By Lauren DeLisa Coleman

BlackBerry’s PlayBook officially hits the shelves today. The latest addition to the tablet world came up against some mixed reviews leading up to its release, so we decided to investigate for ourselves at the company’s big launch party last week in New York City. Watch as we talk with some of the developers about what the real deal is behind some of the features, get answers to some of your questions previously Tweeted to me, and see what one special celeb, who stopped by the party, really thinks about the PlayBook.  Check this out!

Lauren DeLisa Coleman is a writer, host and thought-leader specializing in the diverse segment of the Gen Y demo, tech and its convergence with socio-economic concerns. She is also the CEO and founder of Punch Media Group, an edgy digital media and entertainment company which develops pop culture experience and branding strategy across digital platforms. Follow her @mediaempress

(Tech World) — Steve Jobs tried to dismiss iPad’s tablet rivals as “copycats” at Wednesday’s iPad 2 launch. But whether Steve likes it or not, the tablet wars are officially on. And this battle will be decided not only by consumers and gadget lovers seeking the latest and greatest slates, but also by businesses and corporate workers looking for the next game-changing productivity tool.

You can expect to see many Android-based tablets from the likes of Motorola and Samsung, just to name a couple of manufacturers. Two of the most anticipated tablets of 2011 are Apple’s iPad 2 and BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry PlayBook tablet.

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The announcement of Apple’s newest digital tablet offering, the iPad2, has had many gadget-lovers bursting with anticipation this week. But in the same week, BlackBerry’s PlayBook made a nice stealth move itself. In a slightly under the radar event, a few insiders were invited to peep BlackBerry’s upcoming tablet venture, the not-too-yet-widely-seen Playbook. In fact, the East Coast’s debut-of-sorts of the Playbook took place in front of some 75 people in a chic location right in Manhattan’s Meat Packing District.  Amidst free-flowing cocktails, savory hors d’oevures and a chill ambiance set by a discreetly placed DJ, BlackBerry brought out about 15 of its devices for attendees to fully demo, cuddle and cradle.  My verdict: it’s basically no joke.

The size is ideal, the HD screen is enviable, the speed is fast; but as always, the cool thing about BlackBerry is that it’s always about both the enterprise and consumer world, so the Playbook comes loaded with Word and Excel, as well as music apps. One nice feature is  once one turns the device onto its side (“portrait” rather than “landscape”), he/she can type with the thumbs on screen just as you would on the BlackBerry’s qwerty keyboard. And yes, Playbook has two cameras too. In short, it’s not just a large version of their smartphone, it’s a brand new operating system.

But the real question is how can BlackBerry win with this product given the fierce competitiveness of the digital tablet wars?

The answer: by forming an even deeper connection with the hip, young, digitally savvy African-American market.

There’s a wealth of impact behind our buying power when it’s really accessed.  So here are a few things you, as well as manufacturers,  may not know, but should find interesting as you prep to buy your next devices. First, the Nielsen Company recently issued a powerful announcement stating that the African-American market offers the smartphone industry (and one may assume by extension, tablets, since they are associated with smartphone brands) its very best opportunity for growth.  Let me repeat that: the very best.  In fact, Nielsen’s stats show we are more likely than the mainstream to actually own a smartphone.  And the manufacturer of choice has been BlackBerry – until recently. Currently,  31 percent of African-Americans  are Blackberry owners, 27 percent are Android owners and the iPhone comes in last at only 15 percent.  But Blackberry purchases by African-Americans, according to Nielsen, have actually dropped from 38 percent in October of 2009 to 20 percent in December 2010–which has been the fastest decline among smartphone manufacturers.

I don’t think this decline is a function of brand quality; BlackBerry is a great product -  but its moreso due to the fact that other brands are making quite Hot products and simply talking to us, albeit not directly,  a bit more these days.

These statistics become even more compelling when one refers to the Target Market News Report on the buying power of Black America. It recently documented that African-Americans spent a breath-taking $9.4 billion dollars in 2009 on digital devices and mobile phones and service (an increase of 30% from the prior year). In addition, the African-American market–which is growing in terms of sheer population while the Caucasian market is shrinking–is expanding their on-line usage while that of the mainstream begins to stagnate (source:  eMarketer). When you add in the fact that Blacks access social media more frequently than the mainstream, and even out-index in population percentage usage on Twitter (source: Arbitron), it creates a perfect platform that can be used to reach our demographic and generate revenue.  Mix and stir in the influence of edgy urban youth culture, and its game over.

Thus, what tech players such as BlackBerry could now do to gain a competitive leverage is to raise the volume on unique and relevant digital-meets-off-line marketing campaigns that are tailored for specific demo segmentation. The company could also partner with appropriate brand ambassadors to promote the Playbook message in unique and organic ways within the black community.  Even creatively tapping into groupings like #teamblackberry on Twitter (where, if you haven’t noticed, the faces are overwhelmingly brown) could make an exponential impact.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to our influential demo.  So it pays to not only  understand the intricacies of these great new tech devices like the Playbook, but also the part you play in the purchase food-chain as well.

See my coverage of the event and exclusive BlackBerry interview and demo here.

Lauren DeLisa Coleman is a writer, host and thought-leader specializing in the diverse segment of the Gen Y demo, tech and its convergence with socio-economic concerns. She is also the CEO and founder of Punch Media Group, an edgy digital media and entertainment company which develops pop culture experience and branding strategy across digital platforms. Follow her @mediaempress