RIM pins PlayBook battery woes on beta hardware

Here's one we made earlier

RIM has denied that the launch of its iPad-killing PlayBook tablet might be delayed by poor battery life.

The canadian company has dismissed multiple reports suggesting that the device could only manage 'a few hours' on a full charge by explaining that the test units in question were unfinished prototypes.

RIM sent an email to Erictric saying: “Any testing or observation of battery life to date by anyone outside of RIM would have been performed using pre-beta units that were built without power management implemented.

"RIM is on track with its schedule to optimize the BlackBerry PlayBook’s battery life and looks forward to providing customers with a professional grade tablet that offers superior performance with comparable battery life.”

We can only assume that "comparable battery life" refers to Apple's iPad which boasts up to 10 hours of normal use from a single charge and the Samsung Galaxy tab which promises six hours.

Depending on who you choose to believe, the seven-inch, business-centric PlayBook could hit the shelves any time between January and May 2011.