RIM Playbook draws attention of Corporate companies
By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 18 November 2010, 18:05 IST   |    1 Comments
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Toronto: Research In Motion (RIM) playbook is gaining popularity much before its release as companies have laid their hands on the tablet to experience the nuances of the device. Dave Codack, Vice President of Employee Technology and Network Services at TD Bank Financial Group got the first glimpse of the Playbook and were fortunate enough to get the first unit for his company. Candidates for a PlayBook at TD include executives, knowledge workers who use basic productivity applications like Microsoft Word, mortgage specialists who deal directly with customers and contact-center employees who use basic applications to service customers, Codack said. Codack said that it was too soon to decide how many Playbooks, TD would purchase as it would depend on how smart the playbook is to replace the laptops in the company. He said TD TD could end up providing PlayBooks to as many as 10 percent to 15 percent of its 75,000 employees if the demo devices really impress the employees. Another company interested in the Playbook is the Sun Life Financial (SLF) which is likely to order as many as 1,000 PlayBooks .The devices are used to facilitate enrollment in retirement savings plans managed by the insurance provider. Tom Reid, senior vice president of Group Retirement Services at Sun Life said "Enrollment in those plans have traditionally involved paper forms that people often forget to fill out, he said. By using the PlayBook and a custom-designed application, people can enroll on the spot, increasing sign-up rates." Price is one reason Michael Wright is interested in the PlayBook. Wright, chief technology officer for the Denver International Airport, said he also likes the device's front and rear cameras for video conferencing. Its Flash capability will make for a superior Web-browsing experience, and obviate the need to pay developers to fit an application onto a device that doesn't support Flash, he said. "And we like the price point," he said. The Denver airport will use the PlayBook to help enhance security operations, snow operations and for in-the-field maintenance, Wright said. He said he envisions deploying up to 300 tablets for the airport's 1,100 employees. Some of these will be iPads, he said, though he "hasn't given much thought" yet to how each device Though RIM were the pioneers in the smartphone market they have faced fierce competition from Apple iPhone and a slew of devices running on Google's Android operating system. RIM is fighting back, recently launching a new Blackberry operating system and overhauling its support for third-party-application developers. The PlayBook is one of the more important product launches in RIM's 26-year history. Keeping its fingers crossed, the Research team hopes for huge success as RIM wants to "make hay while the sun shines."

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