You know, I just kind of assumed that the upcoming tablet by BlackBerry maker Research in Motion — which the company is reportedly calling a BlackPad — might actually, you know, run some version of the BlackBerry OS. But according to Bloomberg that’s not the case.

Earlier this year RIM acquired a company called QNX Software Systems, and siting several anonymous sources, Bloomberg reports the BlackPad tablet will actually be running entirely new software developed by QNX.

QNX has a track record of producing software for in-car systems as well as medical, industrial, and other products. The in-car systems are probably the most interesting, since these are general consumer electronics devices for controlling music, media, and navigation systems. Those are some of the things you would expect a handheld tablet computer to be good at.

But the BlackPad will also reportedly feature a web browser, BlackBerry email integration, and the ability to connect tot he internet over WiFi or by sharing an internet connection with a BlackBerry mobile phone.

via Engadget

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4 replies on “Rim’s BlackPad tablet may not actually run BlackBerry OS”

  1. I remember QNX from when they produced a fully functional Linux with GUI, on a single bootable floppy disk.

  2. Unlike Android and iOS, QNX is a well-established, mature, and legitimately wonderful operating system. Unfortunately, I don’t think that the market really wants or can appreciate nice things.

    There’s a popular saying from a retired sitcom “Popularity is the hallmark of mediocrity.” Mass-appeal and quality are commonly opposing virtues in the modern marketplace. Just think about something like a hamburger or a car. Go see what’s most often purchased and compare that to what’s actually wonderful. People generally don’t have nice things, but they don’t even seem to want them. They just want to be told and to believe that the lousy things they have and want aren’t so bad.

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