We’ve heard about the BlackBerry tablet supposedly coming to market in November as the BlackPad, and now we have a price point from Taiwanese OEM Quanta. The BlackPad is tentatively priced at $499 US according to rumours, and Quanta will ship two million units this year, and eight million in 2011. Size estimates have ranged from 7 inches to 8.9 inches, but this report is pegging the BlackPad at 9.7 inches, identical to Apple’s iPad.
From what we’ve been able to gather so far, the BlackPad will have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, primarily counting on a BlackBerry smartphone for internet access. Whether it will run RIM’s new operating system with a few tweaks or something completely different is also a total mystery.
Taking on tablets is an ambitious goal for RIM (if it turns out to be true), what with competitors like Palm, Apple, and Google all getting involved with the form factor, but the market for tablets running smartphone OSes is still young with plenty of opportunity.
[AppleDaily via Engadget]