Austin’s Mobile Monday on July 11 focused on developing for the BlackBerry PlayBook.  I came away from this event with the impression that the PlayBook has its place in enterprise, government and other applications where security is a paramount concern, whether or not it’s a best seller in the consumer space.

David Gill, Director of Client Services at Neilson Mobile, made some introductory comments on the three areas to watch in the tablet market:

Media Shifting Behavior

Nielson is building the ability to track tablet views.  They view the tablet as more like a TV than a phone or PC.  In particular, a tablet is much more likely to be shared around the household than a phone, and Nielson measures household viewing.

Application Ecosystem

Gill cited statistics that 57% of the time spent on a tablet is on an app, as opposed to less than 15% on smart phones.  That may dictate different marketing approaches and development strategies.  (Just be careful using the term “App Store” unless you are prepared to send Apple a royalty check.)

The Blurred Line in Advertising

The distinction between personal and enterprise devices is blurring as employees procure their own devices and want access to corporate data.  This suggests new ad formats and new ways to monetize applications.

Next on the agenda, CEO Larry Ketchersid of Austin-based Media Sourcery showed a tablet application that is a HIPPA compliant and doctor friendly patient referral form, built in html5, and with the ability to queue up its transmissions if data is entered offline.  This company focuses on solutions requiring secure data, encryption, and nonrepudiation capabilities, reinforcing my aforementioned observation that the PlayBook is a good complement for these criteria.

Jeff Bentley, an Enterprise Mobility Architect at RIM, was then the principal speaker of the evening.  His presentation was pretty technical, but I’ll translate as best I can.  I left with an urge to relearn programming, since my last experience was with Microsoft BASIC on the Altair. 

Bentley emphasized that the PlayBook is not a large BlackBerry – it has no phone or email capability.  To create this product, RIM acquired  (1) a new OS known as QNX, a microkernel with wide usage in exotic large-scale secure systems, (2) a new UI via The Astonishing Tribe, and (3) a web kit via Torch Mobile.

The mission of the development platform now branded as Webworks is to be a cross-platform sdk for web developers, using standard web technologies like html5, CSS, and JavaScript.  The platform is moving toward Chrome based web development.  It provides for easy porting of Adobe Air applications, but its browser does not support ActiveX components.

Bentley demonstrated some interesting animated apps and talked about lots of work to mobile SAP software in the enterprise space.  That alone could provide plenty of staying power for the PlayBook in the tablet wars.

Would you bet a start-up on the PlayBook?  Perhaps, if you are solving a problem where its security strengths come into play.  And, with its usage of relatively transportable web-based development tools, you probably have some hedge there if you wish to move to Android or other platforms.

Bentley concluded with a discussion about the PlayBook in the new Renault Frendzy.  Evidently it can be plugged into the dash in case you get bored with just texting while driving, and it also can be plugged into the headrests to entertain your youngsters.  See the video below.