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Canadian government purchasing 500 BlackBerry Playbooks

By Michelle Haag on 22 Dec 2011 10:04 am
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The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade has a requirement to procure 500 RIM's "Playbook" tablets with the option to procure an additional 500 units. It is proposed to issue a contract to Research In Motion (RIM) or its designated reseller.
It's always nice to see a bit of positive news for Research In Motion and the BlackBerry PlayBook, since the majority of it these days seems to be all doom and gloom. While 500 or 1000 PlayBooks isn't a huge number, it's still a step in the right direction. You can read all of the fine details about the purchase at the source link below, and thanks to everyone that sent this in!

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Source: Merx

Topics: Canada Government BlackBerry Playbook News & Rumors

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Michelle Haag Michelle Haag 1141 (articles) 1618 (forum posts)
28 comments

Siiid

from the stolen truck?

nyc_rock

Sorry, not following why this is considered good news?

georg22

Why not?

highos

This is great news. The PlayBook can and is being used in the Enterprise and it's surprising how little news we hear about it.

It's refreshing actually hearing about this here-wish more stories were posted like this because they aren't the only organization that has adopted or is reviewing their options when it comes to tablets.

serversdude

To an iFanboy it's not.

thecsman

It could be good news, if they find a good use for these PlayBooks. This is obviously a test to see how helpful can this tablet be.

martinjdub

I work for a civic government and we have almost 200. Unlike other tablets in our environment, the PlayBook is considered a corperate "cool tool", not a "i-toy".

Pearl9100

That's what I love about BB.

oddlyshaped

Good to know that pilots and doctors are using i-toys...i thought they used them for flight plans and patient charts, but I guess they're just playing Angry Birds.

Try to be a little bit objective. The iPad has a lot of things right, not everything by far, but there is a reason it's selling like hotcakes, and it's not just marketing or fanboy-ism.

CrackBerryTorch9800

Notice how this comes around now, when we are closer to 2.0 and native email and enterprise management.

Hopefully with all that stuff it gives a boost to the sales.

koool1

I wish RIM would make a 10" tab. We just bought an iPad because there is no larger offering from RIM. I have a Playbook now but I might have bough another if they had another size.

El Platanero

You should have waited. I too want a 10 inch but I rather wait for RIM's 10 because that will mean comunication between my phone, 7 and 10inch tablet (all three ways). If they improve the ability to transfer files then RIM will be untouchable.

Liquid_Revolver

These silly oversized phones are not selling these fire sales at bestbuy and walmart are not enough so someone "steals" a truck...lol The Ipad clearly owns this arena and The Tab is next RIM needs to pull out the for sale sign this is sad.

joski

You sir, are a misinformed goof...

They sold out EVERYWHERE at $199, just for starters - which is why people had to resort to buying them online directly from RIM.

They're going to sell out AGAIN when the price goes back down for Boxing Day.

Lastly, you are nothing. As far as I'm concerned. So your suggestion of RIM pulling out the For Sale sign proves validity to your nothingness.

ianbordas

OMG, my comments have been deleted.... Not cool CB!! :(

highos

Yeah.. I came back here to see if you had replied. Not cool-but that conversation is probably more suited to the forums anyway given it got off-topic, just wish it wasn't handled that way.

Pearl9100

500-1000 pb is a drop in the bucket. It may be a step in the right direction, but the larger overall picture is still very grim.

This reminds me of our American government. The house or senate will argue to the point of gridlock over 10 billion dollars when the deficit is about 15 trillion. It still doesn't fix the root of the problem, which is very similar to rim's situation (i.e. over promising, missing deadlines, releasing half baked products, and etc.)

The_Adventist

(I AM. Canadian)

Our government was probably offered the sale price or better and they probably said, "no we'll pay full price to show our support for the Canadian technology and development".

bbbutch

The Playbook sales are only to one small department. If many more departments adopt the Playbook, then sales could be substantial. These sales may encourage provincial and foreign governments to do the same.

ckl_88

I think this is an indirect way for the government to provide aid for RIM.

Ironic that this news comes a day after Angry Birds comes out for the playbook. Get ready for the announcement that provincial and federal MP's will be adopting this tablet as well. This will make them look good on TV... show support for a Canadian company and get to play Angry Birds while in session too.

A win-win situation.

m00rb

Nothing like the government buying stuff their citizens can't sell anywhere else. Canada only seems to take the WRONG lessons from the United States!

Jan_the_Bicycle_Man

It is interesting to watch things develop. Too bad that they got the names of the tablets wrong. The “iFad“ should have been called the “play-book“ because most of the people that I see with one, only play with it. The PlayBook is the real “WorkBook” since it has the ability to get some real work done in a very seccure environment. Maybe they can call the 10" tablet the "WorkBook“ to differentiate between the two models.

Yamcha

500 Playbook's is nothing. The only tablet that is having the highest impact is the iPad, most pilots are now adopting the iPad's over using a huge manual..

And It's not that i don't like the Playbook, but lets be honest at this stage it's a disappointment. I'm just waiting for OS 2.0 final release, and then I'll pass judgement...

jaycee58

Best to have an HP Touchpad style fire-sale and then dump the PlayBook. It's going nowhere fast.

VanCity778

Fuck why not. We already piss away billions down the healthcare money pit. Might as well piss away even more down another money pit. While were at it, why don't we spend billions on those new X-35 fighter jets.OH WAIT we already did.