14 DAY TRIAL // There’s been much talk around the BlackBerry PlayBook 3G/4G tablet, but the device has yet to make its entrance on the market. Although Research In Motion (RIM) announced the slate last year, no carrier has managed to add it to its portfolio yet.
The reason might be the fact that the standard PlayBook recorded extremely low sales numbers, which made RIM rethink the launch of another tablet based on the original tablet.
Given the fact that the popularity of BlackBerry products is continuously dropping, it’s a wonder RIM is still planning to release another tablet that doesn’t come up with anything outstanding.
Even with 4G (LTE) on board, the upcoming PlayBook will have a hard time selling unless priced accordingly. Anyway, it appears that RIM follows its marketing plan and will be announcing the 3G/4G PlayBook within the next weeks.
The folks over at BerryReview claim that several North American and European carriers are currently testing the devices. Apparently, there have been unconfirmed reports that the BlackBerry PlayBook 3G/4G will be shipped with OS 2.0.1.
It looks like the slate is now in testing at T-Mobile USA, AT&T and Verizon Wireless in the United States, though there’s no telling whether all three carriers will offer the tablet or only one or two.
Canadians will probably be able to grab the 4G PlayBook from TELUS, Rogers or Bell. Two more carriers are mentioned in the leaked document, T-Mobile Germany and StarHub Mobile from Singapore.
For the time being, it’s unclear if all these operators will sell the BlackBerry PlayBook 3G/4G, but we can safely assume that many other will want to add it to their portfolio.
RIM has yet to announce the release date of the device, but the best time to get it launched seems to be next month when the company is set to kick off its own BlackBerry World 2012 event.
