It may not be quite the savings we got from the $100 TouchPad, but taking $150 off the top of the PlayBook’s price may help move a few more units. There hasn’t been much action lately regarding RIM’s first tablet, which received lukewarm reviews and promptly dropped off the radar. The last thing we heard was that native email and BBM coming some time this month. But wait! A wild news item appears!
It looks like Best Buy is reducing the 64GB version of the device to $550. That’s not a bad deal… if you want a PlayBook. Unfortunately, it’s still not a particularly good deal if you just want a tablet. RIM hasn’t followed up much on adding value to the device, and while the new features due this month will make it more of a contender, playing catch-up isn’t going to do it for this thing.
The early adopters are still waiting on the promised Android app support, which may be scheduled for a 2012 release alongside the QNX Blackberry devices. By that time, though, there may be a new iPad and a dozen or so new Android tablets.
No word on whether the 16GB or 32GB model (the latter costs the same as a 64GB now) will be getting similar price drops.