The maker of  the Blackberry smart phone recently took on Apple’s IPad with the release of its tablet computer, the Blackberry Playbook.

Research in Motion released the Playbook in the U.S. and Canada on April 19.  And now a number of international markets are getting ready for the Playbook as well.

The countries where the Playbook is scheduled to debut include the United Kingdom and the Netherlands (June 16), Australia (June 20), India (June 23) and the United Arab Emirates (June 25).

PlayBook has a dual-core 1GHz processor, a new operating system called the BlackBerry Tablet OS which is based on the QNX Neutrino system and runs BlackBerry Java apps, Flash (unlike the IPad) and via an emulator program Android apps.

Although the Playbook received mixed reviews prior to its release, the response since then has improved.

The Playbook is reportedly racking up some impressive sales figures. On launch day, approximately 50,000 units were sold, exceeding expectations. Outside sources estimate the Playbook sold 250,000 units in its first month and expect 500,000 units will be sold in its first quarter.