Blackberry Playbook Video Chat Quick Review

Posted by Jamie Forestell

Playbook

Early yesterday morning, RIM released an over the air update which included video chat for the Blackberry Playbook.  If you are not sure where to find it, you can simply look for the icon on your home screen under the ALL tab. (or in my case Favorites)

Video Chat

Once you have opened the Video Chat application, you are presented with a list of your contacts/buddies or you have the ability to add them. The method used to find contacts is with a unique Blackberry ID. Once you have a contact added, calling them is simple provided they are online.

Video Chat

I was impressed that the video chat application was easy to find, use, and has a nice look to the gui. That said, I was not impressed with the performance.

Once a connection was made using home wifi, I found the quality to be quite laggy. The audio sync was almost a full second delayed, for both video sources. Yes, even my own window showing myself was delayed from real time.  I am sure this can be corrected but the lag was hard to not notice. Similar to Facetime by Apple, you are able to move the inset window by dragging to the corner of your choice. The movement was not as fluid as it is in iOS but the option was present.

Video Chat Playbook

Overall, this will be a very popular application for Blackberry once the lag issues can be sorted out. Now the question that remains unanswered: When can we expect to see Video Chat and a front facing camera on a Blackberry Smartphone?

Happy Chatting!

About Jamie Forestell

Jamie Forestell is the Editor-in-chief and also the founder of Tek Tok Canada. His knowledge and aptitude for Technology led him to create a central website for all Canadians. His strong passion for the Technology world helps him stay abreast of leading-edge technologies and his desire to spread this information was the driving factor behind the creation of Tek Tok Canada.

Check Also

TekTok will be “Live” in Orlando at the BlackBerry Live Event

Well the BlackBerry Live Event is finally upon us and we will be present in Orlando, Florida covering all the fantastic events planned by BlackBerry for all the attendees.

3 comments

  1. maybe it was a slow wifi connection?

  2. Thanks for your comment however I will clarify. The local video screen was also lagging behind, not just the other person. Both video screens showed lag. Wifi was not weak as I was sitting beside my router on 50MB cable. I think it needs a bit more work. How was your experience with video chat? Anyone else have good/bad experiences?

  1. Pingback: Tek Tok Canada

Leave a Reply