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BlackBerry PlayBook available for pre-order, starts at $499

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On March 22, 2011, 9:00 AM

Research in Motion used a press release this morning to announce that its long-awaited BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is officially available for pre-orders starting today, with units hitting retail chains and wireless carriers in the U.S. and Canada on April 19. As previously suggested, the Wi-Fi model that is launching initially will be priced at $499, $599, and $699 for 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB, respectively, right in line with the equivalent iPad 2 models.

The PlayBook also keeps pace with Apple's iconic device with a 1GHz dual-core processor. Elsewhere, it sports a 7-inch 1024 x 600 WSVGA capacitive LCD touch screen, 1GB of RAM, a 1080p HDMI output, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and dual cameras -- 3MP front and 5MP back. It also comes with a brand new QNX-based operating system, dubbed BlackBerry Tablet OS, and has a unique active bezel that responds to gestures made from the edge the screen.


The device will be available in Best Buy stores and Best Buy Mobile stores in the U.S. and at Best Buy and Future Shop stores in Canada. A 4G variant is expected to launch on Sprint later this year but no specifics have been shared so far.

5 comments

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  1. March 22, 2011 10:08 AM
    lawfer, TechSpot Paladin, said:

    "5MP front and 3MP back"

    Wait, what?

    Reply
  2. March 22, 2011 10:48 AM
    Guest said:

    Humm I hope it works better than my Blackberry Storm 2 and has better App support. Because at this point I am sick of my blackberry not having any cool apps or lack of updates. The only..and I mean Only thing that is has is the instant email updates..Other than that it has nothing over Apple or Android phones.

    Reply
  3. March 22, 2011 11:03 AM
    Staff
    Jos
    Jos said:

    @lawfer - Whoops, I mixed those two up. It's 3MP front and 5MP back.

    Reply
  4. March 22, 2011 12:35 PM
    SSaywell said:

    I want to get one of these, although living in UK so will have to wait little longer

    Reply
  5. March 23, 2011 10:56 AM
    MrAnderson said:

    Hope hope the playbook does well, the screen resolution is good, but I really want a larger screen.

    Maybe I'll look at it when it comes out. Lots of interesting choices by summer huh?

    Reply

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