LeapPad. It’s important to note that neither device does email or calendaring."<br />
<br />
Think the LeapFrog one might be more robust though.

The 16GB version is $450 (save $50!), the 64GB is $550 (save $150!) and the 32GB version is... $550 (save $50!).<br />
<br />
Explanations for this pricing regime where 32GB of Flash memory costs nothing welcomed.

"RIM on Friday said it had bought JayCut in what's a likely attempt to counter iMovie on the iPad. The deal gives it access to a mix of video editing and cloud services. The BlackBerry maker made it clear the acquisition was to bolster video editing on the PlayBook as well as future BlackBerry phones.<br />
"Terms of the deal weren't given out but were likely small enough that RIM didn't have to report its conditions."<br />
<br />
Amateur director hour has begun.

"In a note to investors Monday afternoon, RBC Capital Markets Managing Director Mike Abramsky reiterated an OTR Global report that Research In Motion is possibly planning to stop production of the BlackBerry PlayBook’s Wi-Fi model. The Wi-Fi version of RIM’s tablet is the only version Research In Motion currently manufacturers. The reasons for the discontinuation of the Wi-Fi edition, Abramsky states, could be related to a pullback in production, a move that would align channel inventory with slower than expected sell-through, in addition to RIM focusing on upcoming cellularly-connected PlayBook versions."<br />
<br />
*Possibly* considering. But some commenters on the post point out that you can get a used PlayBook for quite a lot less than the retail price. <br />
<br />
Note: RIM has denied this completely, <a href="http://twitter.com/BlackBerry/status/93060768974643200">tweeting</a>: "Pure fiction. No plan to discontinue. In fact, WiFi PlayBook is launching in new countries practically every week." 

"RIM, viewing that only about 500,000 PlayBooks, its first tablet PC, were sold globally from its launch in mid-April to early June, has downward adjusted its internal sales target for the second quarter, from 2.4 million units originally to 800,000-900,000 units, according to sources from Taiwan-based supply chain makers.<br />
"The sources pointed out that the PlayBook achieved strong sales of 40,000-50,000 units on its launch day, but demand from then to mid-April was lower-than-expected. RIM originally set to ship 2.4-2.5 million PlayBooks three months after launch, but since the company was only able to sell about 500,000 units in total by early June, it will be difficult for the company to achieve its original goal, the sources explained."<br />
<br />
(May require subscription after expiration period.)

A three-page review that allows for its failings (such as the shortage of apps) but emphasises that at least it lets you watch Flash. Even if you can't get documents to and from it if you don't have a BlackBerry. Which the reviewer didn't.

'Fondleslab' being El Reg talk for 'tablet'.

To see the browser speed comparison, scroll forward to 3:30. Hard to see how the PlayBook can be described as the "fastest tablet ever" based on this. (Thanks @carniphage for the link.)

"A combined 75% of global mobile workers who own a tablet own an iPad or iPad2, according to an April 2011 report from iPass. Data from the “iPass Global Mobile Workforce Report” indicates that about 63% of those workers own an original iPad.<br />
"In a further sign of the stranglehold the iPad has on the global mobile workforce, the next-most-popular tablet brand for mobile workers is “other” (8.7%). The Blackberry Playbook follows with 6.4% penetration."<br />
<br />
Something about this doesn't add up. Apple sold around 14m iPad 1s. For the PlayBook to have 6.4% penetration, it would have to have sold 1.5m devices. This is almost certainly not the case. So you have your rebuttal, just in case someone else mentions this today.

"According to a trusted source from a major big box retailer, sales of RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook have fallen far short of expectations. In addition, we’re told that the PlayBook is being returned at a higher pace than the Motorola XOOM. According to our source, PlayBook sales at this particular retailer missed internal sales targets by more than 90%."<br />
<br />
Pinch of salt may be required: other sources suggest comparatively good sales. But sales through retailers probably aren't RIM's intention for the PlayBook.

Better than the Motorola Xoom. Why? Because corporations love them. Why? Because they don't store anything - all your data sits on your BlackBerry, but gets presented on a bigger screen. Break the Bluetooth link, and nothing is left on the PlayBook.

No, really, write your own punchline.

Short and painful. Such as: "The touch interface requires training and practice. It is impossible to use the device, for example, simply by touching the backlit portion of the screen and the buttons on the side. The borders of the frame are also touch-sensitive and are required for basic operations, such as getting back to the home screen. The user swipes down, for example, to open a settings menu. If he or she swipes up, what happens? Nothing. The user is supposed to swipe down again to undo he or she just did. How it is intuitive to pull something down and have it move up, I'm not sure."

"Jeffries analyst Peter Misek figures RIM sold about 45,000 PlayBooks Tuesday, with pre-orders accounting for about 25,000 of the total. RBC* analyst Mike Abramsky’s first day sales estimate is in the same range, but a bit higher: 50,000, including pre-sales.<br />
"'The launch appears to have been stronger than the launch of Motorola’s Xoom Tablet, or the Samsung Galaxy Tab, although it’s too early to judge sustainability,' said RBC analyst Mike Abramsky in a note to clients, adding that, as of Wednesday, checks of 180 stores across 10 cities in the United States and Canada show rising PlayBook stockouts.<br />
"But some analysts I’ve spoken with feel those estimates are overly bullish, given the device’s limited availability. 50,000 sold seems an awfully big number when even the Broadway Staples store in downtown New York City had just 10 PlayBooks on hand at launch and a clerk at the Bay Area Best Buy I called described inventory as 'a handful.'"

"What proved most disappointing for me over the course of evaluating the Playbook is the fact that there were flashes of solid utility buried in here. The QNX OS is different and, at least at first glance, usable. The screen is brilliant and crisp. The tablet itself is a fantastic size and a good weight.<br />
"The touch-sensitive screen borders are far more usable than they sound at first, it’s a very solid feature that I think will be the one lasting contribution that the Playbook offers to the tablet world....<br />
<br />
"The multitasking gesture shrinks your currently running app but, in a random and confusing choice, does not freeze the apps when they are minimized. This means that if you’re in the middle of playing a game, it will continue to run while it’s shrunk down. This behavior is cool looking when it happens to a video app, but it’s confusing and frustrating when you want to switch away from a game and it doesn’t pause itself until you rotate the tile away."<br />
<br />
Ah.

"'As a RIM investor, I was sort of hoping there would be more customers than reporters here.'<br />
– Henry Kim, one of two customers who lined up outside Toronto’s Future Shop for a BlackBerry PlayBook on Tuesday morning.

"Any tablet debuting more than a year after the Apple’s market-dominating iPad needs an edge. For the PlayBook, that edge is support for Adobe Flash, a feature that the iPad is famously lacking. RIM says it took over two years of working with Adobe to bring Flash to its tablet.<br />
"Two years may not have been enough. During a round of Plants vs. Zombies, gameplay bogged down whenever the animation got intense. Every time I tried to access a Flash game on Facebook, the browser crashed. Yes, every single time. Say goodbye to your well-tended crops, Farmvillians."<br />
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Likely to say less about the PlayBook than Flash generally, we suspect.

"RIM also plans to release this summer special players or emulators that will allow the PlayBook to run BlackBerry apps and even Android apps. But the latter, while numerous, will be apps designed for the smartphone versions of Android, not the newer tablet version. It’s too early to say how these apps will perform via the special player.<br />
"I got the strong impression RIM is scrambling to get the product to market, and that it will be adding other features already offered on competing devices for months, through software patches.<br />
"For instance, although the PlayBook has very nice front and rear cameras, it comes without video-chatting software. That will be added soon after launch, RIM says. The same goes for a video store, even though the screen renders videos beautifully and a built-in connector outputs gorgeous high-definition video to a TV over a cable."<br />
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On the plus side: he likes the interface, and says it handles Flash very well. Battery life: about six hours.