Research in Motion (RIM) may launch its rumored BlackPad tablet next week at a developers’ conference in San Francisco.
The tablet will be available in Q4 with a 7-inch screen and one or two cameras, reports the Wall Street Journal. It is expected to have Bluetooth, but it’s only cellular connection will be through a tethered BlackBerry smartphone. Also, as rumored, the BlackPad will use an operating system from QNX—a company purchased by RIM earlier this year.
The WSJ also states RIM will eventually transfer its BlackBerry smartphones to the QNX OS.
Taiwanese company Quanta is said to be manufacturing the BlackPad, which will run on Marvell chips.
RIM faces stiffening competition from Apple and Android based smartphones. Its global market share in smartphones fell one percent in Q2 this year, as the share of Apple and Android smartphones climbed.
Competition is also rising on the tablet front as Samsung, Acer, Dell, Cisco and others enter the market.
The use of the QNX OS may prove a much needed boon for RIM, as it is faster and more stable than the current BlackBerry OSes and may be more attractive to developers.
RIM may also update its BlackBerry’s mobile advertising platform to help attract developers and it may also unveil next week an Amazon.com music application.
The WSJ also offered a handy review of some tablets on the market and heading for the market:
Apple iPad with 9.7-inch screen shipped in April
Dell Streak with 5-inch screen shipped in August
Samsung Galaxy Tab with 7-inch screen due in October
RIM (possibly name: BlackPad) with 7-inch screen due in Q4
Acer (unnamed) with 7-inch screen due in Q4
Asus Eee Pad in 10- 12-inch screen sizes due in Q1 2011
Lenovo LePad with 10.1-inch screen due in Q1 2011
Cisco Cius with 7-inch screen due in Q1 2011
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Image: Mock up of what BlackPad may look like by InfoMobile via PC World.
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