TabLife TO wrapped up yesterday with a presentation by David Neale, Vice President of Special Projects for Research In Motion. He started off with a short preview of the upcoming RIM PlayBook and demonstrated some of the capabilities of its new OS. Focusing on its multitasking capabilities, he revealed little that was not already known but it was nonetheless very interesting to see the multitasking OS in action.
Images courtesy of Rogers Communications Inc.
Neale described the PlayBook as being of “professional grade.” Essentially, it will target both consumer and enterprise customers. Rumours have suggested the price could start as low as US$399.
The RIM PlayBook will come with a dual-core processor (Neale would not confirm that it will be a Tegra 2) and 1GB RAM. It will only tether with BlackBerry devices and no data will reside on the PlayBook itself. Neale indicated that the version being demoed was still not optimized for the dual-core processor but performance seemed pretty impressive nonetheless.
Neale also confirmed that 3G and 4G models will come out later. He also hinted that different sizes (the current model will have a 7-inch display) are possible in the future.
On the topic of tablets, Neale said that tablets have been around for a while. Developments in technology are now allowing manufacturers to offer lighter and more powerful models, broadening their usefulness and appeal.