RIM's BlackPad to Ditch BlackBerry 6 OS, Adopt QNX Software Instead

Posted 08/23/2010 at 4:35am | by Paul Lilly

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Contrary to popular assumption, RIM's upcoming BlackPad tablet isn't going to be built around the company's BlackBerry 6 OS, but instead will run software from QNX, according to a Bloomberg report.

RIM acquired QNX back in April for $200 million. QNX's RTOS (realtime operating system) software is used in a variety of products from companies like Cisco, GE, and Caterpillar, as well as BMW audio systems and the Army's Crusher tank. By tapping into QNX's software, RIM believes it has a better chance of differentiating the BlackPad from Apple's iPad and the dozen or so other tablets due to arrive.

"The iPad is very much a device for consuming," said Alkesh Shah, an analyst at Evercore Partners Inc. in New York. "What's not out there is a tablet for creating, for production."

QNX's software has traditionally been used to control the music, media, and nav systems in automobiles, but has also been used in cardiac monitoring systems and even nuclear power plants. How exactly that will work out for RIM's upcoming tablet remains to be seen, but if nothing else, it's going to be different.