Flash software is owned by Adobe and is used to create dynamic web content. It not supported by Apple devices because founder Steve Jobs believes it is too much of a drain on battery life.
RIM's tablet is coming to market at a time when Apple is running TV ads for its new iPad 2 and more than a year after the original iPad launched in the UK.
The TV ad, created by AMV BBDO, opens with a voiceover that says, "What's so special about web browsing on the new BlackBerry Playbook?" before the strains of 'Flash' by Queen kick in. It will premiere tomorrow night in the first ad break of Channel 4's 8pm show 'Help My House Is Falling Down' as part of a media strategy planned by Starcom.
The BlackBerry tablet goes on sale on tomorrow at Carphone Warehouse, Best Buy, Phones4U and the Dixons Group. It is also exclusively available at Selfridge's today.
The price of both the iPad 2 and the PlayBook start at £399 including VAT for the 16GB model. The former has a 9.7 inch screen and weighs 601 grams and the latter has a seven-inch screen and weighs 425 grams.
RIM could reveal the first sales figures for PlayBook in its first quarter results tomorrow.
Analysts estimate it sold in the region of 250,000 units in the US within the first month of going on sale in April.
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