BlackBerry Tablet Confirmed, Supports Flash

HouseMuzik writes "Betanews' Tim Conneally reports that sources close to RIM have confirmed the existence of a BlackBerry Tablet device, with a ship date by the end of the year. Previous reporting on the device was confirmed by the source, including a 7" screen and a 1GHz processor. The source added that the device would support Flash, and would include a hardware-based Flash accelerator. Betanews' reporting seems to confirm an earlier report that quoted Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar as saying the BlackBerry Tablet indeed existed."

Re:Guarunteed way for success

[gstoddart]

Make ANY tablet able to function as a Wacom or Cintiq, including the pressure sensitivity. You will lock in the Internet Comic business almost instantly.

Ummm ... is the Internet Comic business sufficiently large as to cause any large corporation to factor it into its demographics when designing a mass-appeal product?

It sounds a little like "left handed goat herders who program in scheme".

but creating a niche product that has been requested by pretty much everyone in the industry would certainly be a smart move

RIM doesn't want a 'niche product'. They want something as many people as possible will buy. The internet comics crowd? Maybe not so much.

Re:Guarunteed way for success

[ahankinson]

Wait.... the iPad isn't a mainstream hit? It sure looks like it is from here...

Re:Memo from Jobs to Balsilie

[mdwh2]

Which is indeed what Jobs and some people here no doubt believe, but remember it's not true. Tablets were around before the Islate or whatever they called it, and they're still not mainstream after Apple's tablet. No doubt they will become more popular in time, but this is a gradual change due to increased technology (hence things like touchscreens, prices falling, cheaper mobile Internet connections), and there is no reason to single out Apple as a sole cause.

What has happened is that we now have vast amounts of media hype over Apple's tablet. But this happened before it was even released - or even officially announced in fact. So had nothing to do with any success it did or didn't have (and indeed, the causative link would be the other way round - vast amounts of media hype leads to better sales, not vice versa).

If we're going to credit anyone with popularising tablets, thank the media. But it's still very rare for me to see anyone with a tablet (and when I have, it wasn't from Apple).

Apple entered the phone market after most other companies - so they had to wait until other companies told them it was okay to release a phone now...

(RIM still have higher market share in phones than Apple, don't they? Although they're still small compared to companies like Nokia, Samsung, Motorola).

Re:Flash, that big a deal?

[netsavior]

My wife's netbook broke a few weeks before iPad launched and she was looking at getting one then: Wait, what? Hulu doesn't work on iPad, then what the heck is it for? Never mind, I'll just get another netbook. Sure I know that they have Hulu plus now, but for my wife who is more technical than some, but by no means a Slashgeek... Flash was a dealbreaker.

Re:Apple In 3rd Place And Losing Marketshare

[morgan_greywolf]

In addition, Jobs isn't worried about BlackBerry, either. Jobs has been shown to be visibly upset about Google and the explosive growth of the 2nd place Android.

Re:Flash, that big a deal?

[AHuxley]

Flash would let you use a web cam for real.
The ability to broadcast from any location on any network to a world wide audience with a few clicks seems 'flash easy' at this time.
Apple is still trying to get beyond wifi and device lockin with its open FaceTime camera efforts.
Sure html5 is fast, pretty and new but easy UVC web cam support is still a ?

Re:Flash, that big a deal?

[Steve S]

Although I program in and use Flash daily, actual flash support was not a dealbreaker when I chose to get an android phone. It was important, sure, but not a dealbreaker. The dealbreaker was WHY flash isn't supported on apple products. It's clearly not a technical limitation since it can be installed on a jailbroken ipad and works well even through a compatibility layer http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/how-to-install-flash-on-your-jailbroken-ipad-for-real/. It's entirely political. I don't want to be told what I'm allowed to install or not. My devices are MY devices.

Re:Trackpad

[Zerth]

Funny, you'd think a blackberry user would remember the bb storm. All screen, no keyboard and it distinguishes hovering from clicking.

Not that I'm saying the bb storm touchscreen was particularly good, but at least it let you interact with the web as if you had a mouse. Now if only it didn't freeze up every other week.

Re:Flash, that big a deal?

[MistrBlank]

"Thank you for informing me of legitimate Flash uses. Those and Hulu, that someone else mentioned, are uses of Flash."

The use of "Good" is subjective. I happen to think it's a waste in Hulu Why do we not have flv support as a plain codec? Why is it still only usable in flash based players?

And you can't tell me those sites couldn't code their sites to work with Ajax or retool them for HTML5 (you know, an actual defined standard).

Re:Guarunteed way for success

[ari_j]

While I agree that there are very few internet comics actually finding success, I wonder if it's anything like the guitarist market. For every one guitarist who is making enough money from it to call a part of the guitar industry, there are 20,000 people who want to buy the same guitar, amp, effects, cables, strings, picks, hats, and condoms as the hero is using. That's a large part of what drives the guitar-related product market. The same applies to hip-hop artists in their mothers' basements doing whatever it takes to get ahold of an MPC, a couple of good turntables, a good condenser microphone, and a recording console of some sort. High school kids' parents spend untold fortunes on whatever top-end basketball shoes are hot on the market that year.

Does the same phenomenon occur with internet comics? Are there enough wannabes to drive the market for these features in a tablet computer?