RIM has announced its own iPad killer, dubbed the PlayBook, which the company describes as a tablet with an enterprise focus — however, in an unexpected Canadian blow, all 18 Saskatchewan Party cabinet ministers and five senior officials have been issued iPads. Ministers will access cabinet documents electronically — rather than receive the mammoth briefing binders that typically accompany each meeting. RIM says its new Playbook tablet is capable of multi-tasking and of running Flash. It hosts a 7-inch screen and includes both front and rear cameras. It will not, however, launch until early next year. Specs (c/o Slashgear):
7inch LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support BlackBerry Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing 1 GHz dual-core processor 1 GB RAM Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA HDMI video output Wi-Fi – 802.11 a/b/g/n Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR Connectors: microHDMI, microUSB, charging contacts Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java Ultra thin and portable: Measures 5.1?x7.6?x0.4? (130mm x 193mm x 10mm) Weighs less than a pound (approximately 0.9 lb or 400g) Additional features and specifications of the BlackBerry PlayBook will be shared on or before the date this product is launched in retail outlets. RIM intends to also offer 3G and 4G models in the future.
