Best Tablets 2011 Reviews

Tablets are the technology's industry's latest gold rush. With Apple selling 15 million iPads in 2010 and projected to sell as many as 45 million in 2011, everyone wants a piece of the public's sudden infatuation with multitouch slabs of silicon. From the world's biggest computer companies to obscure little parts makers, there are an obscene number of companies releasing tablets this year.

1. Apple iPad 2

The iPad remains the king of the category and, even with the invasion of an army of challengers, it's difficult to see a scenario in which the iPad won't retain a commanding market share lead when we get to the end of 2011. It still has too many factors in its favor: usability, battery life, a massive catalog of apps, and price. The last factor might be the most important. In 2010, price was the iPad's greatest marketing weapon as rivals had a very hard time meeting the iPad's price tag while offering a comparable experience. The iPad 2 doesn't offer any revolutionary new changes. It's thinner and lighter, has an upgraded processor and display, and adds front and rear cameras. It's a nice refinement, and with its big advantages in app and content libraries, it easily has enough value to keep it at the top of the list.

2. HP TouchPad

I think we can safely call this one the "X factor." Even afterHewlett-Packard officially unveiled its webOS tablet on February 9, there are still two big questions hanging out there € when exactly will it arrive ("summer" is all we know) and how much will it cost? This product has been in the works since HP bought Palm last summer. Putting the resources of HP behind the massive potential of webOS could be great combination. Also, don't forget that HP has a decade of experience building tablet hardware € even if it was as part of the long defeat for Microsoft's Tablet PC. HP's new TouchPad is 9.7-inch tablet with lots of high-end features, but it doesn't have much to distinguish it from Apple or Android and that could hurt. The tablet will likely succeed or fail based on price. If it is comparable to the iPad ($500) while offering a strong er feature-set, it has a shot. If it's more expensive than the iPad then it could struggle. Still, the WebOS is a natural fit for tablets and the TouchPad could potentially trump the iPad in true multitasking, better integrated notifications,and messaging.

3. The Amazon tablet

Amazon appears to be putting all the pieces in place to build its own Android tablet. In fact, it may be better positioned to compete with Apple than any of the other tablet makers because of its strengths in content and cloud computing. Amazon already had the Kindle e-book library and Web-based music and video stores, but in 2011 it has added the Amazon Appstore for Android andAmazon Cloud Drive. Plus, the word out of Asia is thatAmazon is prepping a low-cost tablet using an E-ink display. Amazon hasn't made any announcements yet, so this tablet benefits from lots of positive speculation, but the stars appear to be aligning for aformidable tablet product from the world's e-commerce king, which will likely price it low and make money off the content sales.

4. BlackBerry PlayBook
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