[FF22]

Someone from our CB bigwigs should be able to find out if the Rim/BBRY official bt keyboard is still a current product of the company.

As asked in the subject: Why is the existence of the keyboard top secret??????????????? Or did I miss some official announcement of its demise?

Has there ever been word if the Rim OFFICIAL keyboard is still being produced or has it been discontinued? With Thor's recent pb/tablet type comments, I would think it is GONE. Maybe to be replaced at some time with a better approach to HIS IDEA of a mobile environment.

I mean there's playing stuff close to the vest and then there's being too secretive!

Come on, CB, ask someone in the know what's going on.

[blueberrymerry]

I've been trying to find this thing, it's like trying to find a pink unicorn horn...

Heins' controversial comment on tablets not being around in 5 years time and his waffling about on the Playbook's future are creating a reverse Osborne effect - by announcing the possible death of an entire product line, retailers, developers and users won't get near the Playbook. That means not stocking up on its accessories too if it turns out to be a dead end.

[DurdenLunarius]

I got confirmation from CrackBerry a while ago that the PlayBook Mini Keyboard was discontinued officially, though if there was any actual announcement of such I didn't see it. At best I've heard that Canadian stores and some UK retailers are still stocking minimal inventory, but for us here in the US and elsewhere abroad we have no luck unless with a private seller via eBay or craigslist...

Trust me, took me a while to track one down myself that wasn't for an overblown price.

[Synerworks]

RIM does not announce products being discontinued so that existing inventories do not remain unsold. Otherwise potential clients may shy away from EOL products and leave them with a glut of stuff sitting in some warehouse. When it is hard to find everywhere or the prices they are going for are too sweet to simply pass up, that is RIM telling you that they are GTFO of the specific product line.

[pblakeney]

Why would they discontinue this product? WOW....there just does not seem to be any direction regarding the PB here at all.

[blueberrymerry]

BB's own updated statement here: I highly doubt Thorsten Heins thinks the tablet market will die | CrackBerry.com

We continue to evaluate our tablet strategy, but we are not making any shifts in that strategy in the short term. When we do have information about our PlayBook strategy, we will share it.

I translate that to: we're still thinking about what to do with the Playbook, its accessories and BB10 for PB, and we reserve the right to kill off the damn thing entirely.

[jamesharmeling]

I was lucky enough to catch one from some sight a while back for $45 brand new. I tried it out, found that it didnt reallly suit my needs and put it back in the box. Maybe one day I'll find that it comes in handy, but for now I'm glad I got it. Anything on Ebay?

[anon(1852343)]

Someone from our CB bigwigs should be able to find out if the Rim/BBRY official bt keyboard is still a current product of the company.

As asked in the subject: Why is the existence of the keyboard top secret??????????????? Or did I miss some official announcement of its demise?

Has there ever been word if the Rim OFFICIAL keyboard is still being produced or has it been discontinued? With Thor's recent pb/tablet type comments, I would think it is GONE. Maybe to be replaced at some time with a better approach to HIS IDEA of a mobile environment.

I mean there's playing stuff close to the vest and then there's being too secretive!

Come on, CB, ask someone in the know what's going on.

You are not missing much anyways. Found it awkward to type on it. Preferred the virtual on the playbook myself. Bought it for $50 new and sold it for $120 used!

[MissoulaMarinerFan]

I purchased mine off here on CrackBerry when they were doing a special discount. I love it. Especially when my PlayBook is bridged to my 9930, I can use my word substitution database on my bluetooth keyboard to type on my PlayBook the same as I can I my 9930 - no more lugging the laptop to school to take notes for me!