Yes, BlackBerry 10 Is Headed to the PlayBook … Someday

BlackBerry 10, the latest version of

 Research

 In Motion’s mobile operating system, isn’t 

intended for the company’s handsets alone.

 It’s destined for the PlayBook tablet as well.

Rob Orr, RIM’s vice president of product management, tells TechRadar that the company will debut a BlackBerry 10-based handset “toward the end of 2012,” and will follow it by bringing “BlackBerry 10 to our PlayBooks.”

Reached for comment, a RIM spokesperson confirmed Orr’s remark: “BlackBerry 10 is being designed for our next generation smartphones, as well as for the BlackBerry PlayBook. Owners of BlackBerry PlayBook today will be able to update their tablet to the BlackBerry 10 OS via a free software update once the tablet software version is available.”

That’s the plan, anyway. And it makes perfect sense, since BB10 is based on the same QNX platform as the current PlayBook OS. The only problem here is the one that’s plagued RIM for months now: The timeline.

The company has repeatedly delayed the launch of BlackBerry 10 and the next-generation devices based on it, while continuing to promote the hell out of it. And the further it pushes them out, the longer it has to rely on its current operating system, which is pretty dusty at this point. And the longer it does that, the harder it is to retain the attention of consumers and developers, both of whom have plenty of other options when it comes to smartphones.