With the recent unveiling of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet and BlackBerry Tablet OS, the mobile computing scene has been redefined.

Designed to give users what they want, including uncompromised web browsing, true multitasking, high performance multimedia, advanced security features, out-of-the-box enterprise support and a breakthrough development platform for IT departments and developers, the incredibly powerful and innovative BlackBerry PlayBook is truly a game-changing product in the growing tablet marketplace.

Expected to be available in retail outlets and other channels in the United States in early 2011, the BlackBerry PlayBook will also be available in other international markets beginning in Q2 2011.

Mike Lazaridis, President and Co-CEO at Research In Motion said, “RIM set out to engineer the best professional-grade tablet in the industry with cutting-edge hardware features and one of the world’s most robust and flexible operating systems.”

A comparison of the technical specifications of both the iPad and the BlackBerry PlayBook shows that the BlackBerry PlayBook is smaller, thinner and lighter, with a measurement of 5.1”x7.6”x0.4”, a 7” screen with resolution size of 1024x600, and an approximate weight of 0.9lb.

The specifications of the iPad are 7.47”x9.56”x0.5, a 9.7” screen with resolution size of 1024x768, and weighs 1.5 pounds for the Wi-Fi model. It also sports dual HD cameras, with 3-megapixels front-facing, and 5-megapixels back-facing.

With many tablet PCs already in the market and several more entering in the future, it remains to be seen how great an impact the BlackBerry PlayBook would make. There are speculations that Apple may launch a newer and much more improved version of its iPad around the time of BlackBerry’s Playbook launch.

Further, with iPad dominating the tablet PC market with thousands of applications specially made for the iPad, Apple still has a leading position in the software aspect of tablet PCs.