Andre Yoskowitz
10 Nov 2010 17:52
Research In Motion will sell their upcoming BlackBerry PlayBook for "under $500," undercutting the prices of the Apple iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab.
Says Co-CEO Jim Balsillie: "The product will be very competitively priced."
The PlayBook will go on sale in the U.S. and Canada in the Q1 2011 and internationally in the Q2.
Apple's iPad, the clear market leader, sells for $499 at cheapest, for a model that only includes Wi-Fi and 16GB storage. The most expensive, which includes Wi-Fi, 3G and 32GB storage sells for $829.
Samsung's Galaxy Tab sells for $400, with a 2 year contract from the major wireless carriers.
The tablet will measure in smaller than the iPad at just 7 inches, but it is thinner at 9.7 millimeters.
Furthermore, the tablet has a rear and front-facing camera, and the ability to natively playback Flash videos.
BlackBerry smartphone owners can tether their devices and use the 3G on the tablet.
The Playbook will not run on RIM's new BlackBerry 6 OS, however, instead it will run on a brand new mobile operating system created by QNX Software, which was acquired by RIM earlier in the year.