Edible Apple

Whenever Apple releases an absurdly popular new device, it doesn’t take long before competitors hit the drawing board and come back with new fangled devices looking to capitalize on the path blazed by Apple.

Over the past few months, rumors of RIM releasing a homegrown competitor to the iPad have grown increasingly louder. RIM’s tablet effort, already dubbed “BlackPad”, will reportedly be thinner than the iPad and and will sport a slightly smaller form factor. Adding fuel to the fire, RIM reportedly ordered a number of 8.9-inch screens from Foxconn earlier this year.

And now comes a tip courtesy of Mobile Crunch divulging that RIM recently purchased the “BlackPad” domain name.

Is this definitive proof that RIM will release a product called the “BlackPad” sometime down the line? Not necessarily, but it’s pretty clear that RIM has its eyes set on the tablet market regardless of whatever name it eventually chooses to go with.