Research In Motion upped the ante in the ongoing mobile device/smartphone war with the introduction of its PlayBook tablet PC.
But as Enterprise Mobile Today reports, the flashy new device could face considerable challenges if it’s ever to pose a significant challenge to Apple’s iPad.
RIM (NASDAQ: RIMM) is building the device based on software built by QNX Software Systems, a real-time OS company RIM bought in April, that provides software for elements in everything from automobiles to tanks to fountains in front of luxury hotels.
Using the tailor-made QNX OS, dubbed BlackBerry Tablet OS, is a departure from BlackBerry 6, the refreshed version of the BlackBerry OS, used in the BlackBerry Torch 9800 released in August.
First impressions of Research In Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook indicate that the new tablet PC is definitely capable of taking market share away from Apple’s iPad though it’s positioned as a mobile computing device for the enterprise rather than for consumers.
Despite the relatively close match-up with the iPad in terms of specs, there are still some significant unknowns — such as pricing — and concerns, such as the lack of cellular network connectivity and scarcity of mobile apps.