The PlayBook Finally Gets a UK Price and Release

The BlackBerry PlayBook finally has a UK release date and price.

If you’ve been waiting with baited breath for the BlackBerry PlayBook to arrive in the United Kingdom, you’ll be delighted to know that you can pick one up next month. RIM has revealed that the PlayBook will be hitting UK stores on June 16. Pricing is set at £399 for the 16GB version (though it’s been seen for as a little as £357 already), £479 for the 32GB model and £559 for the 64GB.

Specswise, the PlayBook boasts a 7-inch display, a 1GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with flash and 1080p video recording capabilities, a front-facing 3-megapixel camera, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, and support for MicroUSB and micro HDMI. It all runs on RIM's brand new QNX-based BlackBerry Tablet OS.

The device launched in North America last month to mediocre reviews from critics and RIM’s decision to ship the device without certain PIM functions (such as native email, calendar or contacts apps) was viewed negatively. The device was originally supposed to be a ‘companion device’ for those with BlackBerry smartphones -- connecting the two gives full access to email, contacts and the other missing PIM functions. However, RIM soon realised that targeting only BlackBerry users meant excluding the rest of the market. It announced earlier this year that the PlayBook was a great standalone device and that the missing PIM functions would arrive in an upcoming software update. That’s expected later this year.

The PlayBook suffered another blow this past weekend when 1,000 units were recalled due to a software glitch. RIM said in a statement that the majority of the affected devices were still in distribution channels and had not yet been sold.