BlackBerry PlayBook

Announced today during RIM’s developer conference. 7-inches diagonal, runs the QNX OS that RIM bought earlier this year. The demo is very attractive, with a UI aesthetic that strikes me as a cross between iOS and WebOS. (The app-switching presentation is very WebOS.) The tech specs are interesting: 1 GHz multicore processor, 1 GB of RAM, and it pairs with a BlackBerry phone for tethered network access. Looks like an iPad in standalone product shots, but when you see someone holding it, you can tell just how much smaller a 7-inch display is.

But: It’s not shipping until “early 2011”, and prices haven’t been announced yet. That means it’ll be competing not against today’s iPad, but the second-generation iPad.

★ Monday, 27 September 2010