The Playbook tablet has been announced by BlackBerry manufacturers RIM as the main iPad competitor.

Of course, most weeks there is a new rival to the iPad, but considering the BlackBerry and the iPhone are the two most owned Smartphones, everyone was holding their breaths and hoping that RIM would bring something pretty amazing to the fore.

Although the release dates for the 32gb or 16gb RIM’s device has not been announced we are already privy to some of the features including a 7-inch multitouch touchscreen and a high powered OS.

BlackBerry chief executive Mike Lazaridis has claimed that the Playbook will be “the first professional tablet”, with the ability to run Flash, and offer micro-HDMI and micro-usb ports – weighing in at 400g it also includes dual HD cameras for video calling - things that the iPad currently lacks.

However, Tim Daniels TMT sector strategist, Olivetree Securities comments: "The Playbook doesn’t have wireless capability and it can only access the internet via WiFi or via Bluetooth with a Blackberry attached. Although it plans to offer 3G and 4G models going forwards, it doesn’t change the fact that RIM will continue to lose market share as it moves into the consumer market and dilutes its margins. The phones just aren’t as good as the competition. There are no details yet on when it will be available, from whom and how much.”

Of course, this is RIM’s first attempt and it is not yet out, the device may be tweaked nearer the time of release to compensate for all the concerns.

It is just a waiting game for all, I for one cannot wait to see the Samsung and the Android competitors too!