Is RIM planning a tablet with an 8.9 inch screen?

Come on, everybody's doing it. What harm could happen? The topic here is tablets and it could be that another major manufacturer is coming to the table with a tablet of its own. A research firm that checks supply chains for signs of unusual orders has supposedly discovered and confirmed from 3 sources, that RIM has been ordering an 8.9 inch tablet from the Hon Hai Precision division of contract manufacturer Foxconn. The product would be ready to ship in the summer or fall of this year and is the subject of a report "RIMM (they used the stock symbol) Launch Own Tablet in Late 2010". Many, many questions are unanswered such as the OS of the tablet. Would it use the 'Berry OS? Would it use 6.0? According to those "in the know", the device would feature advertiser supported content and would sync with a BlackBerry smartphone using 3G or Wi-Fi. Before you BlackBerry fanatics get too excited, there might not be too much reality in that report. After all, RIM Co-CEO Mike Lazaridis recently told Walt Mossberg that, ""I don't see the benefits of a tablet over a notebook... A lot of technology falls in the middle." Then again,wasn't it the top brass at RIM that poo-pooed the idea of touchscreen handsets when the iPhone was introduced?

source: Crackberry

Research firm's analysis