Today at the Web 2.0 Summit RIM’s co-CEO Jim Balsillie mentioned off-handedly that their upcoming BlackBerry PlayBook tablet will have a module cavity to make the device upgradeable. This is a likely spot for 3G or 4G that they hinted at during launch, and Balsillie said that they “would be fools not to include NFC in the near future” in their products. Promising stuff!
Besides being decidedly awesome at browsing the web, the PlayBook has a ton of horsepower at its command: a dual-core 1 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM, 7″ 1024 x 600 capacitive touchscreen, Wi-Fi, 3G via tethering through BlackBerry, and a new operating system optimized for multitasking, stability, and multimedia.
The upgradeability factor is huge, and has a lot of potential for expanding some of the core functions of the PlayBook. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to cruise on WiMAX guilt-free, and simply upgrade to LTE without having to get a whole new device? It’s exciting to see that there are still a few little gems to discover about the tablet prior to launch.
Anyway, you’ll probably be able to find Balsillie’s interview here starting tomorrow.
Update: Here ya go.