Apple iPad 2 vs. Blackberry PlayBook 2.0

iPad 2

The iPad set the bar for user interface. It is clean, simple and powerful. While it is debatable who invented "Pinch to Zoom," there is no question that this feature is buttery smooth on all iDevices. Add the swiping through pictures and the ease of moving apps and you had a very easy and intuitive interface.

iOS 5.0 added some great new features. Now, four fingers swiping up will bring display the mutil-tasking bar and a four finger "closing pinch" of the hand will close open apps if these gestures are activated in the Settings app.

That leads to one major interface flaw that still plagues the iPad 2 (and all iDevices, for that matter;) To adjust settings of any application, you need to first leave the application and then go to the Settings app and make adjustments. You then need to go back to the app you were "tweaking." At times, this process can be quite cumbersome.

PlayBook 2.0
PlayBook 2.0 adds to some great features that have been there since launch. PlayBook 2.0 also does a bit of iPad imitating with the enhanced functionality of the App Dock now located at the bottom. Users can choose which apps to move in and out of the Bottom dock. The process is remarkably similar to that of the iPad - just touch and hold until the icons shake and then drag them to a new location in the dock.

Where the PlayBook really shines is the many gestures available. Where the PlayBook can be a challenge is in the multiplicity of gestures the user needs to remember.

Swiping to "wake" the device is very cool and convenient. Swiping from the lower left hand corner to the center will bring up the keyboard. Swiping from either corner (while in an app) to the center will show the Status bar.

One feature that the PlayBook gets spot on is the "swipe down from the top" gesture which brings up the Settings app from the Home screen and brings up the Options menu from within any app. This gesture becomes intuitive and extremely useful especially in theBrowser, Calendar and Message apps.

RIM likes to refer to the experience of making these tasks simpler as "BlackBerry Flow." The PlayBook almost seems to know what you want to do and makes tasks easier and more intuitive.

Possibly the most powerful and fun gesture is the "Swype up" to reduce an app and then the swipe up to "throw away" and close the app. While this is very WebOS like - it works and its great.


Round One Tally

Both devices shine in many areas, but when looking at the totality of the gestures and the user interfaces of both devices the PlayBook takes this round with 10 points and the iPad comes in a close second with 9 points.

Source : crackberry.com