Although the PlayBook is months away from being released, RIM is already touting its superiority to the iPad when it comes to surfing the 'Net. In a video created for BlackBerry's blog, a user shows the PlayBook loading webpages more quickly and running JavaScript and HTML5 more fluidly than Apple's iPad. Oh, there's Flash support too.

In the video, a demonstrator from RIM's Web browser development group shows the comparatively petite PlayBook and the iPad side by side, caches cleared and connected to WiFi. He loads a couple of websites simultaneously on the devices, and the PlayBook completes the load first by a large margin, beating the iPad soundly.

We see the PlayBook easily load a Flash-heavy page, while the iPad shows a more sparse HTML version. Our guide brings up some JavaScript and HTML5 features that the PlayBook handles smoothly, while the iPad can only manage choppy, stuttering versions of the same.

Of course, there are a number of things that could be driving the differences. For instance, the hardware in the iPad is eight months old by now, while the PlayBook, slated for release in 2011, is more up to date. The increased performance may also come at the cost of the battery life, as we found in the Flash-battery life relationship in the MacBook Air. Last of all, the video is shot in a heavily controlled setting meant to play up the strengths of the PlayBook. That said, RIM's tablet looks promising, but it will have to execute as least as well as in the example below if it's going to snatch significant market share away from Apple.