Adobe Flash to Cost BlackBerry PlayBook Battery Life, Analyst Says

10:43 pm on January 4, 2011 | Category: Mobile Devices, Multimedia, Wireless Technology

Support for Adobe Flash will cause Research In Motion’s forthcoming Playbook tablet device to trail the Apple iPad in terms of battery life, according to Kaufman Bros. analyst, Shaw Wu.

“From our understanding, the poor battery life of early PlayBook units may be due to its incorporation of Adobe Flash,” Wu said in a note to clients. “As seen in recent tests for the new MacBook Air, use of Flash can cut battery life in half. It should be no surprise to anyone that our checks indicate Adobe is furiously working on reducing Flash’s consumption of resources to make it a viable mobile platform vs. HTML5 that both Apple and Google are moving toward.”

Wu expects the PlayBook trail the Apple iPad’s ten-hour battery life, and says that it will only measure up to the Samsung Galaxy Tab’s six-hour charge with “significant re-engineering.” He credits the iPad’s industry-leading battery life to the fact that Apple makes its own in-house software and battery chemistry.

“Apple’s unparalleled and fundamental ownership of core technology is what enables the company to deliver superior battery life, not to mention a superior user experience,” Wu explained.

Research In Motion has responded to analysts’ concerns saying that it is on track to “optimize the BlackBerry PlayBook’s battery life” and looks forward to “providing customers with a professional grade tablet that offers superior performance with comparable battery life.”

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    1. I realize this is an unsigned cover article on a site which explicitly says it’s about getting clicks, but how have you not seen RIM’s response to that analyst yesterday (more detailed than what you excerpted above), or the prior Adobe rebuttal to such bunk and manipulative battery claims?

      jd/adobe

      Comment by John Dowdell — January 5, 2011 #

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