RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet Running Out At U.S. Online Retailers

By: Kevin Green  |   October 11th, 2012   |   News, O Canada, Tablets

Research In Motion (RIM) has not put out a new product for quite some time and the Canadian manufacturer is not expected to release its BlackBerry 10 operating system and devices until the beginning of next year. All that is available in the market are older versions of BlackBerry smartphones and the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. Many retailers have dropped the prices on the tablet to get rid of their stock and the devices have flown off the shelf. If buyers are looking to land the PlayBook they may be out of luck now because online sellers in the US have run out. Reports from Engadget indicate that Wal-Mart, Best Buy, RadioShack and Staples have completely run out of the PlayBook and customers are unable to order the device from the retailers anymore.

 

The only exceptions seem to be RIM’s online store and Amazon, although no one is sure how long these two will have the tablets in stock. With the older versions of the PlayBook becoming an endangered species, many observers have started to ask whether RIM is planning on launching a newer PlayBook. The speculations stem from the fact that the 4G LTE PlayBook has already been making the rounds and the recent tablet specific updates to the BlackBerry OS.

 

Engadget has commented that the PlayBook should try to upgrade its hardware to make it more competitive with the latest tablets on the market. They also suggest that any new PlayBooks come with the highly anticipated BlackBerry 10 OS so that users can get the best of the next generation of software from the Waterloo firm. Some people have even asked that RIM think about adding a keyboard similar to the one that Microsoft will be doing with the Surface Tablet. RIM should be considering the full gamut as they have some catching up to do to regain anything close to the stature they once held.

 

Source: Engadget

Photo: RIM