RIM (NASDAQ: RIMM) is experimenting with a tablet device to be released as a companion for its popular range of BlackBerry smartphones. While RIM declined to comment on the rumors, a report by The Wall Street Journal reported that the alleged tablet will not have mobile connectivity by itself, relying instead on the BlackBerry for wireless access. According to those "familiar with RIM's plans," the Journal says the alleged tablet device could even arrive late this year.

Various sites reporting on this have casted doubt on whether RIM is able to come out with something attractive enough to capture the wider consumer market. But perhaps it doesn't need to do so; with its experience in creating secure devices that can be tightly integrated into the enterprise, RIM could be banking on creating a tablet that will instead appeal to business users.

Whatever the case, given that RIM recently unveiled an improved WebKit-based browser with HTML5 support, one can at least hope that the tablet will deliver a much better browser than the ones currently found in BlackBerry smartphones.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at Wall Street Journal
- check out this article at eWeek 

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