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The BlackBerry ''Blackpad'' to Take on Apple iPad

- By - Source : Tom's Guide US

Maybe there someday be an XL version called the Blackboard.

This is a just a mock-up.

Apple busted into the tablet market with the iPad and now the competitors readying their offerings. Bloomberg is the latest to report that BlackBerry maker RIM is working on a tablet many believe will be called the "Blackpad."

The device will apparently have a 9.7-inch screen, just like the iPad. The RIM tablet will also have both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the later supposedly so that BlackBerry users can use their cell phone's data connection to tether their Blackpads.

Pricing is said to be inline with the iPad, so expect it to be around $500. Sources also tell Bloomberg that the tablet will have both front and rear facing cameras for video conferencing – perhaps something that will be applied to the business marketplace for meetings.

Considering that RIM already owns the domain Blackpad.com, the name is nearly a sure thing.

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Tamz_msc 08/01/2010 11:10 AM
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daship 08/01/2010 11:14 AM
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DjEaZy 08/01/2010 11:18 AM
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ulysses35 08/01/2010 11:31 AM
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-20+

Will it have other ipad features ? like the overheating issues ?

hardcore_gamer 08/01/2010 11:42 AM
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-11+

similar to ipad..but we can expect less problems

Inneandar 08/01/2010 12:01 PM
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-20+

'This is just a mockup'
Does any of you actually ever read the article:s

welshmousepk 08/01/2010 12:46 PM
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mrmez 08/01/2010 2:41 PM
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SoiledBottom 08/01/2010 2:55 PM
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-16+

The Ipad is magical, the Blackpad is Sorcery, both make 500 bucks disappear

killerclick 08/01/2010 3:37 PM
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Upendra09 08/01/2010 4:24 PM
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cobra5000 08/01/2010 5:14 PM
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-5+

welshmousepk :
thats a horrible shoop of the iPad. either this is fake, or they really need to fire their graphic designer. also, 'blackpad'? seriously? i do hope this isn't true...


It sure beats I-PAD

phatboe 08/01/2010 6:21 PM
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tethoma 08/01/2010 6:23 PM
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-8+

I used Blackboard in school, and it crashes all the time.

kranose 08/01/2010 6:50 PM
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-1+

"Except for the UI and logos, it lookes the same as the iPad."

How different can you made a slate PC?.. However I do like the black more than white.. even so, I still can't think what i'd use this or the ipad for.. :)

braneman 08/01/2010 7:22 PM
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Regulas 08/01/2010 7:25 PM
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thebigt42 08/01/2010 7:37 PM
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ceejer 08/01/2010 8:16 PM
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lejay 08/01/2010 8:27 PM
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-4+

tethoma :
I used Blackboard in school, and it crashes all the time.


Did you update to the latest firmware?

TheGreatGrapeApe 08/01/2010 8:33 PM
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-9+

ceejer wrote :

...they sure do have a way of shaping and defining entire product segments, and even creating new ones from scratch.




When have they ever created a new segment from scratch? :heink:
All of their products are derivatives of other products. The CrunchPad was far more influential in starting this market than the iPad, Apple just took that idea and marketed it, which is all they ever do, market other people's good ideas, most notably most of the good ideas from Xerox PARC.

Quote :Perhaps some apads or this 'blackpad' will in fact be superior to the iPad in some ways, but remember that they owe their very existence to the iPad,


Nope they all owe their existance to other products before them, including the Crunchpad, Kindle and everything else that broke ground before them, and that's only the recent 4 or 5th iteration, with the Fujitsu Stylistic I owned before that, the Newton before that, and then the Xerox and IBM tablet products before that.

Quote :you have to see that they are an incredibly powerful driving force, and they sure spur innovation and competition.


They don't spur innovation and have alot less patents to show for it than people like IBM, Xerox, intel, Samsung, etc.
But they are a powerful driving force for, and a testament to... PR and marketing, which is why their fanbois and other ignorant people think they are innovative. Even their 'cutting-edge designs' are re-adaptation of things like Braun's designs from the 60s;
http://gizmodo.com/343641/1960s-br [...] les-future

Quote :I'd wager that today, even the apple haters own at least one device that would not exist without Apple.


I'd take that wager, but you'd still think you'd won it despite being totally wrong! [:thegreatgrapeape:5]

Stryter 08/01/2010 8:38 PM
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-2+

I guess what I like most about this device is that it doesn't have an apple-shaped logo on the back of it. Don't know how the rest of it compares, but so far it doesn't look terrible.

otacon72 08/01/2010 8:55 PM
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-4+

ceejer :
Perhaps some apads or this 'blackpad' will in fact be superior to the iPad in some ways, but remember that they owe their very existence to the iPad, Apple, and in no small part to Steve Jobs..



WRONG... Alan Kay thought of it first way back before you were probably a glimmer in your daddy's eye.

otacon72 08/01/2010 8:57 PM
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-1+

Do any of you understand that's a photoshopped mock up?? Jeezus some people scare me on here.

falchard 08/01/2010 9:13 PM
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-0+

It beats the iPad for 1 very good reason. Its on a Verizon Network instead of AT&T.

pender21 08/01/2010 9:52 PM
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mp562 08/01/2010 10:04 PM
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Wow, a big screen to do what I can already do on my phone, no thanks, I'll stick with my Blackberry Bold.

Anonymous 08/02/2010 3:33 AM
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RIM's core market is Enterprise and there's a lot of IT departments that already support BB products. If RIM can release a tablet that ties in nicely with that system, and offers companies some decent enterpise software, they could own the enterpise tablet market.

----------------------------
http://www.blackpadforums.net

tayb 08/02/2010 5:07 AM
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irh_1974 08/02/2010 10:59 AM
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-3+

Just to rub Apple noses in it, the "Pad" moniker was used by IBM first with the Thinkpad range of laptops, more recently done by Lenovo. Tablets in general have been available for general usage for 10 years. This formfactor has existed since the Kindle. The smartphone has been around for years with multiple vendors. The MP3 player was around before the iPod (and the interface it uses was stolen from Creative). The Apple logo was stolen from the Beatles. They stole the Mouse & GUI from Xerox.

The only thing magical about Apple is the way they can bend the laws of reality to make people think they innovate when they do a very good PR job of theft, smoke and mirrors.

gazfast 08/02/2010 1:02 PM
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--1+

Apple have the happy knack of making difficult things appear reall simple, something PC manufacturers - quite possibly due to Microsoft - struggle with.
A good example is DTP, Pagemaker and Indesign are ideal on Apple, but frustrating on PC.
Same goes with iPod, iPhone and now iPad, nothing new, but really well packaged for humans.
Having said that, Blackberry has the business market sewn up, admit work blackberry craps all over personal iPhone for business, but give me a iPhone for when it is my time, I think the same will go for 'BlackPad' when it is released, it will have business users, iPad will have after hours users.