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RIM Co-CEO dances around BlackBerry PlayBook criticism in interview [video]

Updated Dec 19th, 2018 7:11PM EST
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While we like where Research In Motion is going with its new BlackBerry Playbook, there’s little question at this point that it is a rushed product. RIM admits as much by constantly talking about future updates that will bring missing functionality to the platform, just as Microsoft has done with its Windows Phone platform. As has been beaten to death by reviewers, the PlayBook will lack core functionality at launch, such as an email client, calendar functionality and more, and it also won’t have an extensive selection of available third-party applications until it is updated to support Android apps in a future update. Bloomberg caught up with RIM Co-CEO Jim Balsillie on Friday and confronted him with several questions surrounding these critiques. While the uncomfortable situation wasn’t enough to make him walk out of the interview as Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis did earlier this week, Balsillie ultimately did little to convince teetering consumers to make a purchase when the PlayBook is released next week. Hit the break for a video of the interview.

http://player.ooyala.com/player.js?width=652&deepLinkEmbedCode=ZreTdlMjrVElCy-5eo3qHhsLVCJdtYTu&height=435&embedCode=ZreTdlMjrVElCy-5eo3qHhsLVCJdtYTu&autoplay=0

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Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.