A couple of rumours this week suggest again that RIM is working on a tablet device of its own. Both suggest that we will not see this device until 2011 though. Similar rumours had surfaced in early April.
According to BBLeaks.com, the BlackBerry tablet is both smaller an thinner than the Apple iPad. Codenamed ‘BlackPad’ or ‘Cobalt’, it will offer full BlackBerry OS compatibility and functionality but may run a different OS.
Meanwhile, Rodman Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar has some additional details. The BlackPad will target consumers rather than business users. RIM apparently considered using Google Android but appears to have decided instead to use its own BlackBerry OS. It is also looking at using Marvell’s Armada processor.
Neither report suggests that RIM could use its recently acquired QNX Neutrino RTOS operating system.
Both reports indicate that we should not expect to see RIM release the BlackPad until 2011.