Apple’s iPad success has motivated many other electronic manufacturers to join the tablet race. And according to the latest rumors, RIM will also be joining the bandwagon. BlackBerry Leaks is reporting that RIM has ordered 8.9-inch touchscreens from Hon Hai, which they will use in their upcoming tablet.

The website says that one of their source at RIM believes the company is working on a tablet. The project is codenamed ‘BlackPad’ or ‘Cobalt’ and like the iPad, RIM tablet will also have full BlackBerry OS compatibility and functionality. Hardware-wise the BlackBerry tablet will be smaller and thinner than the iPad. RIM plans to announce the tablet at next year’s WES 2011 as the project is still in early prototype stage.

In past three years BlackBerry OS has started looking like a dumb-phone OS and basing a tablet on the same OS won’t be that good an idea. We hope the next generation BlackBerry OS 6 brings some much need improvements, so that the OS can be ported to a tablet like device with bigger screen.