Despite all the uncertainty regarding Research In Motion and its immediate future, the BlackBerry company seems intent on proving that it's business as usual. While anxious customers are waiting for the release of BlackBerry 10 devices in 1Q13, RIM in the meantime is releasing a 4G LTE version of its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. The updated gadget is launching in Canada first on August 9 on Bell, Rogers and TELUS networks.
According to RIM, the new tablet sports the latest BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2 software, a 7-inch screen, a 1.5 GHz dual-core SoC, 1 GB of RAM, 6-axis motion sensing, 802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity, and a microHDMI output port. Other features include a microUSB port, Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR, 32 GB of internal storage, a 3MP front-facing camera and a 5MP rear-facing camera.
"The 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook tablet gives customers access to high speed mobile networks around the world (LTE and HSPA+) and offers an exceptional, high-fidelity, fast web experience that supports more HTML5 functionality than any other native tablet browser on the market," RIM said on Thursday.
Out of the box, the 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook tablet comes preloaded with tools and entertainment apps like the recently launched BlackBerry Video Store which offers a catalog of thousands of movies and TV shows. A powerful unified inbox allows users to easily manage multiple personal and work email accounts, as well as messages from Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, all in one place.
The tablet is also enterprise ready, making it easily managed with BlackBerry Mobile Fusion. The tablet also comes preloaded with BlackBerry Balance technology, which allows a user to use a BlackBerry PlayBook for both work and personal purposes by keeping business information highly secure and separate from personal information.
"We're excited to bring customers the first BlackBerry PlayBook tablet with support for 4G LTE networks," said David J. Smith, Executive Vice President, Mobile Computing at Research In Motion. "The new 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook offers a broad range of premium features, including a stunning 7 inch display, front and rear facing HD video cameras, HDMI out and stereo speakers, and it also offers premium performance on high speed cellular networks, helping customers to be more productive than ever and to make the most of their time on the go."
Additional variants of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet supporting various high speed cellular networks are expected to be available in the coming months from carriers in the US, Europe, South Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. For more information about the 4G LTE BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, head here.
