Looks like BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) is all set to place itself as a true iPad killer. RIM is said to be pricing its PlayBook tablet which is set to launch next year, under $500 to compete directly against its rival iPad. The low price is to give the company a head start in the tablet market.
The iPad starts at $499 for a 16GB Wi-Fi only model. The most expensive model of the iPad costs $829 for a 64GB and has both Wi-Fi and 3G versions in it. RIM is said to set the price of the PlayBook to be cheaper than the iPad and also have a better config than the basic iPad version. The PlayBook is set to ship in North America in the first quarter of 2011.
RIM will have a steep hill to climb considering the iPad which has had about 4 million sales since its launch in April. RIM PlayBook features a smaller 7-inch screen with no 3G option initially. It does have the tether feature enabled to work with BlackBerry phones instead. PlayBook will have four times the amount of RAM memory of the iPad, about 1GB of RAM which will make it faster than the iPad. The PlayBook will also have two cameras, a 5 mega pixel back and a 3 mega pixel front facing camera.
Nothing is set in stone yet but lets see how well the PlayBook plays out.