The BlackBerry PlayBook can't catch a break. Research in Motion announced that it will recall about 1,000 PlayBook tablets due to a software glitch.
The problem affects the 16GB version of the device. RIM said these PlayBooks "were shipped with an OS build that may result in the devices being unable to properly load software upon initial set-up."
RIM said "the majority" of the affected devices were still in the distribution channel and had not yet reached customers. "In the small number of cases where a customer received a PlayBook that is unable to properly load software upon initial set-up, they can contact RIM for assistance," RIM said.
The PlayBook has had a bit of a rough road since its April launch. The reviews were less than stellar, primarily due to the tablet's lack of a native email client. At BlackBerry World earlier this month, RIM showed the first public demos of native email, contacts, and calendar running on the PlayBook, along with Android apps and high-quality games, but many questioned why RIM didn't wait until those features were available to release the tablet.
At that same conference, RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis defended the company's PlayBook strategy, saying the company is in a "transitional time."
Despite the lackluster response from the tech community, it appears that someone is buying the PlayBook. Best Buy said last month that sales have "far exceeded" expectations. An analyst, meanwhile, predicted that RIM possibly sold 45,000 PlayBooks in its first few days.
For more, see PCMag's full review of the PlayBook and the slideshow below, as well as the unboxing and comparison with the Motorola Xoom and iPad 2.