“The Avengers”(amz) is a great movie that I enjoyed very much. A Taiwanese company InfoThink has partnered with Marvel to come up with a set of The Avengers USB flash drives that every fan would like to collect.

• Captain America’s shield(amz)
• The Hulk’s fist
• Thor’s hammer
• Iron Man’s helmet

The Iron Man’s helmet is the coolest as the eyes (LED) will blink when the flash drive is reading/writing.

Price

Each is available for 4GB or 8GB. The price is $40 USD (8GB) on Amazon.com.

If you are in Taiwan, you may get them at a cheaper price on Yahoo! Taiwan Online Store: $900 TWD ($30 USD) for 8GB, $600 TWD ($20 USD) for 4GB.

[via DesignTaxi]

Buy Now! “The Avengers” USB Flash Drives (Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America) is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

Wanna buy Nokia Windows phone but cannot afford the Nokia Limia 800 or Lumia 710? Check out Nokia Lumia 610, the most affordable Lumia smartphone available in Malaysia now.

Price

Malaysia Nokia Lumia 610e retail price is only RM699 (~$233 USD) at Nokia’s branded stores and partner retail outlets. It is available in 4 colors: Black, White, Magenta and Cyan.

Specs

Nokia Lumia 610 is powered by single core Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 800MHz processor with 256 MB RAM and 8 GB internal storage (no micro-SD memory card slot).

The 3.7-inch display has 800×480 pixels resolution. 5 MP camera with LED flash, no front camera.

Default installed apps included: Nokia Drive, Nokia Maps, Microsoft Office apps(Excel, Word, Powerpoint, One Note).

Visit Nokia Lumia 610 page (Malaysia) for more information.

Nokia Lumia 610 in Malaysia: Price and Specs is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

Samsung Galaxy S3 is now official. It’s Samsung latest flagship Android smartphone and the official smartphone of London Olympics 2012.

I watched the online live video stream of the Samsung Galaxy S3 event. The presentation was bad. Made me miss the late Steve Jobs. Worse, there were already many S3 reviews published before the event started. No more surprises. The world read the articles before Samsung CEO took out the Galaxy S3 from his pocket at the event.

I found Samsung Galaxy S3’s tagline a bit funny – “Designed for humans”. May I ask which phone is not designed by human for human?

Read on for Samsung Galaxy S3 specs, features, availability, and my two cents.

Specs

As Samsung’s flagship smartphone, Galaxy S3 has the most updated hardware: 1.4GHz quad-core Exynos processor with 1GB RAM. Running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS).

4.8-inch Super AMOLED HD display with a resolution of 1280×720. 8MP rear camera with and 1.9MP front camera. LTE 4G for certain market. Support NFC feature.

Some of you might be happy to know that Galaxy S3 has a 2100 mAh removable battery and microSD card slot supports up to 64GB.

The higher capacity of battery doesn’t mean more battery hours for Galaxy S3. I will explain my points later.

Design

With the great hardware, the Galaxy S3’s design looks a bit dull for me. The body is huge, with dimensions of 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm. It uses brushed plastic. Weight only 133 gram. Available in 2 colors: Pebble Blue and Marble White.

Features

Samsung has developed a number of unique features for Galaxy S3. Here are some highlight features:

1. Best shot

Samsung Galaxy S3 can take burst shots of 8 and automatically choose the best one for you. I wonder what’s the magic behind this?

2. S Voice

The Samsung version of famous Apple iPhone’s Siri. You can talk to your Galaxy S3 to to wake it up, set alarm, answer phone call, control music volume, and launch camera.

Based on my Siri experience, I hope Samsung S Voice would recognize our different dialects, else it is just another fancy useless feature.

3. Direct call

Want to call the person you are texting? Simply lift your Galaxy S3 to your ear and it will automatically call the person’s number for you. Love this!

4. Smart stay

Smart stay use the Galaxy S3’s front camera to track your eyes. If you are looking at the phone, it won’t go into sleep mode. It’s useful when you take minutes to read the content on the 4.8-inch display.

5. S Beam

S Beam is a combo of NFC and Direct WiFi to allow you sharing documents, contacts, pictures, music, videos, etc with friends nearby, wirelessly.

6. Pop up play

When you are watching video on Galaxy S3 but need to carry out another task, such as reply bosses’ emails, google for info, Pop up play allows you to resize the video window and have it floating above in another app, so that you don’t need to pause your video.

It sounds cool but it looks like a useless feature in the Samsung demo. The popup video is not too big nor too small, just enough to block your view and it becomes very annoying. You need to constantly move around the pop up video so that it doesn’t block your app.

I would rather pause video, launch app, done my task and return to full screen video view. Don’t you agree?

More battery juice?

Samsung Galaxy S3 has 2100 mAh battery, an upgrade from S3’s 1650 mAh battery. Larger capacity means longer battery life. However, Galaxy S3 has larger display and thus need to light more pixels.

Also, the “Smart Stay” feature needs to keep the front camera will take up battery juice to be activated all the time to track your eyes. (of course, we believe there’s option to disable the feature)

Therefore, I believe you will get same battery life as S2 if not lesser.

Price and availability

Samsung Galaxy S3 will be available in Europe at the end of May 2012. North America get it in June. Asia, this summer.

Samsung is yet to reveal the S3 pricing. Will update when we get the info.

My two cents

Many friends felt disappointed about Samsung Galaxy S3. Plastic body, ugly design. Little hardware upgrade from S2, only matches the recent HTC One X. Camera burst shots that we seen on HTC One, Siri-like S Voice, and useless pop up play. Though, Smart Stay is an interesting idea that we would like to test.

In a nutshell, I don’t see any reason why one would want to wait for Samsung Galaxy S3 for month(s). My friend bought Galaxy S2 just 2 days before the S3 event.

What says you?

Here’s Samsung Galaxy S3 and It’s Disappointing (Specs, Features, and More) is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

BlackBerry OS 7 has been voted the most secure mobile OS for enterprise use, according to new research from Trend Micro (PDF).

The independent study evaluated today’s four leading mobile operating systems: BlackBerry OS, Apple iOS, Windows Phone, and Android.

The evolution areas are built-in security, authentication, data protection, device protection, application security, device wipe, mobile device management, corporate managed email, support for ActiveSync, security certifications, device firewall, virtualization.

BlackBerry OS has scored the best among the all. “Corporate-grade security and manageability make this platform the option of choice for the most stringent mobile roles.”, says report.

The 2nd place is Apple iOS. Windows Phone, though new in market, gained 3rd place. Android is the last, with lowest security and manageability in the segment.

[via press release]

BlackBerry OS 7 is the Most Secure Mobile OS for Business, says Report is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

Everyone wants their holiday to be fun-filled and stress-free. Thankfully, teams of technicians beaver away to create hardware that makes our lives a little easier. Before you go on vacation you should check out these wonderful gadgets, which make great travel companions.

Check out the 15 travel gadgets of 2012 after the break.

1. Kindle Touch 3G (£169)

There’s no longer any need to snap up a bulky paperback at the airport. The Kindle Touch 3G is a super slim e-reader which can store up to 3,000 books. The touchscreen makes navigating your latest tome hassle free and it even has text-to-speech, MP3 and audiobook support.

Buy on Amazon.com (affiliate)

2. i’M Watch (£129)

Now you won’t just be checking your wristwatch for the time. i’M Watch wirelessly connects to your smartphone using Bluetooth and has a colour display which allows you to keep abreast of your calls, texts and emails while you take in the sights.

3. Powerbag Sling ($129.99)

A fantastic piece of kit, the Powerbag Sling actually recharges all your electronic gadgets while you’re on the move. Never again will you reach your hotel and have to fumble through a whole host of adaptors to make sure your smartphone or iPad doesn’t run out of juice.

Buy on Amazon.com (affiliate)

4. Recon Instruments MOD Live ($399.99)

Fitting on your ski goggles (not included), the MOD Live head mounted GPS display connects with your Android smartphone to deliver MP3 playlists, GPS navigation and even buddy tracking to the inside of your goggles. It also provides speed and jump analytics. The slopes just got a lot more fun.

Recon Instruments MOD Live

5. PowerTrekk (£165)

Hailing from Sweden, the PowerTrekk is a multi-use charger for smartphones, Sat Navs and cameras for people like extreme sports enthusiasts who often find themselves far from a plug socket. Just by tipping one tablespoon into the charger it will produce 10 hours of battery life for a phone.

6. Mushroom GreenZero Wall Charger ($30)

Made for the eco-friendly traveller, the Mushroom GreenZero Wall Travel Charger switches off the mains charge when your smartphone or laptop is fully charged, stopping electricity from being wasted.

7. Jetlev R200 (£150 a day hire)

Want a lifting holiday experience? The Jetlev R200 is a water powered jetpack that can send users rocketing up to 30ft off the ground. Awesome! To buy one you’ll need £83,000, but they’ll soon be offered in hire packs for around £150 a day.

8. Sony HMZ-T1 (£799)

Do you ever head to the cinema while on holiday? Now you don’t need to. The Sony HMZ-T1 is an impressive head mounted 3D home cinema system that creates an image through the viewer that resembles a 150 inch HDTV screen placed just 12 feet before you. Now all you need is popcorn.

Buy on Amazon.com (affiliate)

9. Polaroid SC1630 (Price/Release TBD)

Certainly one to look out for, the new Polaroid SC1630 Smart Camera is 16 megapixels, high definition, has a 3X optical zoom and uses a Google Android operating system enabling super fast and hassle free photo sharing via social media networks. It should be here by the end of the year.

10. UWater G4 Chrome MP3 Player ($80)

Absolutely tiny and 100% waterproof, the UWater G4 Chrome is the perfect choice for holidaymakers who want to scuba dive to the depths with a little musical accompaniment. It can store 4,000 songs.

[image by T3]

11. Innergie PocketCell ($79.99)

It’s all very well collecting a vast range of gadgets, but have you considered the number of chargers you’ll need to take on vacation? The Innergie PocketCell is a universal rechargeable mobile battery bank which handily charges all USB powered devices.

Buy on Amazon.com (affiliate)

12. Jawbone UP (£79.99)

While many see a holiday as a time to cut loose and indulge themselves, others want to keep active and healthy during their vacation. The Jawbone UP wristband keeps tabs on your metabolism via an iPhone app and helps you keep track of when it’s time to exercise.

Buy on Amazon.com (affiliate)

13. SpareOne Phone (£60)

A truly excellent idea, the SpareOne mobile phone is an emergency phone to be kept in your car or backpack in case of emergencies. Featuring a battery that lasts for 15 years it is a reliable and useful companion to have around when help must be reached.

14. ECTACO jetBook Color Deluxe (£449.95)

The jetBook Color Deluxe would be a worthy travel gadget in its main function as a colour e-reader enabling all manner of text formats to be read in vibrant colour. However, it also includes pictured dictionaries for 38 languages and a cross translator for 180 languages, which makes it invaluable.

Buy on Amazon.com (affiliate)

15. RelayRides

Nick Pudar & Shelby Clark discuss Relay Rides OnStar Integration

US peer-to-peer car sharing company RelayRides enables car owners to hire out their vehicles to other drivers when not in use by the simple installation of a special lock device. An idea both simple and ingenious, RelayRides now operates on a national scale backed by Google and General Motors.

What are your must-have travel gadgets?

Guest post: This article was researched and compiled by our friends at hotel booking company HotelClub.com Malaysia. If you would like to contribute too, please contact me.

Top 15 Travel Gadgets of 2012 [VIDEOS] is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

The new iPad (3rd generation) is available in Malaysia and 11 additional countries today. We have predicted the new iPad price previously, apparently we got 100% correct!

The new iPad price in Malaysia is same as last year’s iPad 2 price. (That’s easy to predict anyway)

READ: The new iPad most probably does not support your local 4G broadband

Here is the officially confirmed new iPad (3rd gen) price in Malaysia:

iPad (3rd gen) WiFi

• 16GB – RM1499
• 32GB – RM1799
• 64GB – RM2099

iPad (3rd gen) WiFi+4G

• 16GB – RM1899
• 32GB – RM2199
• 64GB – RM2499

You can order the new iPad via Apple Store or any Apple resellers in Malaysia. Online orders will be shipped in 5–7 business days. You can get ready stock from Apple resellers.

Poll result: Are you buying the new iPad?

According to our simple in post poll, it shows that 55% of our readers are buying the new iPad. 37% is not buying and 8% is not decided yet.

It’s Official: The New iPad (3rd gen) Price in Malaysia is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

One of the new iPad feature is the support of 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, which will give you super fast wireless broadband download speed up to 73 Mbps.

Please hold your new iPad purchase and read this article if you are buying for iPad WiFi+4G for its 4G feature.

Bad news. iPad WiFi+4G most probably does not support your local LTE networks. The new iPad support 4G LTE on 700MHz and 2.1GHz frequency band. According to Apple official website, new iPad only supports LTE networks in US and Canada.

Malaysia 4G networks?

In Malaysia, we have P1 and YES who brand their wireless broadband as “4G” but they are actually WiMAX(wikipedia) networks (not LTE, surprised?).

Even with future 4G LTE developments, the Malaysia LTE will use 2.3GHz frequency band, not the 700MHz and 2.1GHz supported by the new iPad.

My two cents

In a nutshell, the new iPad does not support your local 4G LTE if they are not running on 700 MHz or 2.1 GHz frequency band. Check with your carrier.

Anyway, even without 4G LTE, the new iPad also supports HDPA+(wikipedia) which gives you download speed up to 21Mbps.

Since the frequency band is decided by local government (read: not changeable), we hope that future iPad (iPhone, and other LTE devices) support multiple frequency.

No, The New iPad (3rd generation) does NOT Support Your 4G Network (Except in US & Canada) is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

Previously, we told you that the new iPad (3rd generation) release date in Malaysia is April 21, 2012. Apparently, we got the date quite right. Apple has now confirmed the date is April 20 (Friday).

The new iPad will be available in Malaysia and 11 additional countries: South Korea, Brunei, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Malaysia, Panama, St Maarten, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Beginning on April 27, the new iPad will be available in Colombia, Estonia, India, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, South Africa and Thailand.

New iPad price

The new iPad price is different for each country. Apple only stated the USD pricing but we think the new iPad pricing will be similar to the iPad 2 pricing when it was 1st available in Malaysia. Here’s for your reference:

iPad (3rd gen) WiFi

• 16GB – RM1499
• 32GB – RM1799
• 64GB – RM2099

iPad (3rd gen) WiFi+4G

• 16GB – RM1899
• 32GB – RM2199
• 64GB – RM2499

Specs

Apple iPad (3rd generation) is powered by new dual-core A5X processor with quad-core graphics, 1GB RAM. Retina display with 2048 x 1536 pixels screen resolution. 5 MP camera and support 4G LTE wireless network (not compatible with Malaysia’s 4G service providers).

Poll

via Apple Press. Thanks to everyone who send in the tip.

Confirmed: The Release Date of New iPad in Malaysia (and 11 additional Countries) is April 20, 2012 is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

iPhone has become primary camera for many users. Here are two gadgets to turn iPhone into an even better camera by adding a physical shutter button and a shutter remote for iPhone!

iPhone Shutter Grip (top image) adds a physical photo and video button to your iPhone, plus a grip for less share in low light condition. It works with all iPhone generations and iPod touch, fits any iPhone case, too.

Price: $40

iPHone Shutter Remote allows you to shoot iPhone pics and video from 30 feet away. An iPhone stand is included. Great for taking self-portraits, group photos, long exposures, stop-motion, etc.

Price: $40

Add Physical Shutter Button and Shutter Remote to iPhone is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.

Editor’s note: This article is written by Vincent who attended PlayBook OS 2.0 media event in Malaysia and, very lucky, won a 16GB PlayBook in a game contest. In this article, you will learn about the new features of PlayBook OS 2.0 update.

When the PlayBook first launched in April last year, the world was taken aback by its lack of native email, calendar and contacts client. It’s Research In Motion we are talking about here after all, a company that popularize mobile emailing. Fast forward to February this year, the Waterloo-based company released a software update, the PlayBook OS 2.0, to finally fix its glaring shortcomings.

The new native email, calendar and contacts clients are not built just sufficiently good to shut up the criticizers — they are built to impress. Beyond that, the new operating system also brought the much anticipated Android app player, as well as enhancements on the user interface and overall features.

Unified ‘Messages’ App

The new native email client on the PlayBook is anything but basic. Officially, it’s called the ‘Messages’ app, because it will not only do email, but also bring in messages from your social networks like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

You can choose to either view messages from all accounts at once, or select one account at a time to separate your emails from your social network messages, or work emails from personal emails. You can also search your emails by keywords, along with filters like those found in Gmail.

The email composer offers a wide array of formatting options, beyond what’s typically found on a mobile device. Besides the usual suspects like bold, italic, and text alignment, the PlayBook’s Messages client includes 16 font colors and around 50 font types. Gmail has only 11 font types, by comparison.

If this is not good enough for your mobile emailing needs, I don’t know what is.

Calendar and Contacts App

Just like the email client, the calendar app is a well-furnished one. I especially like the variable font size of the dates, which grows bigger on busy days. That way, you can easily determine which are your busiest and the most laid back day, all from the month view itself.

Adding an agenda is pretty simple, with all the standard options that you would expect, including adding attendees. The great thing about it is that you can pull the entire Contacts app within the Calendar app to learn more about any particular attendee.

The Contacts app does more than just storing contact information. Like the email client, it’s tightly integrated with social networks, and I’m unsure if everyone would appreciate that.

For some reason, RIM decides that it’s a good idea to put everyone you are following on Twitter to your contact list. It may be fine for people like me, who follow less than 100 people on Twitter, but what about those who are following thousands, or even tens of thousands of people? It’s not gonna be pretty.

Looking beyond that, the Contacts app is pretty informative. It has multiple tabs on the right side that could be used to check a contact’s latest social network posting, his/her company’s latest news (you’ve to fill up the company field of the contact beforehand obviously, but if the contact has a LinkedIn account, it’s done automatically), upcoming meetings based on the calendar app, LinkedIn connections and shared locations (no idea how this one works).

Android App Player

RIM’s aim is to make it as seamless as possible for the PlayBook to run Android apps. There is no way to find out which apps in the App World are ported from Android before you install them. But everything becomes obvious when you launch one, since Android-based applications will still be sporting the Android interface, even on the PlayBook.

Some of the Android-based apps are running really slow on the PlayBook, while some others are running even better than their native counterparts. The experience is as inconsistent as the one on native applications. Case in point: All the three email, calendar and contacts client are very fluid and run great on the PlayBook, while the experience on the App World and Facebook app is mediocre at best.

RIM claims that thousands of apps were added to the App World in-conjunction of the launch of OS 2.0, but if the specific ones that you’re looking for is not available, it’s possible to directly sideload repackaged Android apps into your PlayBook.

Granted, not all Android apps work on the PlayBook, and while the process of sideloading is quite simple, you may have to put more effort in sourcing the repackaged apps. You may also repackage the apps yourself, provided you are tech savvy enough and willing to spend time on it.

So far, most of the Android apps that I use works on the PlayBook, like Kindle, Dropbox, Path, Shazam and Jango, but more sophisticated ones like Skype will not run properly.

RIM’s decision to enable Android apps on the PlayBook did indeed make the tablet much more useful than it would otherwise be. But that said, it could potentially diminish the interest of developers to develop native apps for the PlayBook. It makes much more sense to develop for Android, which has a much larger user base, and then simply repackage the app for the PlayBook, killing two birds with one stone.

If the trend continues, the App World for PlayBook will transform into a mini Android Market on its own, and the PlayBook will be taken as a pseudo Android tablet with its own unique interface and functionality, much like Amazon’s Kindle Fire.

As of now, it’s still not happening yet and the shortage of apps remains as the biggest hurdle the PlayBook has to overcome in order to appeal the masses.

Productivity Suite Enhancements

I’ve not seen Docs To Go in action before the OS 2.0 update, so I can’t tell exactly how much better the app has become. But from my observation, I could say that it’s powerful enough for most use cases for either creating or editing Word documents and spreadsheets.

The new keyboard text prediction (which is universal across the PlayBook) is particularly lovable. As you could have imagined, typing on a 7-inch tablet isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do. The text prediction takes the pain away by guessing the word you’re about to type, based on the first few characters you’ve entered, and automatically insert the word as you tap on the space bar.

I can’t be sure if these are already included in the initial version of Docs To Go, but there are plenty of formatting options in the word editor, and there are over 100 formulas in the spreadsheet editor. Surprisingly, the font selection is rather limited. There are only four fonts available in the word editor, and one in the spreadsheet editor. The email composer has around 50 in comparison.

Besides the enhanced Docs To Go app, RIM has included a new productivity app called Print To Go. Don’t get fooled by its name though, it has the slightest thing to do with printing. Instead, the app is used to send documents from your PC to the PlayBook in PDF — no papers involved.

Once the PC software is installed on your computer, you can simply print any documents you want to read and carry on your PlayBook. The app on the PlayBook will then receive and organize your printed documents, ready for you to open using the Adobe Reader app. The Print To Go app itself is incapable of opening PDF files.

Since the app doesn’t really do anything other than receiving and organizing your PDF files, the same can be achieved using apps like Dropbox. Just simply save any PDFs you’d like to read on your PlayBook to your Dropbox folder, and then open it using the Dropbox or BlueBox app on your PlayBook. This could be a better solution for users on multiple platforms, as Dropbox is cross-platform, and Print To Go works only on Windows.

Updated BlackBerry Bridge

With the updated BlackBerry Bridge app, you can now control your PlayBook with your BlackBerry smartphone using the new remote function. After setting up and enabling the feature, the touchscreen or trackpad of your BlackBerry smartphone can be used to control the cursor on your PlayBook, and you can type away using your smartphone’s keyboard.

Connect the PlayBook to your TV via HDMI, and now you can use your PlayBook on the big screen without leaving your couch. You can also use the same method to give presentations without staying close to the TV or projector. By changing the remote mode to presentation, you can use your smartphone’s touch screen as a clicker.

Pretty nifty actually, but it will only work with BlackBerry smartphones, which is unfortunate for smartphone users on different platforms.

There you have it, an overview of the features and improvements in PlayBook OS 2.0.

So, How Do I Like The PlayBook?

Thanks to LiewCF for his media pass, I attended the PlayBook OS 2.0 media event on February 23rd and won a 16GB PlayBook in a game contest. I finally received the device on the 9th of March, and have started using the tablet extensively since then.

Boy, I’m impressed. The user interface is well-thought at least to say. There is no physical or soft buttons on the front of the device, like most Android devices have, and there’s definitely no home button. Almost every single operation are done using gestures, save for volume adjustment.

It’s clever, and I have gotten used to it so much that I swipe upward from the bezel of my iPhone to quit an app. Of course, it didn’t work. And it’s a shame really. RIM really nailed this one in my opinion.

But as I wrote on Dice, it takes much more than a polished user interface for a tablet to be appealing. For one, no one will know how great your user interface is until they actually use it themselves.

And then comes the million dollar question: What can I do with it?

The multitasking capability is awesome, the gestures are great, the user interface is well-thought, but — what can I do with it?

The App World lacks even some of the most important apps for a tablet (i.e. Skype, Kindle, feature-complete PDF reader that isn’t slow etc). The possibility of sideloading repackaged Android apps helps solve part of the problem, but it’s not user friendly, especially to the non-savvy crowd. Even so, only part of the apps on the Android Market catalog works.

As of now, I’m using the PlayBook mostly for reading Kindle books (sideloaded the Kindle app), PDF magazines (Adobe Reader won’t save my last read location, unfortunately), and of course, the web browser. The Flash player on the PlayBook’s browser is pretty stable, and I occasionally use it to watch Flash-only videos like Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and South Park.

The device itself is great. The rubberized back gave me a sense of security (not sure if it’s a false one though) that it wouldn’t get scratched from normal usage. And the size is just nice for reading, and the portability is great. The only regret I have is that I have no chance to make use of the 3-megapixel front camera. There just isn’t a single popular and cross-platform video chat app that is available in the App World. The native video chat service works only between PlayBooks. It’s just disappointing.

And my last complain: the PlayBook will not join ad-hoc Wi-Fi networks. Being a Wi-Fi only device, the PlayBook has to depend on other mobile devices for connectivity when there’s no Wi-Fi hotspot around. To be fair, RIM has done a good job to enable internet tethering on the PlayBook. It works even with my old Nokia N82.

BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 Review is an article from: LiewCF Tech Blog. For more updates, please follow @liewcf on Twitter, join Facebook page and subscribe free newsletter.