10-inch BlackBerry PlayBook leaks online

RIM’s 10-inch BlackBerry PlayBook, a device that will presumably ship with BlackBerry 10 and 3G-connectivity, has been leaked online.

RIM talked, in an official capacity, about the potential for a larger tablet device in the run up to the launch of the 7-inch QNX-powered PlayBook. At this point expectations were high, with enterprise users and consumers alike expecting big things from the Canadian giant.

Things didn’t pan out so well with the PlayBook, and after an initially disappointing sales run of around 200,000 units, RIM opted to shelve plans for a larger device.

‘From what we can see in the pictures here,’ reports CrackBerry, ‘this larger form factor tablet does have a slot for a SIM card as well as the familiar front facing camera and bezels for swiping, but [there's] no indication on what capacity this model will be or if it would be a 3G or 4G model, assuming it ever comes to production.’

Could the launch of BlackBerry 10 herald a new era for RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook business?

RIM’s new mobile platform does look promising, featuring lots of innovation and advanced multitasking, as well as support from some big gaming studios, including EA Games. Know Your Mobile’s Paul Briden went hands-on with the new platform and was impressed by what he found, check out the full story here.

Many, including IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo, expect Microsoft’s soon-to-be-released Windows 8/RT platform to steal much, if not all, of RIM’s existing enterprise business. That just leaves consumers, and we all know how fickle they can be. That puts RIM in a tricky place, but we guess they’re used to that now.

There is no word on specification for this 10-inch PlayBook, nor when it will be getting released, or if it actually is, but if it ever does become available, you can bet it’ll hit early next year once BB10 hits the market.