I guess $499 is the catchy price for tablets nowadays.  Apple kicked it off first with the iPad starting it off at $499, both last year for the first generation, and this year in the second.  Next we have the BlackBerry PlayBook, which RIM hasn’t even came out the closet yet on pricing, but based off of leaked documents we saw a starting price of $499 as well.

Then there’s the HP TouchPad (which has a UI lookin’ just like the PlayBook) which also starts at $499.  All three with that starting price get 16GB of internal memory, and then you’ve got all other specs that vary in your favor.  In a non-biased perspective, which tablet has all of what you want?

I can’t really be mad at the fact that some of you out there are getting frustrated with the delayed launch of the BlackBerry PlayBook.  Patience can only go so far when a tablet is announced in September 2010, and here we are in March 2011 with nothing but teasers and public hands-on with it.  A friend of mine has been waiting alongside with me on the PlayBook to launch and we both were in the same boat of owning the first generation iPad and decided we’d wait for the PlayBook.  I’m still patiently waiting but he has gone ahead and purchased the iPad 2, losing faith in the PlayBook’s launch.  So that got me wondering as to how many other folks out there have lost faith in the BlackBerry PlayBook and have decided to go with an iPad to other tablet.

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Bayalink has been popular for their mobile solution of being able to have your BlackBerry used right on your computer, and now we see them extending out to the iPad.  Now the iPad may not exactly be a huge companion to the BlackBerry, but there are many of us out there who do own both devices.

Bayalink Liberty gives iPad users unique capability to securely connect to their BlackBerry data and interact with that data using the tablets screen and keyboard similar to how the Liberty technology has been used by enterprise customers for years on the PC, laptop and notebook. In subsequent releases, users will be able to surf the internet or intranet through the BlackBerry (with no VPN required) on a disconnected iPad via their standard BlackBerry data plan.

Hit the jump for the full press release and send an email to beta@bayalink.com to get in on the beta!

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Apple officially announced the iPad 2 today, which came to disappoint me only because RIM has been taking so long to release the BlackBerry PlayBook.  At a glance, I figured Apple would launch it a month after announcement like last year, but March 11th is the confirmed date for availability.

Of course I still believe that the PlayBook offers more than the iPad 2, especially when it comes to true multitasking and full internet browser supporting Flash.  Apple has caught on to what people to want, and what other tablets are going for.  That includes front face camera, dual core processor, and true video out.  The PlayBook does come with all that and a bunch more, but it’s just a shame Apple announced it for their own product first.

So for all you soon to be tablet owners – will you wait for PlayBook or iPad 2?

Browsing via BlackBerry? Click here to view video

Awesome.  I’ve been waiting to see a head to head comparison of both the BlackBerry PlayBook and the Apple iPad and here it is.  So the PlayBook is significantly smaller, but it is a more powerful machine is the video suggests.  In the video we see a few tests running as well as web pages loading with flash.  Of course the iPad doesn’t get any flash love, but the PlayBook does!

This is pretty cool.  If I was a huge fan of skins and accessories I’d definitely be all over this.  Over the weekend, I was browsing the the iPad App Store and came across something called PhotoPad, realizing the logo in the icon resembled ZAGG.  So to make a long story short, I went ahead and downloading it, only to find that this app let’s you design your ZAGGskins for all mobiles it is available for including BlackBerry.  Don’t take “customize” to the next level.  This isn’t like Case-mate’s Barely There covers where you can design that freely.  In PhotoPad, you can choose any picture you have saved on your iPad, upload it onto the skin, then zoom in and out to adjust it the way you want it.  Just a quick thought I wanted to share with you folks.  If you have an iPad along with a BlackBerry, check out PhotoPad or hit the link below to shop for ZAGGskins.

• Check out ZAGGskins >>

-by Mac Jadalhack

Everyone expected iPad themes to be just the same as the iPhone ones, but apparently not.  I came across this one earlier in the morning and decided to take it for a test run.  A job really well done here as the homescreen is very identical to the iPad’s.  If you’re looking to put lots of third party icons on the home screen, I wouldn’t suggest it since all the other icons are quite tiny.  It’s fully customizable so don’t worry about having locked apps on the homescreen.  iPad 3G for BlackBerry is $3.99 at the PocketBerry Store on sale through May 31st where it’ll then get bumped back up to $4.99

Compatibility: 8900 (Curve), 8910 (Curve), 8930 (Curve), 9630 (Tour), 9650 (Bold), 9700 (Bold)

• Check out the iPad 3G Theme for BlackBerry >>
  

-by Mac Jadalhack

Not all of you are fond of this new Apple device, but you need to remember that the iPad is not taking over the BlackBerry nor is it a threat to the smartphone in any way, shape or form. I’m going to go ahead and say iPad. is awesome when it comes to gaming.  Zombie Attack is one of my favorite games ever on the BlackBerry platform.  If we go back in time, IUGO designed Zombie Attack for the iPhone/iTouch, then later released it for BlackBerry making it look pretty much identical.  Today we see that Zombie Attack has been extended to the all new iPad.  The screen shot above comes from what it look like on the iPad, and without doubt looks better than it does on the BlackBerry.  It isn’t a fair comparison of course with the iPad’s 9 point some inch screen and BlackBerry’s smaller one (not to mention its 3D accelerator, etc).  If any of you folks are rockin’ out with an iPad, make sure you buy this game, it’s about 4 bucks (cheaper than BlackBerry), and has 2 player option as well.

-by Mac Jadalhack

It’s a very far fetched idea if you ask me, but out of curiosity we wanted to know how many would like to see some sort of BlackBerry applications or utilities on the Apple iPad which is expected to roll out sometime this month but is now announced to be April 3rd (boo hoo).  Last night during the Oscars, an Apple iPad commercial aired, showing off all its ins and outs.  I’m sure some (or many) of you did enjoy the commercial and would still consider purchasing one, no matter how die-hard BlackBerry you are.  So what kind of applications could be on the iPad for BlackBerry?  Perhaps another version of BlackBerry Desktop Manager allowing you to sync wirelessly, or even through data cable.  How about an emulator?  Redfly has their Mobile Companion which does that now, but wouldn’t it be interesting to see on a tablet too?  We want to know what YOU think.  If you’re browsing via mobile, get on a computer and cast your vote or even leave a comment letting us know what you want to see happen.