RIM has today released a press release informing developers that they are now accepting BlackBerry Playbook tablet app submissions for their App World store.

On top of that, they also informed us that they would be handing out free Playbooks to devs that have their app approved before the official North American launch. To get your hands on the free device, you can follow the steps provided by RIM below:

Get your free BlackBerry PlayBook tablet by following these steps:

1. Develop and test your application.
   View BlackBerry® Tablet OS development resources
2. Register for BlackBerry App World
3. Submit your app to BlackBerry App World.
   Log in to the BlackBerry App World vendor portal

This comes after the company recently updated their BlackBerry Tablet OS SDK with support for Adobe Flash Builder 4.5, Linux, and Windows 64-bit. It appears developers have had positive feedback, especially regarding the ability to port Adobe Air apps to the device with ease…

The BlackBerry PlayBook has some stellar hardware specs which will support Adobe AIR quite well,” said Randy Troppman, Founder, RunningMap. “I recompiled several of my AIR apps with the BlackBerry Tablet OS AIR SDK and they worked the first time. Unmodified. Piece of cake. Now I just need to take advantage of the BlackBerry PlayBook’s touch screen to take these apps to the next level.”

You can download the SDK for Mac, PC, and Linux below:

• Download the BlackBerry® Tablet OS SDK Beta2 for Adobe® AIR®:
  SDK for Windows®, SDK for Mac, SDK for Linux
• Download the BlackBerry® PlayBook™ Simulator Beta:
  simulator for Windows, simulator for Mac, simulator for Linux

[RIM via BGR]