RIM buying big touchscreens, planning tablet?

Sources claim BlackPad is in the works

RIM buying big touchscreens, planning tablet?

4 May 2010 17:48 GMT / By Duncan Geere

Sources are reporting that BlackBerry creator RIM is buying up a stack of large touchscreens, fuelling a rumour that the manufacturer is planning some sort of BlackBerry tablet.

Asian component suppliers have apparently been tasked with acquiring a collection of 8.9-inch displays and delivering them to RIM in time for Christmas 2010. Some sites are reporting that this means a tablet is certain, but there's no word on how many tablets are being built - if it's only a few hundred then this could just be an in-house experiment.

Such a tablet, if it exists, could be RIM's answer to the iPad - a larger form factor device, still targeted at email and running the BlackBerry OS. Names floating around the web include the "BlackPad" and the "Cobalt". For now, though, don't hold your breath. We need something considerably more concrete, or we aint' believin'.

Via: mobilecrunch.com

Full tags

Hardware, Tablet PCs, RIM, Rumours, BlackBerry, BlackBerry Cobalt