Research In Motion (RIMM) could unveil its BlackPad tablet computer next week at a developer’s conference the company is holding in San Francisco, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing “people familiar with RIMM’s plans.” Along with the new device, the company would provide details on the new OS the company plans to use to power the device.
According to the Journal, the device will be released in the fourth quarter, and will include a 7-inch touch screen and 1 or 2 built-in cameras. The tablet, a challenger to the Apple (AAPL) iPad, would also have Bluetooth and WiFi connections, but would link to cellular networks only via a BlackBerry smartphone.
The piece says the device will have a new software platform built by the company’s recently acquired QNX Software unit. The story says RIMM plans to eventually transition the BlackBerry to the QNX software as well.
The tablet is reportedly being manufactured by Quanta Computer of Taiwan, and will run on chips from Marvell (MVRL), presumably the company’s ARM-based processors. Marvell already provides chips to RIMM smart phones.
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