BlackBerry Tablet to Be Smartphone 'Companion'
Recent leaks from Research in Motion, maker of the popular BlackBerry smartphones, have confirmed rumors of an upcoming BlackBerry tablet. But this is no iPad — it's a "companion" device.
Tech site Boy Genius Report has confirmed with multiple sources that RIM is indeed working on a BlackBerry tablet that will be out on the market sometime this year. So far there are few details about hardware specs other than the screen will be slightly under nine inches.
However, there are specific details on how the BlackBerry tablet will be used, and they are worrying.
These sources report the BlackBerry tablet will not be an independent mobile device, but more of an extension of the BlackBerry smartphone. Instead of wireless 3G connections like the iPad and other tablets in development will have, the BlackBerry tablet will connect to a BlackBerry phone through Bluetooth and act as a secondary screen for viewing media and other information.
The BlackBerry tablet will still have some independent uses. It will have a Wi-Fi antenna, so it will be able to connect without a phone at Wi-Fi hotspots.
It will also serve many of the same purposes as other tablets: viewing media, reading e-books, viewing e-mail and Web sites. But when designed to be an exclusive companion device to a smartphone that already does all that, albeit on a smaller screen, the BlackBerry tablet seems to have even less purpose than independent tablets .
