News: BlackBerry iPad rival announced

After many months of “will they or won’t they”, Research In Motion (RIM), manufacturer of BlackBerry smartphones, has revealed a tablet of its own.

Dubbed the PlayBook (not like speculation suggested the BlackPad), the tablet sports a 1 GHz dual-core processor plus 1 GB of RAM with full Flash support when browsing.

The PlayBook boasts a 7" multi-touch LCD display with a decent 1024 x 600 screen resolution, smaller than its obvious rival the Apple iPad with its 9.7” LED screen and 1024-by-768-pixel resolution. The tablet PC also weighs a very manageable 400 g with dimensions of 130 mm x 194 mm x 10 mm.

RIM, which launched the device during the BlackBerry Developer’s Conference in San Francisco yesterday, is adamant that the device is business ready, revealing that the PlayBook will be out-of-the-box compatible with BlackBerry Enterprise Server, while it can also be paired to BlackBerry smartphones via Bluetooth providing access to email, calendar, BlackBerry Messenger, tasks, documents and more.

RIM opted to include both a microUSB and HDMI port, while the device offers 1080i video support. It also boasts a 5 megepixel backwards facing camera and a three megapixel front facing camera for video calling.

The device will not run on BlackBerry’s much anticipated BlackBerry OS 6, but rather on a specially developed operating system called BlackBerry Tablet OS, based on QNX technology.

The device ships with Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, with RIM allegedly planning models supporting 3G and 4G in future. RIM will have the PlayBook ready in the US early in 2011, with other markets having to wait a bit 'till the 2nd quarter. There is no word yet on pricing or availability of the device in SA.

BlackBerry iPad rival announced

Related Articles

Most Read Articles

Have Your Say