4G BlackBerry PlayBook to launch this month despite RIM’s torrid tablet past

[Corey]

Research In Motion (RIMM) has not found success in the tablet market quite yet. The struggling smartphone vendor crossed over to the tablet space last year with its debut slate, the BlackBerry PlayBook, and it was met with mixed early reviews. There was nothing mixed about the half-billion dollar charge RIM had to take in the third fiscal quarter last year due to unsold PlayBook inventory, however, and RIM would later slash the PlayBook’s price in an effort to move units. In spite of the company’s torrid past with tablets, CEO Thorsten Heins confirmed that a 4G version was still in the works, and now we may finally see it launch later this month.

A screenshot of what is claimed to be an internal memo from Canadian carrier Bell points to a July 31st launch of RIM’s revamped tablet. MobileSyrup reports that the slate will include 4G LTE connectivity in addition to HSPA+ and Wi-Fi, and it will be powered by an “enhanced” 1.5GHz dual-core chipset. Finally, the report points to a $550 off-contract price tag, though that may not last terribly long if history repeats itself.

[Via Engadget]

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