So much for the laughable idea, spouted just months ago by some, that the iPad is just an iFad. Today, heavy-hitter Research In Motion, maker of BlackBerry smartphones, unveiled the PlayBook, a 7″-screen tablet at its annual developer’s conference in San Francisco.
“RIM set out to engineer the best professional-grade tablet in the industry'” said RIM President Mike Lazardis in a press release today about the tablet.
The PlayBook is enterprise ready, and RIM is clearly trying to jump out as the tablet frontrunner in the highly lucrative corporate market. We’ll tick off some of the highlights here:
• 7” LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support
• 1 GHz dual-core processor
• Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording and video-conferencing
• Video playback at resolutions of up to 1080p, and capable of HDMI output
• Equipped with both microHDMI and microUSB connectors
• It can handle HTML5, as well as Adobe Flash (and Adobe Air Apps)
However, there’s no 3G version yet — but RIM says they’ll be introducing both a 3G and 4G version eventually. The PlayBook is expected to ship to U.S. stores early next year, with Q2 seeing rollouts internationally.
View the press release here.
[RIM via Engadget]
