There is one thing we hear over and over from RIM about the BlackBerry PlayBook is the “No-compromise Web.” From the way I hear it RIM is trying to tout the BlackBerry PlayBook’s web browser with its full Flash support as the ultimate app. If you think about it a bit it kind of makes sense in a weird kind of way that the browser will be the “One app to rule them all.” Jim Balsillie has been saying this since November of last year and it is finally starting to make sense to me. Just think about it for a second…
Many apps are just dumb-ed down (aka Mobilized) web services:
If you think hard about it just look at some of the apps you use. I know BerryReader is one of my most popular apps but what if I could simply use Google Readers website properly… Would I need an app? Here are a couple other examples of what I mean:
- Twitter/Facebook – Would I need an app for them if I could just use the full website?
- Facebook chat… same story
- Youtube, Vimeo, Netflix, etc – Flash is king on these sites and the PlayBook also supports HTML5 video from what I have seen in tests I have run.
The thing is that most of these services in “App” form have limitations that set what you can do from the app. For example, you cannot access all your Facebook settings from most Facebook apps. From the website everything is possible. It might not be totally tablet optimized but if it works 95% of the time who cares…
What about Games?!?!?!?!
Ever played a Flash or Facebook game? How about Farmville? RIM is promising that most Flash content games will work on the PlayBook… I have tried it and results are sweet!
How about my native Email? Contacts? Calendar? etc…
If you use a service like Gmail, Google Apps, or Yahoo you could simply visit their website. RIM can even make sites into “launcher links” with notifications served through a simple API when they are open. 🙂
How about Pandora and Slacker or my other streaming music sites?
Didn’t we say something about uncompromised web? Flash is fully supported so RIM could make all of these apps work!
How about Google Maps?
You just head on over to maps.Google.com and use it just like you would on your PC! Better yet use any mapping website you want.
Will RIM manage to be able to make the PlayBook Browser the “One App to rule them all” to alleviate Apple’s head start in the Tablet app marketplace? Its not like these other tablets do not have capable browsers but the Torch team has done some pretty sweet stuff with the PlayBook and even the BlackBerry 6 browser. I am curious if they will be able to pull of another miracle.
What I am really hoping for is if RIM manages to pull off some new fangled web API’s that allow websites to act more like apps without the limitations of the current WebWorks API. For example, there should be a simple API for creating a notification for a user with some reasonable limit. Or better yet the ability to make a site act as its own app instead of simply another tab within the browser.
What do you think?
Jay ( View Profile) - Posts: