As the tablet war rages on, it’s hard to tell which one is really winning.  New features and better specs are the main focal points in the development of better tablets.  But RIM focused on the security features of their Blackberry Playbook, which led to their Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) certification.

The FIPS certification makes the BlackBerry PlayBook the first tablet certified for deployment within US government agencies, banking on RIM’s attention to security and appeal in this regard.

“RIM is pleased to announce that the BlackBerry PlayBook is the first tablet approved under FIPS for use within the US federal government,” said BlackBerry Security headman Scott Totzke in a prepared statement.

“This certification,” Totzke continued, “demonstrates our continued commitment to meeting the needs of security-conscious organizations and enables the US federal government to buy with confidence knowing that the PlayBook meets their computing policy requirements for protecting sensitive information.”

The FIPS certification is a relief for RIM as the PlayBook hasn’t been performing well in the market.  RIM as a company is also under fire from investors and consumers alike, thanks to RIM’s impending layoffs.  Other tablets may be dominating the public market, and Samsung is in the lead to topple the iPad, even beyond RIM’s cozy enterprise demographic.  But hey, it’s not every day you get certification for government use, right?