The battle of the tablets...
left: Apple iPad; right: BlackBerry PlayBook... the tablet wars are heating up!

It looks like the tech game is starting to turn into a bit of a tech soap opera thanks to El Jobso. Following up yesterday's comments by Steve Jobs dissing 7" tablets, Research In Motion's Co-CEO Jim Balsillie has fired back.

Here's the official word from Jim Balsillie:

"For those of us who live outside of Apple's distortion field, we know that 7" tablets will actually be a big portion of the market and we know that Adobe Flash support actually matters to customers who want a real web experience. We also know that while Apple's attempt to control the ecosystem and maintain a closed platform may be good for Apple, developers want more options and customers want to fully access the overwhelming majority of web sites that use Flash. We think many customers are getting tired of being told what to think by Apple. And by the way, RIM has achieved record shipments for five consecutive quarters and recently shared guidance of 13.8 - 14.4 million BlackBerry smartphones for the current quarter. Apple's preference to compare its September-ending quarter with RIM's August-ending quarter doesn't tell the whole story because it doesn't take into account that industry demand in September is typically stronger than summer months, nor does it explain why Apple only shipped 8.4 million devices in its prior quarter and whether Apple's Q4 results were padded by unfulfilled Q3 customer demand and channel orders. As usual, whether the subject is antennas, Flash or shipments, there is more to the story and sooner or later, even people inside the distortion field will begin to resent being told half a story."

- Jim Balsillie, Co-CEO at Research In Motion (RIM)

Nicely said Jim. I like that RIM isn't taking any of this crap sitting down and is firing back. Anybody want a used iPad? I don't think I want mine anymore... I can't wait for RIM to release the BlackBerry PlayBook

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