Unlike when Drake read lyrics from his BlackBerry, Common truly was freestyling about the BlackBerry PlayBook, the BlackBerry Torch, and even the BlackBerry Curve in front of an audience with Lara Spencer at CES…
CES
Video: See What BlackBerry PlayBook Product Manager Ryan Bidan Has To Say In This Q&A From CES
See what Blackberry BlackBerry PlayBook product manager Ryan Bidan has to say about the BlackBerry PlayBook, BlackBerry Bridge, BlackBerry PlayBook Apps, and more in this Q&A session with Inside BlackBerry from CES 2011…
Is The BlackBerry PlayBook The Next BlackBerry?
There is no question that a huge point of focus for Research in Motion at CES 2011 will be the BlackBerry PlayBook. Even though the show officially doesn’t start until today, RIM has already let bloggers to play around with the device and a Sprint 4G BlackBerry PlayBook has been officially announced and is supposed to come out this summer. This has kind of got me to wondering, is the BlackBerry PlayBook actually the next generation BlackBerry?
One of the things that I really like about the BlackBerry PlayBook is that it is small enough to fit into the breast pocket of a man’s sport coat. This is, in my opinion, just one of the huge advantages over the current iPad (a glorious device by the way). There are places that I just don’t take my iPad because I have to actively carry it, but the PlayBook can fit into my jacket pocket.
Now that we know that Sprint is sticking 4G into the PlayBook there is no reason to believe that you couldn’t make a phone call from it. We don’t know if Sprint or RIM will actually make voice a priority for the 4G PlayBook, however, the ability clearly would be there if the carrier allows it. A 7-inch tablet is still a bit too big to be a primary phone, but, how hard would it be for RIM to shrink the PlayBook down to, say, 4.7 inches? Maybe 4.3 inches? Something tells me that RIM probably already has…
Gang, I think that the BlackBerry PlayBook may actually be the next BlackBerry smartphone…
Sprint To Release 4G BlackBerry PlayBook This Summer
It looks like my question has been answered. Research in Motion is making some pretty significant announcements at CES. The first big one… Sprint is releasing a 4G BlackBerry PlayBook this summer.
Press Release:
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 PlayBook tablet model featuring connectivity to the blazingly fast Sprint 4G network. The BlackBerry 4G PlayBook 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 to enjoy 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 www.sprint.com/4G.
For more information about the BlackBerry 4G PlayBook, visit www.blackberry.com/playbook or www.sprint.com/4Gplaybook.
BlackBerry PlayBook Making Its Presence Felt At CES
Research in Motion is making sure that everyone knows that the BlackBerry PlayBook is at CES and that they want you to stop by and take a look at it. We are getting numerous reports that huge BlackBerry PlayBook advertisements are all over the place at CES.
[Via CrackBerry]
Will Research In Motion Make Any Significant Announcements At CES?
For those of you not aware, CES, the biggest consumer electronics show of the year, starts Thursday with a bunch of announcements likely coming tomorrow, and, the big question for me is ” What will Research in Motion have to say?” We know that the BlackBerry PlayBook is coming and that QNX will eventually power a BlackBerry device, however, I’d like to know what else Research in Motion has coming down the pipe, namely in the way of BlackBerry devices.
It’s been 6 months since RIM has released a high-end CMDA BlackBerry and Verizon BlackBerry Storm and Storm2 users especially, with no BlackBerry Storm3 or other Touchscreen device in sight, have seemingly been left out in the cold. This could be the perfect opportunity for RIM to announce a new CDMA BlackBerry with a touch screen, even if it only runs BlackBerry 6.
There are rumors that Apple may officially announce the Verizon iPhone this week,and, if there is no good news on the BlackBerry front coming out RIM, the BlackBerry platform may see many more BlackBerry users switching platforms compared to those that a going to switch regardless of what RIM has to say…
Let’s hope that RIM has good new for us this week
Can Palm’s New OS “Nova” Save The Company?
Remember Palm? They used to be the top dog in the mobile PDA business just a few years ago but it seems like lately the company is struggling just to stay afloat.
Next month at CES in Las Vegas, Palm will debut it’s new OS along with the device that will run it.
Palm is expecting Nova to capture 2% of the market now dominated by the BlackBerry followed by the iPhone. Will this be enough to save the company?
What do you think?
[Source]
SlingPlayer Mobile Client Coming To The BlackBerry
According to c|net News, Sling Media, makers of the SlingBox, one of the coolest gadgets to come out in the passed few years, is finally going to release a SlingPlayer mobile client for the BlackBerry.
The software–which allows live TV to be streamed from any SlingBox model–is designed for broadband-enabled (3G wireless or Wi-Fi) Blackberry smartphones.
Sling Media plans to demonstrate the software, which will set you back $30 when released later this year, on a BlackBerry 8120 next week at CES.