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BlackBerry (News - Alert) maker Research in Motion is finally entering the tablet game. Following months of speculation, the company announced on Tuesday that its highly anticipated Playbook tablet computer will hit select Best Buy (News - Alert) stores on April 19.

RIM's new product will follow the exact same pricing structure as its soon-to-be rival, the Apple iPad. The 16-gigabyte WiFi-enabled Playbook will cost $499, while the 32- and 66-gig models will retail at $599 and $699, respectively.

The tablet will eventually be available for purchase at more than 20,000 retail outlets in the U.S. and Canada. Stores that will carry the Playbook will include Best Buy, AT&T, Verizon (News - Alert), RadioShack, Sears Canada and Walmart, according to the AP. Consumers can begin pre-ordering the tablet computer as soon as today via Best Buy's website. 

Mike Abramsky, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets in Toronto, told Bloomberg Business Week that the Playbook's distribution model is much more aggressive than the iPad 2, which was only launched at around 10,000 retail outlets earlier this month.

“The BlackBerry PlayBook is an amazing tablet that is already being widely praised as a multi-tasking powerhouse with an uncompromised Web experience and an ultra-portable design,” Mike Lazaridis, president and co-CEO of Research In Motion, noted in a statement.

“Given the high level of customer interest in the BlackBerry PlayBook, we are particularly pleased to be working with such an amazing lineup of retail partners," he added.

Jim Tobin, senior vice-president, software and business services, told Bloomberg (News - Alert) last week that the Canadian company demoed the new tablet for a "significant" number of Fortune 100 companies and found the interest in the mobile device to be "very high."

The Playbook is equipped with a seven-inch capacitive LCD touch screen, a 1 GHz dual-core processor and dual 1080p HD cameras for video conferencing and video capture. The tablet also sports stereo speakers, stereo microphones and support for high resolution video playback, making it more than just a business device.

Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Tammy Wolf