RIM PlayBook Flunks Reviews
NEW YORK (
) --
Research In Motion's
(RIMM)
PlayBook tablet received its first round of reviews, and the verdict isn't very encouraging for the company's breakthrough new product.
The long-awaited PlayBook -- RIM's answer to the popular
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Apple Inc. (AAPL) Report
iPad -- was greeted with reviews Thursday that suggest the BlackBerry tablet has arrived not fully baked.
|
This is not the debut RIM was hoping for. Last month, during the company
, RIM executives told analysts that "Playbook will have a highly successful launch."
The thing is, RIM needs huge PlayBook sales to offset its stale lineup of phones and fill in the sales void until the arrival of a new generation of BlackBerries, which is about a year away.
PlayBook reviewers found a few things to like, but most concluded that the tablet came up short in several key areas.
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The lack of a 3G or 4G wireless capability and the
reliance on a bridge to BlackBerry
phones for cellular connections and functions like email irked
The Wall Street Journal's
Walt Mossberg.
A
annoyed
The New York Times'
David Pogue.
And perhaps summing up the chorus of complaints that found the PlayBook incomplete,
Gizmodo's
Matt Buchanan
"There's a whole lot of stuff that's still not there."
Investors sort of got the same sense about RIM, sending the shares down 1% to $54.25 early Thursday.
--Written by Scott Moritz in New York.>To contact this writer, click here: Scott Moritz, or email: scott.moritz@thestreet.com.To follow Scott on Twitter, go to http://twitter.com/MoritzDispatch.>To send a tip, email: tips@thestreet.com.
