Posted on 09/22/2010 10:59:30 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. could unveil its new tablet computer—as well as the operating system that will power it—as early as next week at a developers' conference in San Francisco, said people familiar with RIM's plans.
The tablet, which some inside RIM are calling the BlackPad, is scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of this year, these people said. It will feature a seven-inch touch screen and one or two built-in cameras, they said.
It will have Bluetooth and broadband connections but will only be able to connect to cellular networks through a BlackBerry smartphone, these people said. Since the tablet won't be sold with a cellular service, it's not clear which carriers or retailers will sell the device.
In a significant development, RIM's tablet will eschew the recently revamped BlackBerry 6 operating system in favor of a completely new platform built by QNX Software Systems, these people said.
RIM bought QNX, a maker of operating systems used in everything from cars to nuclear reactors, earlier this year, in what industry watchers said was a bid to replace software criticized as slow and buggy.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
It still remains that other companies are simply copying Apple
RIM may gamble with new software for tablet
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Commentary: Bold move for BlackPad disses new OS
The most interesting element of Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal report on the RIM tablet is the expectation that RIM may use software it acquired in a recent acquisition for the device. RIM purchased the QNX Software Systems business, a developer of embedded operating systems earlier this year from Harman International Inc.
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RIM is clearly is hoping the software from QNX will open some new doors. The Journal also reported that RIM plans to eventually transition its BlackBerry smart phones to QNX.
The move risks alienating developers, who already have plenty of platforms to write for. QNX better be amazing, or it could spell the end of RIM’s smart phone reign.
that chart is misleading.
it doesn’t count until they actually ship. even then, many launched products can be duds for numerous reasons.
although the field is fairly small, apple staked out the high ground fairly well with a solid entry with the ipad. this should insure apple the lion’s share of the tablet market for years.
Well...that is the Market at work it seems to me.
And I don't think this is all of them...
Notion Ink's Adam...I think is the name of one coming from India...has an interesting display.
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hands-on - SlashGear
We first told you about Notion Ink and their Adam tablet back in December, and since then they’ve captured plenty of attention at CES 2010 for including NVIDIA’s new Tegra 2 chipset and being the first use of a Pixel Qi display. We caught up with Notion Ink, company founder Rohan Shravan and the Adam prototype today for an extended discussion, not only about the hardware but exclusively about the company’s plans and expectations for content and usage models. Check out our exclusive photos and never-before-seen video after the cut.
Since it’s a prototype the Adam’s casing here is not what the final design will be; in fact this was hand-made especially for showing the tablet at CES. The eventual hardware will be 14mm thick (Rohan said they could even get it down to around 12mm) with a reasonably minimal bezel, packed with the 10.1-inch Pixel Qi transflective display, a capacitive touchscreen eventually capable of recognizing six simultaneous points of contact, integrated WiFi and 3G. Thanks to Tegra 2 the Adam is 1080p capable, with an HDMI port to output to an HDTV or projector, and while the OS they’re showing today is bare Android they’ve a new UI in the works complete with a replacement on-screen keyboard more ergonomically designed for large-touchscreen use.
Pixel Qi’s technology means you can operate the display in two different modes: as full color LCD for use indoors or in a low-power reflective mode that actually gets brighter the more direct sunlight falls upon it. This latter mode is comparable to E Ink in its appearance, but Pixel Qi can still show smooth, responsive video (and slightly muted colors). Users will be able to manually switch the backlighting on or off, or leave it set to automatic and have the Adam toggle it itself. Notion Ink also offered to take the Adam out into direct sunlight so SlashGear could exclusively see the screen performance there.
See #8.
notion ink’s adam.... meh
ANS: A RIM job.
THe lasty time you mentioned the Adam to me I was drooling.
Since then I’ve pre-ordered.
I’ll post a “FR exclusive” review if and when I get shipment of the updated model.
no apple did what it does, it improved an existing product. In this case the tablet computer.
padd computers have been around for quite a while.
you mean like the apple II? the newton? giving away free computers to schools only to have businesses going with windows based OS anyways?
It is not about being first it is about holding on to the market. With its current price point it is clear apple wants to stay in the high priced “exclusive” niche.
with the low-end ipad being $500, i don’t think that’s reaching for the high end market
unless you see $500 being the exclusive domain of ‘the wealthy’ ... which it will be, if the progressives continue their assault
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