We've known about Research in Motion’s PlayBook tablet for a few months now, but RIM announced this week that it would be releasing a special 4G model that would run exclusively on Sprint's WiMAX network. The tablet has a 1GHUz dual core processor and is slightly lighter and thicker than Apple's popular iPad. And unlike the iPad, the PlayBook is tailored for the enterprise since it features all the same wireless security features that BlackBerry devices have and it comes installed with HD videoconferencing capabilities. RIM says in addition to releasing the 4G PlayBook, it will also release a Wi-Fi only version of the device in the first quarter of 2011.

Android 3.0, a.k.a., "Honeycomb"

There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the tablet-centric version of Google's popular Android mobile platform and CES attendees got their first chance to try it out this week. Included among Honeycomb's features are a Gmail application that's formatted into two columns; a GTalk video chat application that takes advantage of both front- and rear-facing cameras; and an updated version of Google's Chrome browser.

Motorola's Xoom will be the first tablet to utilize Honeycomb and will be available on Verizon's 3G and 4G networks. Prior to the debut of the Xoom, Samsung's Galaxy Tab was the only tablet to run on Android, although it uses the 2.2 "Froyo" edition that is not optimized for tablets. Google has said that tablets based on non-Honeycomb editions of Android will not properly run applications downloaded from the Android App Market.

Cisco's Cius