The PlayBook: RIM's BlackBerry Tablet Coming Soon?

Research In Motion (RIMM) will unveil its PlayBook tablet computer on April 10, according to the odd-but-often-correct website the Boy Genius Report. That's soon -- but perhaps not soon enough, based on Wednesday's launch of the Apple (AAPL) iPad 2.

The PlayBook has been described by RIM as better suited to business use than the iPad. That would make sense since the original BlackBerry was a business communications tool. The PlayBook will have a 7-inch, multi-touch display and will run on the new Research In Motion operating system that has been designed for the machine. The PlayBook will also run Flash multimedia functions -- something the iPad does not do. The device will have almost all of the capabilities of the BlackBerry.

It's hard to understand why RIM would wait until after the release of the iPad 2 before launching its own tablet PC. It may be that the Canadian company has not yet finished the final design of the product, or that it's having trouble with its supply chain. Whatever the reason, Research In Motion lost the greatest chance it had to trump Apple's latest product.