RIM announced a release date for their PlayBook

[V-Tech]

After a long anticipation from RIM users the company has finally announced a release date and official prices for the PlayBook.

The Wi-Fi version of the PlayBook will come in three models: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB at the price of $499, $599 and $699 respectively. PlayBook is scheduled to arrive in Best Buy/Best Buy Mobile in the US as well as Best Buy and Future Shop all around Canada on April 19th.

To my surprise the price in the US and Canada is exactly the same, unlike other RIM (and other gadgets in general) products. If you take the Torch for example - $499 in the US, $624 in Canada.

Pre-Orders already available on those stores starting today:

Best Buy US

Best Buy Canada Future Shop

BlackBerry PlayBook is the world?s first professional-grade tablet. It features an ultra-portable design and delivers industry leading performance, uncompromised web browsing with support for Adobe? Flash? Player 10.1, true multitasking, HD multimedia, advanced security features, out-of-the-box enterprise support and a robust development environment.

Crackberry

BlackBerry PlayBook Specifications

• 7" 1024x600 WSVGA capacitive LCD touch screen
  
• Ultra-portable at less than a pound and less than one-half inch thick: 0.9 lbs (425g) and 5.1? x 7.6? x 0.4? (130mm x 194mm x 10mm)
  
• 1 GHz dual-core processor
  
• BlackBerry? Tablet OS with support for symmetric multiprocessing
  
• MP3, AAC and WMA audio playback
  
• Support for high resolution video playback (H.264, MPEG4, WMV)
  
• 1080p HDMI output
  
• Dual 1080p HD cameras for video conferencing and video capture (3MP front and 5MP rear)
  
• 1 GB RAM memory
  
• Up to 64 GB internal storage (16, 32 and 64 GB models)
  
• GPS, Orientation Sensor (Accelerometer), 6-Axis Motion Sensor (Gyroscope), Digital Compass (Magnetometer)
  
• Stereo speakers and stereo microphones
  
• Wi-Fi? (802.11 a/b/g/n) connectivity
  
• Bluetooth? 2.1+EDR support
  

More information can be found in the official PlayBook website.

A lot of people have been waiting for this moment for a long time. For some reason RIM decided not to publish the release date until now although PlayBook has been in several different tech shows around the world and ready for use for sometime now.

Along with this news, yesterday Sprint opened a landing page for the 4G version of the tablet. According to the page the 4G tablet will be arriving to Sprint this summer but without any specific date yet.

Sprint 4G PlayBook