RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook prepped for April 19 launch

Research in Motion's BlackBerry PlayBook will be available at Best Buy starting April 19 as well as other retailers.

The PlayBook is RIM's chance to get into the tablet game and better compete with Apple's iPad and an army of Android devices, will start at $499 for the Wi-Fi version. The 16GB version will run $499, with 32GB and 64GB going for $599 and $699, respectively.

Preorders will start at Best Buy stores and will be available in a host of retail stores ranging from AT&T, RadioShack, Office Depot, Verizon and other outlets.

RIM also plans to make the PlayBook available in more than 20,000 retail outlets in the U.S. and Canada.

• 7" 1024x600 WSVGA capacitive LCD touch screen
• 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

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