Here’s today’s ugly tablet rumor, if you’re pinning any hopes on the upcoming PlayBook tablet from RIM (makers of Blackberry devices). According to one analyst there are serious issues with battery life for the new PlayBook – which is managing just a few hours and may be the cause of its delayed release (now not due until May of next year).
Research in Motion is unable to match the iPad’s longer battery life with its prototype PlayBook tablets, which get just a "few hours" of battery life, according to one analyst.
Analyst Shaw Wu of Kaufman Bros. issued a note to investors Tuesday warning that engineering issues with the BlackBerry PlayBook’s battery life could be the cause of delays.The battery issue could "require a bit of re-engineering," said Wu, and is "likely why RIMM pushed out its launch to the May 2011 quarter."
This is the same not-yet-even-released tablet that RIM”s Co-CEO recently claimed is ‘way ahead’ and setting the bar for tablets.
"I think the PlayBook clearly sets the bar WAY higher on performance, and you’re going to see more," said Balsillie.
Maybe the worst part of this rumor is this bit:
According to Wu, these battery problems have arisen partly because "QNX wasn’t originally designed for mobile environments." RIM bought QNX, which makes operating systems for everything from "cars to nuclear reactors," earlier this year.
If that turns out to be accurate, then I’d say the already very slim chances of success for this tablet just got a whole lot slimmer.
Rumor News Via: Apple Insider