Is it a B-Day?

It’s something we’ haven’t reported on before despite all the rumours but today could be the day that changes.

BlackBerry DevCon10 is starting today and there’s a high chance that we’ll hear something about the BlackPad or at least the related operating system and app ecosystem. (Keynotes start at 1300 Pacific.)

Blackpad is the rumored tablet product from RIM and although no official word is out on the specs, many commenters feel confident that it will be a 7 inch tablet running software from QNX, a company that RIM bought in April of this year. Other information indicates that it will run on a Marvel platform.

Seeing as this is RIM, there’s likely to be a productivity and security slant which will pitch the solution right next to Windows-based tablets (which is why we’re reporting it here on UMPCPortal.) The design is likely to be thinner and lighter than current Windows tablets and UMPCs (take the Viliv X70 EX as an example of a current Windows-based 7 inch tablet) so if RIM can grow a range of serious, well-engineered and supported applications over the next year the Blackpad certainly has a chance. Without 3G, it’s likely to be relatively cheap and easy to approve too, potentially making it the de-facto accessory for all Blackberry owners. Rolling a Blackberry phone and Wifi-Only Blackpad tablet up into a neat carrier deal shouldn’t be too hard at all and we suspect that’s where RIM are going with this.

Don’t expect a cool gaming or entertainment device but do expect something that can be used for more than just emails and that could be a no-brainer add-on for a Blackberry owner. As for the keyboard we suspect ‘no’ but we hope to be surprised.

If news breaks today, check back here for details, product page, analysis and discussion.