RIM Unveils "Playbook" to take on Apple iPad 2

Research in Motion (RIM) makers of the popular corporate smart mobile, Blackberry is poised to release their first 7" tablet named "Playbook" (previously anticipated to be named "Blackpad") in early 2011 contending with the upcoming Apple iPad 2 or iPad Mini (rumored 7" tablet from Apple).

I would actually prefer it to be named "iBerry" lol... retaining the Blackberry identity...of course if it's targeting for purely on the enterprise market that won't sound too appropriate.

R.I.M. co-chief-executive Mike Lazaridis’ keynote was that the PlayBook will have no cellular connection of its own. The PlayBook is designed to wirelessly tether to a BlackBerry smartphone in order to get on the Internet and pull in contact, calendar and email data from the phone to the tablet. More of a Blackberry companion - so that Blackberry owners don't have to incur 2 data plan...

PlayBook will be running Blackberry Tablet OS built from the recently acquired QNX OS. Touted to be the "First Professional Tablet" the Playbook will be the fastest tablet in the market sporting a Cortex A9-based dual-core 1Ghz  CPU.

Other compelling features of the Playbook (which is currently lacking in the Apple's iPad) includes a 3 megapixel front-facing camera (for Video conferencing) along with a 5 megapixel rear lens, and not forgetting standard ports like Mini-USB & HDMI (allowing HD playback on LCDs).

Tablets portables or handheld aren't really new... in fact, it's old wine in new bottles... The tablets didn't take off the last time I believe owe to the fact that it was only then focusing on corporate usage. It would be interesting to see whether RIM is addressing purely to the needs of enterprise users. "Playbook" seems to implied that R.I.M. is also catering to the mass market.

There's also a lot of talk that instead of the usual product refresh in January 2011, Apple's gonna launch the second generation of iPad this December. One of most desired feature to be included in iPad 2 is "Facetime".  It would definitely be interesting to see whether those early adopters will ditch their iPads especially those owning iPad without 3G.

For those looking for a bargain, probably can get a pre-owned iPad for SGD500 or lesser...

The other rumour is that a 7" iPad Mini will be released subsequently. This might be an attractive investment for those looking for a lighter tablet... something maybe a lady can put into her handbag or a student can easily stuff it into the school bag...

One thing for sure, laptop sales will be greatly affected during this Christmas with so many tablets & eReaders available in the store...