Blackberry Unveils New Tablet

[Maestro23]

http://gear.ign.com/articles/112/1123836p1.html

Today Research in Motion (RIM), the makers of BlackBerry, unveiled their long-rumored tablet device, which has now been officially dubbed the BlackBerry PlayBook.

The PlayBook is the company's first foray into the tablet market, and joins Apple's iPad and Samsung's Android-powered Galaxy Tab in the race for tablet supremacy. Like the Galaxy Tab, the design incorporates a 7-inch 1024x600 high-resolution display, weighs less than a pound, and measures less than half an inch thick. It features a 1GHz dual-core processor with 1GB of RAM and is based upon RIM's new BlackBerry Tablet OS, which supports multitasking, Adobe Flash 10.1, HTML 5, and HD video playback.

The PlayBook has two HD cameras – one for front-facing video conferencing, and another outward-facing lens for video recording. Both support 1080p video recording, though the front camera only has 3 megapixels, while the rear has 5 megapixels. Video stored on the device can be output to a TV or projector via HDMI.

Interestingly, the PlayBook will integrate with a user's BlackBerry using Bluetooth, and enable users to view emails, BlackBerry Messages, calendar items, documents, and other information that resides on their smartphone.

Pricing and availability information have not been set at this time, but RIM confirmed that the PlayBook will be available in 2011 and will come in both 3G and 4G variations.

[Sean O]

http://gear.ign.com/articles/112/1123836p1.html

Apart from being a BezelMonster, it looks good. It has the right aspect ratio, good specs, and RIM is always focused on productivity first and entertainment second. Of course, none of that will matter if it doesn't have a half-eaten apple logo on the back.

[MarkB]

Any competition for the iTampon is a good thing.