Why didn't they just start with Android and write apps for all the BBM services on top of that?

This is surrendering before even firing a shot.

With all the rumors of Android on the Playbook, you'd think it was right around the corner. I'd caution that the Playbook doesn't run any java at the moment (only Air, C++) unlike the previous BlackBerry SDKs.

I just wonder when RIM is going to shut up and ship this thing.

What's really interesting about the video is that it makes it shows just how small RIM's screen is. When the guy's hand passes over it, it pretty much covers up the entire screen! This is just kind of weird, because I'm not sure what distance you'd hold this thing at. It looks like it's much too big to be handy as a phone, but not big enough to support an on-screen keyboard like the one on the iPad. Also, the type on the book app they showed seemed way too small to read comfortably (hopefully it'll be adjustable!)

while this may seem to be a quick win for RIM, it would seem that now this just makes this a possibly(?) less compatible android device that will likely cost more money than something Samsung could produce. I really think that Android is great for commoditizing mobile/tablet products, but makes devices by what were previously "top tier" vendors much less attractive to me.