Been wondering about that BlackBerry tablet device you have been hearing about lately? We have some exclusive information to share with you. We have confirmed with multiple sources that the 8.9″ BlackBerry tablet will be strictly a “companion” device. If you are wondering what it is all about, take a good hard look at the Palm Foleo. Yes, the BlackBerry tablet will not have any cellular networking built in, and will rely on either a Bluetooth connection to your BlackBerry or the built-in Wi-Fi radio. Additionally, we are hearing that the launch of the tablet is slated for December, but the team working on the project is trying to get it out to the marketplace sooner than that. Lastly, the focus of the device is said to be multimedia — think e-books, emailing, web browsing, photo viewing. To be honest, as a complementary device that is coming from RIM, we are not sure why they are even trying here. Especially since RIM employees have privately voiced their frustration to us regarding this initiative.
UPDATE: I skipped over one piece of information from one of my RIM sources, and the reason could have been that my mind just couldn’t process what I was reading. Anyway, it appears that up until at least pre-iPad announcement, RIM had a monochrome version of a tablet device in their wings. Yes, you heard correct — it looks like RIM was, at least one time, trying to build a Kindle competitor.
Image for illustrative purposes only.
