Currently Apple seems to be having it all their own way in the smartphone and tablet arenas with their new iPhone 4 and the Apple iPad. However apparently Research In Motion is gearing up to bring a couple of challengers to their rival.
According to Stuart Weinberg and Phred Dvorak of the Wall Street Journal, Research In Motion is currently testing a touch screen smartphone which sports a slide out keyboard and will run the BlackBerry OS and according to “people familiar with the matter” works much like the iPhone.
Furthermore, apparently Research In Motion is also working on a tablet companion to the BlackBerry smartphone which is currently in the “early stages” but is said to connect to mobile phone networks via a BlackBerry handset and could possibly be released by the end of this year say the same people.
Of course a Research In Motion spokesperson has stated that the company doesn’t comment on speculation and rumour, but apparently Research In Motion execs have said they will ship a device with a new OS and web browser in the “quarter ending September 30th,” but haven’t spoke of plans for a tablet device.