BlackBerry Tablet BlackTab News: 7-Inch Tablet with QNX and BlackBerry Connections

The new BlackBerry tablet is expected to be introduced next week at the BlackBerry Developer Conference.

The "BlackBerry Tab" or BlackTab will run softtware from QNX Software Systems and is expected to be launched by the end of the year.

In the future, RIM is expected to convert its BlackBerry smartphones to the QNX platform that was built from the ground up.  The 7-inch touchscreen tablet will run on cell networks only through BlackBerry smartphones but will have "broadband access," suggesting that the tablets will not work as telephones.  Other features of the tablet include Bluetooth and possibly two cameras for video conferencing.

Some are speculating that the BlackBerry tablet will be able to tether to BlackBerry smartphones for data access.  The price is expected to be around $500.

RIM is readying announcements and demonstrations, including an update on BlackBerry's mobile advertising platform and an Amazon.com, Inc. music application, reported the Wall Street Journal.

Last month a Chinese newspaper reported that RIM has contracted with Quanta, a Taiwanese notebook manufacturer, to produce at least two million tablets this year.