Research In Motion is throwing its PlayBook at Apple’s iPad — the BlackBerry PlayBook slate tablet , that is.
To come anywhere close to the numbers of Steve Jobs’ “magical” and “revolutionary” darling, however, the BlackBerry PlayBook has to come into the ring with some pretty impressive features. And with the PlayBook launching around the same time as Apple’s second-generation iPad, it becomes even more important for RIM to add a bit of future-proofing to its device.
Here’s a list of BlackBerry PlayBook features and specs, courtesy of RIM.
HARDWARE
Dimensions & weight: The BlackBerry PlayBook measures 5.1 inches by 7.6 inches and has a thickness of 0.4 inches or about 10 millimeters. The device weighs 400 grams, which is a little less than a pound.
Display: The BlackBerry PlayBook sports a 7-inch, 1024 x 600 capacitive WSVGA touchscreen with multi-touch and gesture support.
Brains: 1 GHz dual-core processor for symmetrical dual-core processing. The device also has 1 GB of RAM.
Wireless connectivity: RIM’s tablet comes with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support. Folks who don’t pass out at the sign of technical mumbo-jumbo will likely want to know that the PlayBook’s Wi-Fi is 802.11 a/b/g/n while Bluetooth is 2.1 + EDR. The PlayBook also can tether with BlackBerry smartphones. RIM plans to offer 3G and 4G models in the future as well.
Camera: The BlackBerry PlayBook has dual high-definition cameras — a 3-megapixel front-facing camera and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera.
Output and connectors: HDMI video output plus microHDMI, microUSB and charging contacts.
SOFTWARE
Operating system: BlackBerry Tablet OS with true multi-tasking for running multiple apps and programs at the same time.
Video: The BlackBerry PlayBook supports 1080p HD video recording and playback. Supported formats include H.264, MPEG, DivX and WMV.
Audio: Supported audio formats are MP3, AAC and WMA.
Web: The BlackBerry PlayBook supports an open, flexible application platform including WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX, OpenGL, Java.
PLEASE RELEASE ME, LET ME GO
The U.S. launch date for the PlayBook is April 19, with pricing pegged at $500 for the 16GB version, $600 for the 32GB version and and $700 for the 64GB model. The U.S. launch will be followed by an international launch in the second quarter.
For more about slate tablets, make sure to check our Slate Tablet Roundup.
You can also check our iPad Central page for news, tutorials and info about Apple’s tablet.
