Bloomberg’s Hugo Miller and Nadja Brandt quote Blackberry CEO Thorsten Heins contending that the popularity of tablet computers may wane, a strong hint that there will be no BlackBerry tablet successor to the company’s ill-fated PlayBook device. Miller and Brandt cite Mr. Heins saying in an interview at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles that in five years he doesn’t think there’ll be any reason to have a tablet anymore, adding that tablets themselves are not a good business model—his presumed implication being that smartphones are getting so feature-packed and powerful that they will be capable of fulfilling nearly everyone’s mobile computing...

When looking for a new tablet, it seems consumers have Apple on the brain. The Yankee Group recently disclosed the results of a December survey in which it asked, "What brand of tablet do you intend to buy [next]?" For Apple, it was good news as nearly half of the 506 questioned picked the iconic brand. Apple Insider contends this is bad news for the rest of the tablet market, as 47 percent of surveyed consumers mentioned their intention to purchase an iPad. That left 26 percent of respondents going for an Android-based tablet, and 23 percent saying they were unsure, or didn’t know. Just one percent...

Although the Kobo e-reading app shipped preloaded on the BlackBerry PlayBook, for the last couple of weeks it hasn’t been working properly for some PlayBook users. However, Kobo has just updated the app to version 1.3.1. There’s no hint of a change log in the release notes, but at least some of the affected PlayBook users report that this seems to have fixed the problems they were having. (Though others say that they are still having problems.) (Found via our sister blog, Gadgetell.)...

Barnes & Noble is dropping support for the eReader app for the BlackBerry. The software will still work on BlackBerries, but it will no longer allow new content to be purchased through it, and any old or new content purchased will have to be sideloaded onto the BlackBerry rather than downloaded through the app. I wonder if this means they’ll be replacing it with a “Nook” app, the way the B&N eReader for iOS transformed into a Nook app? Most of the commenters on the story don’t seem to think so, and I would think if it were the...

With the Amazon Fire suddenly burning at the front of bargain-conscious consumers’ minds, other cheap tablet news has been coming out of the woodwork. Let’s look at some of it. Not sure how I missed noticing this. In a desperate effort to stem the tide of its stock slumping yesterday, Barnes & Noble knocked $25 off the price of its Nook Color tablet in an e-mail promotion immediately after the Amazon presentation, along with offering free shipping. It seems to be at full price on the website, however. But I’d expect the price to dip for everyone when the...

HP’s Touchpad might have flamed out on launch, but it may not be the only tablet in danger of doing so. Reports suggest RIM’s PlayBook tablet is not selling in anywhere near the numbers analysts had expected. DigiTimes reports (via AppleInsider) that Playbook manufacturer Quanta has cut back production lines for the tablet and may lay off 1,000 workers. In April, RIM forecast sales of 4-5 million PlayBooks in 2011, the sources noted. However, RIM shipped fewer than 800,000 units during the first half of 2011 and monthly shipments dropped to about 100,000 units in...

I'm always on the lookout for challengers to my iPad, but it seems that the new BlackBerry Playbook isn't one - at least in its released incarnation. Most of the reviews have been poor and now Tom's Guide has one of their typically excellent reviews with the title The 6 Best Things About BlackBerry PlayBook Aren't Good Enough. The 6 best things are: brand new operating system; nice, compact size; multitasking? No problem; very impressive HD display; Microsoft Office, other business apps pre-installed; Blackberry Bridge. The article then goes on to say: nice...

From an email I received: Public, school, and college libraries now provide direct EPUB eBook downloads on BlackBerry® mobile devices with the free OverDrive® Media Console™ app for BlackBerry. Users at more than 13,000 libraries worldwide can wirelessly download and enjoy EPUB eBooks, as well as MP3 audiobooks, on their BlackBerry devices. Libraries offer best-selling titles, such as “The Social Animal” by David Brooks and “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett, which can be borrowed and enjoyed using OverDrive’s app for BlackBerry. Popular business eBooks and audiobooks, as well as titles in virtually any subject, are...

Yesterday I mentioned an open letter from frustrated would-be PlayBook developer Jamie Murai concerning all the problems he encountered trying to register for and use the development tools for the Blackberry PlayBook tablet. He ended up throwing up his hands and giving up in disgust. Today, Tyler Lessard, the head of RIM’s BlackBerry Developer Relations and Developer Programs team responded on the Inside BlackBerry Developer’s Blog. Jamie’s posting on Friday raised a number of challenges that he faced while getting started with development for the BlackBerry PlayBook and while registering to become a BlackBerry...

On TechCrunch, guest writer Jim Dalrymple from The Loop looks at why, a year on, Apple’s iPad still has no real competition and all the other hardware manufacturers are still scrambling to catch up. He points out that Apple has done such a good job making the tablet useful in people’s everyday lives that everybody else is still trying to be Apple rather than beat Apple. Every other tablet introduced thus far has looked remarkably similar to the iPad. Even the competitors who come the closest—HP and RIM—still haven’t done anything. And Apple is only a week...

On our sister blog Gadgetell, Shawn Ingram posts a CES hands-on report with the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, the seven-inch device that is BlackBerry’s attempt to compete with the iPad. A photo gallery accompanies the article, including shots of children’s book applications. Ingram is impressed with the device so far, even if its control scheme seems a little awkward. The awkwardness could be, at least in part, a function of the way the device was locked down on its stand, however. The seven-inch size makes it harder to spot individual pixels, and may be more convenient than the iPad while...

From a Wiley-Blackwell News Release: Wiley-Blackwell is launching new mobile applications for selected health science journals, accessible via iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Symbian, PalmOS, and WAP devices. The applications, which will be freely available, will allow for the mobile delivery of title and abstract listings of articles with a feature that will enable users to create a “reading list” of desired full-text articles, available from the user’s desktop computer through Wiley Online Library. The apps will provide the full-text of a selection of articles, and mobile content will be pushed to the mobile application as it is added to Wiley Online Library. Additional...