RIM expected to unveil tablet next week

September 22, 2010 By Laura Khalil

RIM is expected to enter the tablet market by the end of the year with a new operating system that hopes to overcome the issues the company has faced in the past.

Research in Motion (RIM) is expected to enter the tablet market, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that the company will announce its tablet offering next week in San Francisco.

It’s expected that the company will not be using the Blackberry 6 OS, but a new operating system developed by the recently acquired QNX.

In recent years the company has struggled to see its Blackberry operating system compete with Android and Apple. A new operating system could the solution they’ve been looking for. According to reports, QNX will eventually implement its software in the BlackBerry line as well.

Internally dubbed the BlackPad, few details are known about the device. It will reportedly have a 7-inch touchscreen and at least one, possibly two, cameras. It will be Bluetooth and broadband compatible, but will require a tethered BlackBerry to connect to cellular networks, WSJ said. Carriers have not been announced.

It is expected to be released in the fourth quarter of this year.

Showing 5 comments

Jamie Thompson at 1:48pm 22nd September 2010 Good for watching free internet television on LoggTV
Tao Mokoda at 1:11pm 22nd September 2010 7" screen? Are you sure? Are you SERIOUS? *tsk* It just died on the production line. In my opinion, one of the main things that makes millions of people want a device that cannot multitask, has no camera and has to be jailbroken in order to access perhaps 30% of the Internet, is not because Apple is just that cool, but because of the generous 10' (well, almost) screen! (I mean, the price is pretty nice too, but...) Now, maybe RIM isn't really trying to compete with the iPad, but if they are, they and any other company that thinks it's going to, needs to realize that a 7" screen is just not going to do it.
bal at 1:03pm 22nd September 2010 guys shut up and load on RIMM stock.
eviljonny at 12:52pm 22nd September 2010 "but will require a tethered BlackBerry to connect to cellular networks" that is so stupid I am ALMOST speechless. Why not allow for a USB air-card from one of the many cellular carriers? Are there not going to be any USB ports or will RIM force you to tether it to a Blackberry? I doubt it is the first option as that would be stupid, if it is the second then that is sooooo lame RIM should change their name RIMPLLE or APPLEBERRY. And here I was rooting for RIM to slap down apple in every market for not being lame. My heart hurts.
1. Jimmy Dorkbreath at 12:57pm 22nd September 2010 get a life dork!