Research in Motion&'s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet won&'t be without tunes when it launches. The company announced yesterday that it has inked a deal with 7digital to pre-install its online music store on the PlayBook, bringing with it some 13 million songs, Reuters reports.
The deal is clearly a move to keep the PlayBook competitive against the iPad, which has access to Apple&'s massive iTunes music and movie store. 7digital is one of the most popular music stores on BlackBerry devices, so it&'s not surprising that RIM is making its store an integral part of the tablet.
That RIM is making sure to lock down essential functions on the PlayBook is a sign that it&'s ready to compete against the more media-rich iPad as well as tablets running Google&'s Android 3.0 software. In the past, RIM hasn&'t had to worry too much about the media features on its smartphones. Now it&'s clear that RIM is well aware that it can&'t compete purely on the enterprise level &8212' it needs to make sexy devices with rich media features that consumers will want to use for play, as well as work.
RIM is expected to launch the BlackBerry PlayBook later this month, or in early April. The most recent rumor indicates the PlayBook will launch on April 10.
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Companies: 7digital, Apple, RIM
Companies: 7digital, Apple, RIM
Devindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra.
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