BlackBerry 4G PlayBook with… 4G support coming to Sprint this summer

By on Jan 6, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Breaking January 6, 2011

RIM let us know that in addition to their BlackBerry PlayBook that pairs with your BlackBerry smartphone, they have a 4G version of the tablet lined up ready to go on Sprint’s 4G network. It is set to launch this summer on Sprint’s “blazingly fast” network, and will provide “a high performance platform that will enable a mobile services revolution for both application developers and customers.” We could go on quoting their press release all night long, but why don’t you just check it out for yourselves after the break? Pricing information wasn’t announced.

BlackBerry 4G PlayBook Coming to the Sprint 4G Network

New 4G Tablet to Deliver Unmatched Power and Web Performance ‐ Available Exclusively from Sprint this Summer

January 6, 2011 – CES 2011, Las Vegas, NV – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) and Sprint (NYSE: S) today announced plans to launch a new BlackBerry® PlayBookTM tablet model featuring connectivity to the blazingly fast Sprint 4G network. The BlackBerry 4G PlayBookTM will be the first BlackBerry PlayBook model to include wide area wireless connectivity, featuring Sprint 4G to give customers download speeds up to 10 times faster than 3G1. This new 4G model is expected to be available from Sprint in the summer.

The BlackBerry 4G PlayBook is a professional‐grade tablet that’s set to redefine the possibilities of mobile computing, giving users an ultra‐portable design with industry leading performance, uncompromised web browsing, true multitasking and HD multimedia, as well as advanced security features and out‐of‐the‐box enterprise support. Together, the BlackBerry 4G PlayBook and the Sprint 4G network will provide a high performance platform that will enable a mobile services revolution for both application developers and customers.

“RIM believes a significant portion of the tablet market will want a higher performing, multitasking, professional‐grade tablet and that is why we chose to design the BlackBerry PlayBook for premium performance with a powerful dual‐core processor and multitasking OS. Together with Sprint, we are now building on that performance advantage with 4G and providing an unparalleled mobile experience for users,” said Mike Lazaridis, President and Co‐CEO at Research In Motion.

”We are excited to bring this powerful new product to our business customers and consumers who rely on Sprint for industry‐leading devices as well as one of the best values in wireless,” said Steve Elfman, president of network operations and wholesale for Sprint. “This tablet is a great example of Sprint’s strong partnership with RIM in continuing to bring customers powerful devices to enhance their mobility. We are confident the BlackBerry 4G Playbook from Sprint will be one of the most anticipated tablets in 2011.”

In addition to Wi‐Fi® support, the BlackBerry 4G PlayBook features a 1 GHz dual‐core processor, 1 GB of RAM and the new BlackBerry® Tablet OS. The ultra portable, ultra thin tablet will offer an uncompromised, high‐fidelity web experience with support for Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1, Adobe® Mobile AIR® and HTML‐5 enabling customers toenjoy all of the sites, games, media and richness of the full Internet, delivered at 4G speeds. Additional details and pricing will be released closer to launch.

Sprint 4G is currently available in 71 markets2 across the country, including Atlanta, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and New York City. Sprint first launched 4G in Baltimore in September 2008 and continues to build it’s 4G service for consumers and business users across the country. For more information, visit http://www.sprint.com/4G.

For more information about the BlackBerry 4G PlayBook, visit http://www.blackberry.com/playbook or http://www.sprint.com/4Gplaybook.

About Research In Motion

Research In Motion (RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, revolutionized the mobile industry with the introduction of the BlackBerry® solution in 1999. Today, BlackBerry products and services are used by millions of customers around the world to stay connected to the people and content that matter most throughout their day. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. RIM is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information, visit http://www.rim.com or http://www.blackberry.com.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 48.8 million customers at the end of the third quarter of 2010 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry‐leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, Common Cents Mobile and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push‐to‐talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 6 in its 2010 Green Rankings, listing

it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at http://www.sprint.com or http://www.facebook.com/sprint and http://www.twitter.com/sprint.

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27 Comments

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  • Anonymous

    Hesse You Da Man!!

  • RIMSHOT

    I really, really hope this one gets Honeycomb. The specs look great.

    • 9th BlackBerry and Counting

      wow….You do realize you are writing about a blackberry/RIMM product, right? I’ll just keep this positive and stop right here. Try again. No further comment.

    • Anonymous

      This is made by RIMM. So the OS is proprietary .It has to be a RIMM ( blackberry ) OS.
      The same way Android cannot get in an Iphone.

  • lolmoney

    I cannot believe how garbage RIM has become, the number one selling app on App world is Copter (look it up). This has yet to be the worst company to come out of Canada.

    I can’t wait for the white color playbook in Q3.

    • RIMSHOT

      I disagree. The app store is huge, and with an OS that is now designed for tablets, it is great. The app market is almost as big as Apple’s and the video on Honeycomb (which definitely should be available by the time this is released) makes the iPad look like a child’s toy. I don’t even know Copter.

      • Anonymous

        Again – you do realize that this is RIM NOT Android! There is not and never will be an official release of honeycomb for the playbook – and what app store are you talking about. Please stop commenting until you have at least a clue about the product you are talking about.

      • Gquaglia

        Whooooossssshhhhhh

      • Anonymous

        This is a tablet made by the ppl who make Blackberries. NOT a tablet that runs android by Google…

      • serpentor

        Oh Gawd, you might be better than Norm.

  • Anonymous

    Unfortunately for the great QNX OS and the innovative hardware (first announced dual-core tablet) the BlackBerry Playbook will be the Palm Pré for Sprint all over again.

    Only now development cycles for these technologies (both smartphones and tablets) are MUCH MUCH shorter. Look how irrelevant HP/Palm has become in the last 2 years since the Pré launched on Sprint in 2009. Sprint cannot afford to put all their tablet eggs in the RIM basket. If anything RIM has proven in recent history they are a company who does not know who they want to be…yet. The jury is still out on if they will be able to successfully merge their QNX and TaT into a cohesive product platform.

    Hopefully Sprint will be smart and not let Verizon, AT&T and (egads!) T-mobile steal all the thunder with their dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 Honeycomb announcements. Sprint needs a heavy contender in this category, and preferably an Android heavyweight like HTC or Motorola, not Johnny-come-latelys like Samsung who can sell ten million devices but can’t update a single one.

  • Jordan

    Coming to Sprint…..
    WHAT??!!!!!!

    • zukidrvr

      Sprint sells more BlackBerry devices than any other carrier in the world. They have a huge base of government and corporate users that exceeds any other carrier. The wifi only model will be available from other carriers and big box stores earlier. I don’t see what the big deal is. For millions of BlackBerry smartphone users worldwide, this is a big deal.

      As an Android tablet user, Android is a mobile operating system stretched larger for tablets. PlayBook OS is a professional OS squeezed into a tablet. I like that idea.

  • Anonymous

    I just hope it’s made in China and not Canada.

  • http://twitter.com/chriscanty chris canty

    Honestly, I wish RIM would have just added BBM, a messaging app, and a phone dialer and made this into a freakin phone! You drop the size down to 4.5 inches and you have the best blackberry device ever made!! haha

    • zukidrvr

      What would lead you to believe that they aren’t already working on that?

  • serpentor

    I just did a speedtest on my Tmo Galaxy Tab and got just under 5.5 down, 1.8 up. I hope this is coming out on Tmo also because their speed is better than Sprint and they have a better deal on data pricing for tablets.

  • Anonymous

    You realize that you have to tether this to your phone in order to get your email and calendar?..Not interested.

    • Private Citizen

      Huh?? This a 4G version of the Playbook. No tethering necessary. I assume your comment is referring to the Wi-Fi version. At least it can tether to a Blackberry device. As a factory ready default, I believe neither the Wi-Fi versions of iPad and Galaxy Tab can be tethered.

  • http://www.sprint-cellphone.com Ocxers

    Thanks for sharing. I have shared it in my blog. Thanks again!

  • One Two

    Just wanted to draw your attention that “proud Canadian” company (RIM) is
    going to release their new (flagship?) product to the American carrier first!
    Rogers and Telus are patiently waiting.
    Again :)

  • Max

    So I can buy a 4″ phone on sprint that will do anything this wierdly-sized object will, or I can buy a 7″ device that can’t do anything better than the 4″ device can do except not fit in my pocket and not be large enough to really use anywhere else. Great thinking, RIMjob.

  • Anonymous

    Well, just chalk this up to one more in a long line of bad moves by RIM.

    • Anonymous

      Are you really that dumb? This device is coming out in a WiFi only form in a month or 2 via almost every retailer available. The 4g model is the exclusive to Sprint model and it won’t be released until months after the WiFi version is available.

      Plus, the wording of the press release leaves room for a GSM model to come out.

  • Anonymous

    As im reading these comments, im really blown away. Does anyone ever really read about the product before bashig it? Honeycomb for RIM? No GSM version? More apps than the app store? I mean are you guys serious. RIM has been teasing this product for months. YES it will run QNX, NO IT WILL NEVER RUN ANY FORM OF ANDROId (UNLESS XDA GETS BORED) . YES, there will be GSM AND CDMA Versions. YES if it is on Sprint 4g network you will not need to tether. Before bashing a product or commenting with such conviction, maybe some of you’s should actually understand the product being discussed. Sorry for the rant, i just could not believe what i was reading.

  • Us006388

    I am a huge Blackberry fan however summer is out of the question. By then my family will own two iPads and there will be no turning back.

  • http://twitter.com/codyks Cody Heitschmidt

    I read every comment in here… not really caring what was said… just hoping that rimshot would make another Android reference….

    BTW — I want a playbook.

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