Despite rumours ofbattery issuesdelaying the release of RIM’s BlackBerry Playbook, the company has officially confirmed the device is still right on track for a first-quarter release in the US.

RIM took to the stage at CES in Las Vegas to announce that it would launching a 4G-enabled version of its tablet device in the Summer, prompting fears that the Wi-Fi only model would incur a delay also. RIM quickly moved to put and end to speculation in an email toAllThingsDstating:

“The BlackBerry PlayBook is expected to begin shipping in the U.S. in Q1.”

If you were intending on purchasing one of these devices, your fears have now been put to rest.

The BlackBerry playbook has been demonstrated on the floor at CES and also in anumber of short videoswhich take users through how the tablet operates. With the Playbook expected to launch by the end of March, the rest of the world will need towait until Q2to get their hands on one of these devices.

Story byMatt Brian

Matt is the former News Editor for The Next Web. You can follow him on Twitter, subscribe to his updates on Facebook and catch up with him(show all)Matt is the former News Editor for The Next Web. You can follow him onTwitter, subscribe to his updates onFacebookand catch up with him onGoogle+.

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