RIM attempts tablet re-entry with 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook tablet
Summary: Sorry for the pessimism, folks, but RIM's hopes that the addition of LTE will bring the PlayBook tablet back from the dead are about as farfetched as the Easter bunny winning the U.S. election this year.
RIM has unveiled a 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, adding high-speed wireless data to its existing 7-inch QNX-powered tablet.
The ailing smartphone maker said the much-rumored tablet will debut in Canada on August 9, and will "be available in the coming months" in the U.S., Europe, South Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
RIM describes the tablet as "enterprise ready," boasting that it can be managed using BlackBerry Mobile Fusion, while BlackBerry Balance allows the tablet to be used for both work and personal purposes.
Apart from the LTE updates, which will automatically connect to HSPA+ when LTE is not available, the new PlayBook is much the same as the old PlayBook. It features the same 7-inch 1024 x 600 pixel touchscreen, an updated 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM, the same 3 megapixel forward-facing camera and a 5 megapixel rear-facing camera, and the exact same BlackBerry Tablet OS, developed by QNX.
The 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook tablet will come with 32GB of memory storage.
RIM has not disclosed a price for the 4G LTE PlayBook, and that could be a problem. The original PlayBook debuted at $499 for the 16GB model (32GB for $599 and 64GB for $699), but RIM was soon forced to offer a three for two deal before later slashing the price to $299.
However, despite lukewarm sales, this time last year the PlayBook remained one of the biggest tablet players outside of Apple's iPad. Since then, RIM's tablet has been eclipsed by the likes of the Amazon Kindle Fire, Samsung's Galaxy Tab and the Android 'Jelly Bean'-powered Nexus 7.
If RIM found the market tough back when it released the original PlayBook, the proliferation of $199 tablets have made things a lot tougher.
Oh, and there's that small matter of Apple having sold some 85 million iPads. But don't let that worry you too much, RIM.
Given that RIM found it nigh on impossible to sell the original PlayBook -- or much else lately, if I am being completely honest -- I am left wondering what new secret sauce the company has planned for the update. I suspect that if RIM can't get the pricing right -- around the $350 mark -- then this update will sink into obscurity much like the original tablet did, LTE or not.
Image source: RIM
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Talkback
I think RIM is targetting enterprise buyers, not consumer buyers
Go Playbook
It's small and easy to carry with you, the screen is awesome, the OS is awesome, battery life is awesome, the webbrowser is awesome and not crippled by lack of Flash. You get some excellent games with it for free too, and you can get your stuff on it without needing a slow, bloated application. People that say it's not good for 'fun' simply have never had one. Playbook + LTE will make an excellent combination and I am certainly going to buy the second gen one, although admittedly I might wait a couple of months because FUD does influence buyers and if it's not set at the right price it's probably not going to sell . And therfor it's going to be ready for my greedy hands at half the price only a few months down the road. Sorry Rim, I do think you can't win, but you do deserve better than what you're getting.
Hilarious! You love the product but you want it for half price...
Hilarious! You love the product but you want it for half price...
No , I want it. Period. But why would I pay full prize if, thanks to clueless ignorami and fanboys, I can get it at half price just a couple of months later!
Remember, I already HAVE a Playbook that I love and use all the time, the extra functionality of the new one is great but not worth full prize to somebody that already owns one.
freelance engineer
RIM attempts tablet re-entry...
fear of litigation at the tune of $500 million or more to use workbook... but nice professional name though for an enterprise device.
freelance engineer
Enterprise! Enterprise! Enterprise!
freelance engineer
Of course they are ...
CPU is 1.5Ghz dual core, not 1Ghz
http://us.blackberry.com/playbook-tablet/tablet-specs.html
What the heck is RIM doing...
Adding a 4G LTE radio to the Playbook is nothing compared to their critical task at hand: refining the Blackberry 10 and pushing it to the market with a viable app ecosystem to support it. Had they focused all their dwindling resources on the latter, perhaps they would have a better shot at staying afloat come next year.
freelance engineer
Killer App
Did you expect RIM to roll over and play dead?
Maybe once this FAILS in Canada they'll spare us in the rest of the world.
Lame.
Carrier subsidy?
As PB / BB10 gets market share the Apps will come. Developers want to get a ROI as well know RIM isn't about to close shop.
I use my Playbook all the time and outside of the lack of key Apps it's a solid little tablet.
Had high hopes for the Playbook
I was one of those Google jerked around with delivery on the Nexus 7, so I let them eat it and bought an Asus Transformer TF300. Granted, it's 10" but that's not why I rarely use my Playbook. It has everything I need to be productive as well as allow me to have fun (read: apps like Netflix among others).
And before anyone rips me about how many apps Playbook has, I know that already. I wrote 2 of them which is how I got my (free) Playbook in the first place. If they can convince the bigger developers to come on board, my opinion might change. I will say that I recommend a Playbook over an iPad of any size because - while it isn't as flexible as Android - it allows somewhat better organization than iPad.
Great