The BlackBerry PlayBook looks set to land safely on UK shores in the second quarter of 2011, following its release in North America between January and March. That’s the word direct from Gregory Wade, RIM’s top exec in the Asia Pacific region.

That means we might not see the iPad rival in waiting arrive here until next June, putting it way behind the iPad 2 and the undoubted slew of Android tablets which will get an airing at CES in January.

Wade also confirmed to Digitimes that the PlayBook would cost $500 (£311). RIM’s CEO recently claimed it would come in under that mark, although it’s likely he meant $499. Either way, that matches the basic iPad price and that’s before network subsidies are taken into account.

4G tech is also said to be under the hood, although it’s unclear whether this means WiMAX, LTE or HSPA+. With the iPad 2 just round the corner, RIM has a hell of a job on its hands to try and crack the nascent tablet market and come out on top.

Via Digitimes