14 DAY TRIAL // Canadian mobile phone maker Research In Motion has been long rumored to plan the release of a 4G flavor of its BlackBerry PlayBook, and some more details on the device have just made an appearance online.
The handset vendor did confirm that it was planning the release of a new version of the tablet PC, but did not make an announcement on its specific release date.
However, rumor has it that the new device will make it on shelves before the end of the current year, and some suggest that it will be unveiled to the world in Q3.
Apparently, RIM is already making the necessary steps to bring it to the market and is pushing the tablet to corporate partners and some distributing channels, at least this is what N4BB has learned.
The news site also published a series of new images with the device, and says that they had the chance to play with it for a bit, and that it is indeed capable of delivering a great experience.
The unit they laid hands on was powered by PlayBook OS 2.0.1.354, which is an older build than the PlayBook OS v2.0.1.358 that was officially released in April.
However, the device appeared to be snappier than the commercially available flavor, most probably due to the included 1.5GHz application processor.
The 3G/4G BlackBerry PlayBook also comes with NFC capabilities packed inside, as well as with the obvious option to connect to available wireless networks. It also featured a microSIM slot.
What this PlayBook unit did not have on it was the BlackBerry Messenger, though it should make it inside the final flavor. RIM is also expected to load the BlackBerry Protect on the device.
A recently-leaked RIM roadmap also unveiled that the vendor was preparing for the release of a BlackBerry 10 upgrade for the PlayBook sometime next year, and additional functionality might be added to the device at that time.
