$99 HP TouchPad Sale: BlackBerry PlayBook to Come With PressReader, Access to Over 2,000 Newspapers

By Luiza Oleszczuk, Christian Post Reporter Friday, November 11, 2011

RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, one more option on the increasingly diverse market of tablet computers, will arrive with a press app that gives users instant access to over 2,000 newspapers, according to speculation from observers.

The application, PressReader, is to offer titles from over 100 countries. They are to be made available by a company called NewspaperDirect, a press distributor, TechCrunch reported Friday. The app is also going to be available for the iPhone and iPad as well as Android phones and other tablets.

Some of the daily newspapers on the menu are supposedly: The Washington Post, The Guardian, Chicago Tribune, Daily Mail, International Herald, Irish Times, La Presse, La Tribune, Le Monde, The Australian and The Globe and Mail, the tech website reports. Most available for $0.99 per issue.

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Specs for the PlayBook include a 1 GHz dual-core processor, 1080 HD video camera with HD playback as well as forward and rear facing cameras, Flash 10.1 and HTML 5 support, 7.0-inch LCD touch screen, 1024x600 pixel resolution, eight-hour battery life, BlackBerry Messenger and Wi-Fi.

The device is on sale from RIM's Canadian affiliate Rogers, which began an employee sale on Sept. 14. The sale will last through Dec. 1. All models of the PlayBook have seen 50 percent price cuts in the sale.

The basic 16GB model has seen its prices slashed down to $249 from its original $499.99 while the high-end 64GB model has seen its prices slashed down to $399 down from $699.99.

The 64GB Wi-Fi model of the Apple iPad 2 goes for $699.00.

Apple currently dominates the tablet computer market, outselling every other tablet computer. Most other tablet computers have experienced a significant lag in sales since the debut of the iPad in April 2010 and the iPad 2 in March 2011.

The HP TouchPad saw a similar fate this past summer after disappointing sales caused prices to be slashed all the way down to $99, from its original price of $499 (for the 16 GB model; the 32 GB model was slashed to $149.).

The $99 sale, however, sparked demand for the tablet and it began selling out at a number of stores.