RIM drops BlackBerry PlayBook to $199 in time for the holidays

Research in Motion has announced via Twitter that they will be dropping the price of the BlackBerry PlayBook to $199 for a limited time. This is a significant price cut as the tablet originally launched with a $499 price tag earlier this year.

The list of participating retailers includes Best Buy, Office Depot, Office Max, Radio Shack, Staples, Walmart and the BlackBerry Store. RIM didn’t announce when the sale would begin or how long it would last and as of writing, none of the retailers listed above have cut prices yet. That said, it’s entirely likely that the $199 PlayBook could be sold as an unadvertised Black Friday special at said retailers come Friday.

We’ve seen RIM offer multiple sales on the PlayBook since its lackluster release. The most recent was in late September when several major outlets offered a $100 instant rebate on top of a $100 mail-in rebate for the tablet. This brought prices down to $299 for a 16GB model, $399 for a 32GB unit and $499 for a 64GB tablet.

CNET points out that Newegg offered the PlayBook for $199 over the weekend but it quickly sold out at this price. If Newegg’s sale is any indication, the PlayBook could sell out pretty quick at this price point which is right in line with Amazon’s Kindle Fire and $50 cheaper than Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet. Apple remains firm on iPad 2 pricing, starting at $499 for a 16GB model in white or black.

RIM wants Hulu Plus on the BlackBerry PlayBook

Research In Motion (RIM) is interested in getting Hulu to work on its newly released tablet, the BlackBerry PlayBook. Users shouldn't expect the free version of Hulu on the device, however, but rather Hulu Plus, which gives subscribers an expanded content library in the form of full seasons and more episodes of shows already available on the free version as well as allowing access to the streaming service from more devices.

"We are in conversations with Hulu to bring the Hulu Plus subscription service to BlackBerry PlayBook users," a RIM spokesperson said in a statement. Hulu has yet to comment.

Hulu blocked the BlackBerry PlayBook just one day after the device was officially released. Hulu blocks pretty much every mobile device that is ever released, and as we argued last week, the company should not do this unless it already offers Hulu Plus on said devices.

We also wondered last week whether RIM should bother to strike a deal with Hulu, given alternatives like Netflix, but it looks like the Canadian company believes so. Hulu will likely only be interested in putting Hulu Plus on the BlackBerry PlayBook if the device sells well, and right now it's too early to make that call. RIM could of course convince Hulu with an incentive.

If RIM gets its way, the BlackBerry PlayBook will join a decently long list of Hulu Plus supported platforms: Apple's iOS 4 devices, Sony's PlayStation 3, the Roku Streaming Player, WD TV Media Player, as well as Blu-ray-linked television made by Samsung, Sony, and Vizio. BlackBerry Tablet OS is QNX-based. It follows that Hulu Plus may one day find its way onto BlackBerry phones, given that BlackBerry OS will be replaced by QNX as of BlackBerry 7.