RIM DevCon only teasing BlackBerry tablet software

RIM's opening DevCon presentations won't show any actual BlackBerrry tablet hardware but may talk about its software, sources mentioned today. Both BGR and Electronista have unofficially heard that the events on Monday won't be product unveilings and will stick to the development focus of the San Francisco conference. The BGR tip added that RIM would talk about the platform, though to what extent wasn't said.

This last insider also claimed to have debunked claims of imminent tablet hardware. He supported believes that the tablet would use QNX at its roots and that it might extend to the entire BlackBerry OS, but that it was too soon after the acquisition of the company to show anything. Work has "barely even started at this point," BGR said. Much of the initial work has been on porting over signature BlackBerry features like e-mail data compression, BlackBerry Enterprise Server support and the BlackBerry's well-known long battery life.

RIM has so far declined to comment on what will be discussed at any of the non-public DevCon events.

The timing if accurate would set RIM well back in tablet competition. It had originally been rumored to have hardware ready as soon as the end of the year, but a still early project could give Apple's iPad and numerous Android tablets several months' additional lead time in the market. Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis has been cautious regarding tablets and has warned that they need to justify their purposes in an environment with both smartphones and notebooks.

By Electronista Staff

Post tools:

TAGS :  

industry, gadgets, Google, Android, BlackBerry, RIM, tablet, Research in Motion, Apple, iPad, QNX, BlackPad