RIM To Launch BlackPad To Challenge Apple’s iPad In November? 2 Way Camera And More.
Now that the BlackBerry 9800 and BlackBerry 6 have made their appearance, there are two more BlackBerry devices that are high on most tech junkies’ radar. One is the rumored BlackBerry Storm 3, and the other would have to be the RIM BlackBerry Tablet that has so far been dubbed the “BlackPad”.
According to Bloomberg’s Hugo Miller, RIM has been working on it’s own tablet style device in an effort to take on Apple’s recently released iPad.
RIM plans to call the tablet Blackpad, according to one of the people familiar with the company’s plans. RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, acquired the Internet rights to blackpad.com this month, according to the Whois database of domain names. Pricing for the device will be in line with the iPad, which starts at $499, the person said. RIM is focused on reaping additional profits from the tablet effort, rather than competing on price to sell a large number of devices, the person said.
The BlackPad has even shown up in a report by Rodman & Renshaw analyst, Ashok Kumar who offered these possible specs on the new BlackBerry Tablet.
Even though the BlackPad is said to be Wi-Fi enabled, one of the great advantages it will have over the iPad for some users is that you will be able to connect the device to the internet by connecting the BlackPad to your BlackBerry via Bluetooth, or with BlackBerry Mobile Wi-Fi hotspot support that is said to be coming on devices such as the BlackBerry Storm 3. This means anywhere access on the device without the need to pay for a separate plan from a wireless carrier. Currently there is no word on if a wireless carrier will be selling the device, or if it will have it’s own 3G or 4G wireless capabilities.
There are rumors that RIM maybe launch a modified version of BlackBerry 6 with enhancements to support the large screen size. Keep in mind that BlackBerry already supports Word, Excel, PowerPoint, ITunes Sync, and with all the feature enhancements, like Adobe Flash 10 support, which is coming to BlackBerry and not any Apple products. If RIM can get developers to put out some really great apps, then RIM could not only secure it’s position in the enterprise sector with a tablet that is already enterprise ready and secure, but maintain it’s foothold in the consumer market also.
The current rumored price of this new BlackBerry tablet is about $499, and is said to be possibly release in the 4th Qtr of this year, just in time for the holidays. The tablet will be manufactured by Quanta starting with 2 million units in September, with another 8 million the following year.
Ok, so what do you think, do you think RIM has a chance to compete against the IPad ? Tell us what you think of RIMs latest endevor in our comments section. Also don’t forget to tell us like this post by hitting the “like†button. Want to stay in the know? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest BlackBerry updates.
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