Blackberry's New PlayBook looks like fun

Everyone's been chasing Apple since the beginning of this year and since then, despite a lot of press releases and announcements, there's been remarkably little action.  Samsung's Galaxy Tablet is a worth challenger, but it's not clear at this time if Android is ready for primetime on the tablet.

Research In Motion's new PlayBook tablet was announced last week.  The announcement was long on promise and short on details.  The technical specifications are promising - substantially better than Apple's iPad in CPU and memory.  The device will also rock Adobe Flash and HTML5 as well as offering a new generation of BlackBerry applications.

I have to admit, I expected BlackBerry's tablet would suck.  Lately, RIM has managed to underwhelm on one new product after another.  The PlayBook, however, looks like it's going to be a good user experience.  Even better, the device can closely connect to the BlackBerry phone, sharing a single internet connection - something Steve Jobs won't allow for the iPad.  That alone could transform the economics of owning a connected tablet.  Add in enterprise-grade security and they could have a winner.

The BlackBerry PlayBook.  No Price Announced Yet.

The newest BlackBerry devices are pale imitations of Apple's iPhone,  with an aging and clunky operating system.  With the PlayBook and the QNX acquisition, it could be well be the start of a new era for RIM and an opportunity to salvage the company's market-leading position.  Lately both LG and Nokia have stumbled in the global market for Smartphones and RIM's share has been eroding as well.