RIM's Ipad tablet rival Playbook will tip up in UK on 16 June

RESEARCH IN MOTION'S (RIM's) Playbook tablet will go on sale on 16 June at a number of retailers across the UK.

Dixons, Currys, PC World, Carphone Warehouse, Bestbuy, Insight UK and Phones 4u will all stock the Ipad contendor when RIM launches it in the UK next month.

The Playbook comes with some unique features that might make it appealing to customers, such as advanced security features and enterprise support. These set it apart from Apple's tablet and the myriad Android tablets on the market, as RIM focuses on the enterprise sector.

One feature the Playbook has over the Ipad is Flash support, but since Android tablets also have this it will be difficult for RIM to use it as a selling point.

It's not clear how well RIM's tablet will do in the UK, as initial reports suggested that the Playbook was not selling quite as well as hoped in the US and Canada, but RIM still expects to sell three million of them by the end of the year.

It was labeled a 'slow burn' product by many analysts and has great potential in the enterprise market, where RIM has earned a strong reputation for its encrypted email and other business offerings on its Blackberry smartphone range.

Many UK retail stores are now accepting pre-orders on their websites. With nearly a month to go before release, the device could potentially be sold out at launch on pre-orders alone.

Prices will be £399 for a 16GB model, £479 for a 32GB one, and £559 for a 64GB Playbook. µ