I've heard from some RSS feeds (courtesy of the immense Viigo) that Apple is nearing completion of its Tablet PC which will run iPhone OS on it and seeing the thread that RIM possibly might be developing a Netbook, my thought are: -

BlackBerry OS 5.0 + SurePress Technology (ala BlackBerry Storm 2) = potential money maker?

Anyone got any thoughts on a RIM TouchScreen Tablet?

If RIM were to go the netbook route, I hope they learn from Palm's missteps with the disastrous Foleo.

Well i've just sacrificed a couple of minutes from my life to actually find out what the Palm Foleo was and it's a remarkable acheivement - producing something that's obsolete instantaneously!

Well i doubt RIM are going to play that ball game - as stated above as well as with the other posting about a netbook that RIM either have the most mind blowing iteration of BlackBerry OS 5.0 OR Windows 7 on it in order to work...

The Dream Spec would be: -

- Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz CPU or the AMD Athlon X2 L310 Dual Core 1.2GHzx CPU featured on the upcoming Acer Ferrari One
- 1GB or 2GB RAM
- 64GB NAND Flash Drive or 64GD SSD with SD Card Slot
- ATI Radeon or nVidia Tegra graphics chip
- GSM and/or CDMA Radios with built-in/pop out SIM card slot/tray
- SurePress or standard Capacitive Touch Screen
- Bluetooth v2.1 or v3.0
- Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g and possibly N
- USB Port of some sort
- Charging Dock


Somehow i doubt that it will ever happen and if it does then it'll be FAR AWAY in the future... But it's nice to dream!

This is a phenomenal idea. I am a current Blackberry user and have been for over 6 years. I am anxiously waiting the release of the Apple Tablet PC in 2010 and may decide to ditch my BB for this device depending on the spec.

I will take bets that RIM will totally ignore this space until Apple, Nokia, HTC and Samsung prove its viability in the market. Then RIM will play catchup like they did with the bold.

I am amongst a growing class of users that require ultra portable computing and is now device independent - i.e. my data resides on a portable 500GB drive that I plug into different devices for access.

I need to be able to access and work on files on this device when I am not in the office. I would prefer not to lug my laptop around anymore and just have my Tablet device handy.

Here are my top 5 requirements that no one else has been able to deliver thus far:

1. Screen size should be 5-7". It should not exceed 7" to keep it ultra portable.

2. Ability to edit all MS Office documents.

3. USB functionality - specifically USB Host functionality. I need to be able to plug my 500GB hard drive, access files, email documents, etc, etc.

4. Either a slide out keyboard or configure the Tablet to work with a portable blue tooth keyboard.

5. Multimedia functionality - ability to watch the Lord of the Rings Trilogy on an 18 hr flight to Asia on one battery charge.

Thats a rather bizarre change to be considering, dumping a smartphone for a much larger tablet device.

While those sizes may be ideal for you, that sort of size would be far too big for most people to replace their smartphone and once somebody is carrying a second device they tend to be fine with a slightly heavier device if it improves usability. Just look at how netbook ranges expanded, they increased into the smaller notebook market rather than shrinking.

Have you looked at the internet tablets made by archos as those seem to be about the only thing that roughly matches your needs, albeit without getting anywhere near your comically optimistic requirements for battery life.