Research in Motion, the maker of the Blackberry, has announced the rival to the Ipad: the Blackberry Playbook.

The Blackberry Playbook, in tablet format, is said to be the latest must-have accessory for the business industry.

With all the features of its mobile counterpart, the Playbook can boast a seven-inch screen with front and rear facing cameras which is ideal for conference calls.

RIM decided to get rid of their Blackberry OS 6 operating system in favour of QNX software, which has been recently acquired by the company.

The system has been specifically designed for the tablet size to avoid any technical problems which may arise due to the change in platform.

Blackberry Playbook has both Bluetooth and wi-fi capabilities, but lacks 3G. Users can, however, use data connection through a Blackberry smartphone.

Corporate users will find the Playbook on their doorsteps by October, whilst general consumers will have to wait until early 2011.