[Dr.Dave]

Called the Blackberry Playbook. the device is a a “flash-loving,” “device-paring,” “enterprise ready” tablet with an uncompromised browsing experience on a 7-inch screen. It is 9.7 millimeters thick and features a high-res wide screen display that supports 1080p with HDMI and USB ports.

It runs the QNX OS.

Specs from the press release.

• 7" LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support
• BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
• 1 GHz dual-core processor
• 1 GB RAM
• Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording
• Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV
• Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA
• HDMI video output
• Wi-Fi - 802.11 a/b/g/n
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
• Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB, charging contacts
• Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java
• Ultra thin and portable:
• Measures 5.1"x7.6"x0.4" (130mm x 193mm x 10mm)
• Weighs less than a pound (approximately 0.9 lb or 400g)

RIM intends to also offer 3G and 4G models in the future.

 

[james99]

video blog:

http://blogs.blackberry.com/2010/09/blackberry-playbook/?CPID=FBplaybook927

 

[Fry1989]

Not surprised, you know it was only a matter of time before they would come up with an answer to the iPad

 

[jpaik]

Hmm...no initial 3G offering (coming "in the future"), not being released until after the profitable Christmas shopping season, no information on battery life, Canadian release date is completely unknown, price unknown...Makes me want to get on the list right away.

 

[Nuje]

Sounds pretty much like the joojoo or the HP Slate - lots of promise from the advance PR, but underwhelming once (if ever) it comes out.

I thought "announcement coming this week" meant, "we're tooling up to ship by the end of October", not "hey, here's something the boys in the skunkworks put together for us; we might be able to have it available for production by next summer".

 

[BGY11]

I didn't think it would be coming out this year, given how long it's generally taken manufacturers to go from announcing/previewing a tablet to its final release.

I really don't think RIM is going to have enough to compete with the Galaxy Tab, iPad v2, and the HP WebOS tablet (should HP actually officially announce it).

 

[JamesK]

Now you are forced to take two devices everywhere.

The alternative is to pay more to support two devices. As someone else mentioned, most people will always have their phone with them.

 

[james99]

Video preview