RIM (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSE:RIM) announced plans on Tuesday to launch the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet in more than 20,000 retail outlets in the US and Canada.
Though the company did not give a release date in its statement, Best Buy said in its own news release that it has already begun accepting orders for the long-awaited device, and that it will begin selling the tablet on April 19.
The new PlayBook, made to compete with Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad, measures less than half an inch thick and weighs less than one pound, but is capable of storing up to 64 gigabytes. It also features a 7-inch high resolution display, with an LCD touch screen, and offers support for Adobe Flash Player 10.1, HD multimedia, and more.
The portable tablet will be able to stream a high definition video to the television through an HDMI cable, while allowing users to run other applications simultaneously.
The BlackBerry PlayBook, with Wi-Fi, will be available in 16 gigabyte, 32 gigabyte and 64 gigabyte versions, priced at $499, $599 and $699, respectively. US and Canadian retailers Best Buy, Bell, Costco, Chapters/Indigo, Sears and Future Shop will be among those that will sell the new tablet computer, for which plans were originally announced in 2010.
Apple's iPad 2 will launch on March 25th in Canada, and is already available in the US.