Research In Motion, the Canadian maker of the BlackBerry smartphone has introduced its first tablet computer aimed at business users.
Some analysts suggest that R.I.M. is playing catch-up with Apple’s iPad, but Michael Lazaridis, R.I.M.’s co-chief executive, said the new tablet “contains several features requested by corporate information technology departments,” calling it “the world’s first professional tablet” because “its compatible with the special servers that corporations and governments now used to control and monitor employees’ BlackBerry devices.”
The company has not yet released a price and suggests only that it will be avialable early next year. New featues of the BlackBerry PlayBook include the ability to transfer the display to computer monitors or television sets and display Web pages created using Adobe’s Flash software, a capability not found on the iPad. RIM created a YouTube video as a way to show off it’s capabilities.
In other news, Amazon announced that it will introduce a Kindle e-book application for the PlayBook and users will be able to connect to the Internet through a wireless Bluetooth connection to their BlackBerrys or by using Wi-Fi networks.
