I got up early yesterday and joined the hordes in line for a new RIM Playbook. Well, actually, I went out at lunch time to pick one up and the guy at the store said it was the first one he'd sold. So, the launch of a new RIM product doesn't generate the silly hype that surrounds each new Apple product iteration. But, that's not a bad thing. I suspect RIM isn't targeting the people who do line up at 6:00 am for new tech products. I've only had it a day but here's what I think so far.
On the plus side, the browser is fully functional. It's not like the mobile browsers on smart phones or the flash-inhibited Safari browser on the Apple iPad. That's nice. It means you can go to nearly any website and get what you'd expect to see on the website. I like the small size. It's only 7" (as opposed to the 10" iPad) and weighs less than a pound. That means it will fit in my jacket pocket and slide easily into my laptop bag. The high definition display is terrific. Apparently, you can also hook into projectors and do presentations - but I haven't figured that out yet so don't quote me on that one. The user interface is a little different that the iPad but it is fairly intuitive and easy to use.
On the down side... you do need a Blackberry smart phone (not an old dinosaur Blackberry like I have) in order to view your mail, contacts and calendar on the Playbook. Apparently, this is a "security" feature but the "feature" is going to be "fixed" in an upcoming software update. You also must "bridge" the Playbook with your smart phone Blackberry in order to get 3G Internet access. Without that it's just wi-fi. Also, there aren't many apps yet and the Facebook, Twitter, GMail, etc "apps" that are there are really just browser links.
Overall... the negatives aren't too serious. I can use the browser (via Outlook Web Access) to get at my e-mail, calendar and contacts. I don't really want 3G access anyways because nearly every place I go has wi-fi these days and I don't need another monthly bill. I can wait for more apps to appear... I really only wanted it for browser access.
So, all in all, I like the Playbook very much. If you have a Blackberry smart phone already then it probably does make sense for you. If I had to make a recommendation between a Playbook and an iPad I would advise to first figure out what you want to do with a tablet device, then determine which apps you need, then buy the tablet with those apps.
As always, I welcome your comments and questions.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
WARNING: That's NOT Microsoft Calling You!
Warning!! There are hackers using a rather low-tech tech way to get into your computer systems. Simply put, they try to trick you into letting them in. The spouse of one of our clients had some first hand experience with just such an attack. She received a very official-sounding phone call from someone purporting to be from Microsoft. The "Microsoft" representative directed her to a website in order to download something and install it on her computer.
She started to comply but then became suspicious, stopped, and wisely ended the interaction. She then called police. The officer that responded advised that they are seeing a lot of this activity lately. Here's a Microsoft article about this very type of attack from last month:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/forum/protect_scanning/they-keep-calling-me-too-how-do-i-stop-them/ac741fc8-4d49-e011-8dfc-68b599b31bf5
The moral of the story? This lady was smart to be suspicious and we all need to be alert to this kind of scam. The key point to remember is that Microsoft will NEVER contact you directly. They won't call you at home OR e-mail you directly. This is a common ruse that hackers will use to try to get you let them into your system or get credit card information. Microsoft even posted a warning about this:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/msname.aspx
As antivirus and security defenses improve the hackers will rely on "social engineering" techniques such as these to try to trick people into infecting their own systems. Just be aware... the nice gentleman on the phone offering you help quite likely isn't who he says he is.
She started to comply but then became suspicious, stopped, and wisely ended the interaction. She then called police. The officer that responded advised that they are seeing a lot of this activity lately. Here's a Microsoft article about this very type of attack from last month:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/forum/protect_scanning/they-keep-calling-me-too-how-do-i-stop-them/ac741fc8-4d49-e011-8dfc-68b599b31bf5
The moral of the story? This lady was smart to be suspicious and we all need to be alert to this kind of scam. The key point to remember is that Microsoft will NEVER contact you directly. They won't call you at home OR e-mail you directly. This is a common ruse that hackers will use to try to get you let them into your system or get credit card information. Microsoft even posted a warning about this:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/msname.aspx
As antivirus and security defenses improve the hackers will rely on "social engineering" techniques such as these to try to trick people into infecting their own systems. Just be aware... the nice gentleman on the phone offering you help quite likely isn't who he says he is.
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