RIM's BlackBerries and BlackPad, To Use New OS

Earlier this year, BusinessWeek claimed to have inside information about RIM's "BlackPad" tablet computing device. Tuesday's report from the Wall Street Journal appears to confirm many of the details previously offered by BusinessWeek.



At RIM's developer conference, scheduled for the week of September 26, the smartphone maker will introduce its tablet device, which will have a seven-inch display as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The Journal notes that the BlackPad (not the official name, by the way) will not have its own cellular data radio, as do the iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab devices. It can connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi, or by tethering to a BlackBerry device. An interesting limitation, but one that makes sense, I suppose.


 Other details suggest the device will have two cameras, might have chips from Marvell, and will be available during the fourth quarter. The Journal believes Qaunta is manufacturing the device, which has confirmed that it is building a tablet computer for one of its clients.

More important than the hardware and connection capabilities, however, is the operating system.

 According to the Journal, the BlackPad will not run RIM's new smartphone OS, BlackBerry 6. Instead, it will use a brand new operating system developed by QNX Software. QNX Software makes user interfaces and operating systems for a wide range of devices and form factors. RIM purchased QNX earlier this year.
Those familiar with QNX's operating system called it "a worthy competitor" to Apple's iOS and Android's Google operating systems. Those two systems are exactly the ones RIM needs to beat if it wants the BlackPad to be a success.

Beyond the BlackPad, the Journal's sources indicate that RIM will eventually transition its BlackBerry smartphones from BlackBerry 6 to whatever this new platform is. That's huge and leads to all sorts of questions.

Is RIM abandoning BlackBerry 6? Will it offer devices with both OSes? Will the new OS resemble the old one at all? How will RIM's legendary enterprise features be handled by the new operating system?
Hopefully RIM will answer these and more during its developer conference.

Related post: http://worldwidegadget.blogspot.com/2010/09/wsj-rim-ready-blackpad-to-be-reveal.html

Source: http://www.informationweek.com/news/telecom/voice/showArticle.jhtml?
articleID=227500418&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_All

  

WSJ: RIM ready BlackPad to be reveal next week.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. could unveil its new tablet computer—as well as the operating system that will power it—as early as next week at a developers' conference in San Francisco, said people familiar with RIM's plans.

The tablet, which some inside RIM are calling the BlackPad, is scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of this year, these people said. It will feature a seven-inch touch screen and one or two built-in cameras, they said.

It will have Bluetooth and broadband connections but will only be able to connect to cellular networks through a BlackBerry smartphone, these people said. Since the tablet won't be sold with a cellular service, it's not clear which carriers or retailers will sell the device.



In a significant development, RIM's tablet will eschew the recently revamped BlackBerry 6 operating system in favor of a completely new platform built by QNX Software Systems, these people said.
RIM bought QNX, a maker of operating systems used in everything from cars to nuclear reactors, earlier this year, in what industry watchers said was a bid to replace software criticized as slow and buggy.


RIM eventually plans to transition its BlackBerry smartphones to the QNX operating system as well, people familiar with RIM's strategy said.
The RIM tablet is being manufactured by Quanta Computer Inc. of Taiwan, and will run on chips from Santa Clara, Calif.-based Marvell Technology Group Inc., according to people familiar with the tablet's manufacturing.

RIM said it doesn't comment on rumors or speculation.
A Quanta spokeswoman said the company is developing tablets for clients but declined to comment on whether RIM is one of them. Executives at Marvell, which already supplies chips for RIM smartphones, said the company has developed a new series for tablets but declined to say whether they are supplying an upcoming tablet for RIM.

The introduction of a tablet and new operating system come at a critical time for RIM, whose BlackBerry phones are facing increasingly tough competition from Apple Inc.'s iPhone as well as handsets that run on Google Inc.'s Android operating system. Research firm Gartner Inc. estimated BlackBerry's share of world-wide smartphone sales fell one percentage point to 18% in the second quarter of this year versus the previous year—even as the share of Android and Apple devices rose.  


A key challenge for RIM has been convincing software developers to create applications for its phones, and the company will spend much of next week's conference showing the kinds of things that can be done on its new devices—including the recently released Torch.

RIM is readying announcements and demonstrations, including an update on BlackBerry's mobile advertising platform and an Amazon.com Inc. music application, said people familiar with the plans.

Still, RIM's tablet will face stiff competition in an increasingly crowded market. The launch of Apple's iPad in April sparked a rush to build similar devices by a raft of firms from Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics Co. to Taiwan's Acer Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. and Dell Inc. of the U.S. Many of those competing tablets will run Android, meaning RIM's new operating system will go head-to-head with Apple and Google offerings in tablets as well.

People who've worked with QNX's operating system say it's a worthy competitor to Apple's and Google's platforms, and could go a long way toward addressing complaints that RIM's devices are slow, unstable and hard to program for. ``It was architected from the ground up never to go down,'' says Alec Saunders, chief executive of Ottawa-based software developer Iotum Corp.

Source WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704129204575506160515163820.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Bloomberg's Miller Reports on RIM's Tablet Plans

July 30 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Hugo Miller talks about Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, plans to introduce a tablet computer in November to compete with Apple Inc.'s iPad. Miller speaks with Scarlet Fu on Bloomberg Television's "InBusiness." (Source: Bloomberg)

Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, plans to introduce a tablet computer in November to compete with Apple Inc.’s iPad, according to two people familiar with the company’s plans.


The device will have roughly the same dimensions as the iPad, which has a 9.7-inch diagonal screen, said the two people who wouldn’t be identified because the plans haven’t been made public. The device will include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless technology that will allow people to connect to the Internet through their BlackBerry smartphones, the two people said.


RIM is racing to come out with a product to rival the iPad in the fast-growing market for devices that bridge the gap between smartphones and notebook computers. Apple, based in Cupertino, California, last month said it sold 3 million iPad tablet computers in 80 days after they debuted in the U.S.


“They can’t wait for a second generation of devices from Apple or they’ll fall too far behind,” said Ashok Kumar, an analyst with Rodman & Renshaw Inc. in New York.


RIM rose $1.83, or 3.3 percent, to $57.53 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading, reversing an earlier decline of as much as 2.5 percent. The stock has dropped 15 percent this year, as Apple has climbed 22 percent.


Marisa Conway, a spokeswoman for RIM, declined to comment, citing company policy not to comment on rumor or speculation.


Blackpad Pricing
RIM plans to call the tablet Blackpad, according to one of the people familiar with the company’s plans. RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, acquired the Internet rights to blackpad.com this month, according to the Whois database of domain names.


Pricing for the device will be in line with the iPad, which starts at $499, the person said. RIM is focused on reaping additional profits from the tablet effort, rather than competing on price to sell a large number of devices, the person said.


RIM is stepping up its competition with Apple on multiple fronts. The company is hosting an event in New York Aug. 3 at which it will debut its BlackBerry 9800 slider phone, according to one person familiar with its plans. The device will feature a full touchscreen like Apple’s iPhone and a slideout Qwerty keyboard to allow for easy e-mail typing, the person said.


RIM plans to use the phone to regain the market share it has lost recently to its U.S. rival. RIM’s share of the smartphone market fell to 19.4 percent of global shipments in the first quarter from 20.9 percent a year earlier, according to researcher IDC, based in Framingham, Massachusetts. Apple claimed 16.1 percent of the smartphone market, up from 10.9 percent a year earlier.


Uphill Battle?
In the tablet market, RIM will have to demonstrate how its device can stand out against products including the iPad, which has attracted buyers because of its integration with Apple’s iTunes service and many software applications, or apps. More than 225,000 apps are available for Apple devices, the company said in June. RIM said in April it had more than 6,000 apps.


“With the success of the iPad, RIM faces an uphill battle,” said William Power, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co., who has a “neutral” rating on the stock. “RIM really has yet to demonstrate that it can roll out touchscreen technology to match the leaders in the space, most noticeably Apple.”


RIM’s tablet will capitalize on the BlackBerry’s e-mail capabilities and the phone’s popularity with corporate users, one person said. The tablet will be closely integrated with the smartphone’s e-mail system and will have similar security for messaging, the person said.


Cameras for Video
Wi-Fi would allow the device to connect to the Internet anywhere the wireless technology is available, including a home, office or coffee shop. When not near such Wi-Fi “hotspots,” people could connect wirelessly to their mobile phone with Bluetooth and then to the Internet. The device will not be able to connect directly to the cellular network the way some iPads can, the two people said.


The RIM tablet will also have front- and back-facing cameras for videoconferencing, Rodman & Renshaw’s Kumar said, citing sources at suppliers in Asia.


“I don’t think it’s a zero-sum game,” he said, saying that innovation by Apple, RIM and other competitors will increase the size of the tablet market.


Hewlett-Packard Co., which bought smartphone maker Palm Inc. this month, said it plans to produce a tablet device that runs on Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system. Korea’s LG Electronics Inc. said this month it plans to introduce a tablet computer in the fourth quarter that runs on Google Inc.’s Android software. Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said yesterday the software company plans to increase its focus on tablets. 

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