HP TouchPad vs Apple iPad vs Motorola Xoom vs BlackBerry PlayBook

Following the unchallenged success of Apple's iPad last year, it was only a matter of time before other companies began to offer tablets of their own. And while some might argue it's far too late to challenge the iPad's dominance, that's not going to stop some of the industry's biggest players from trying.

having announced their WebOS-based TouchPad tablet earlier today. Once you're done digesting all the juicy details, we're going to see how how HP's upcoming tablet compares to Apple's mobile juggernaut, as well as some of this year's other most anticipated models.

Motorola's Xoom and HP's TouchPad will both be 3G/4G capable, and BlackBerry's PlayBook is actually 4G-only, at least thus far (a 3G-capable model has only been rumoured).

Also, dual-core is more or less the norm from here on out, with each manufacturer using their own ARM-based variant inside. This jives with what we've heard about the iPad 2, which may be clocked at 1.2 GHz like Motorola's Xoom. Coupled with a beefy 1 GB of RAM for all the tablets we've compared — far more than the current generation iPad's paltry 256 MB — and you have a good indication of where this market is heading in terms of performance and speed.

our bet is that Apple's next generation iPad will stick to this trend — contrary to what some rumours claim.

Finally, it's worth noting the interesting discrepancy between cameras in each of this year's tablets. HP, for example, offers no rear-facing camera, providing only a modest front-facing sensor instead. Meanwhile, the Xoom and the PlayBook offer considerably higher-quality sensors, while the iPad 2 is said to have a paltry 1 MP rear-facing camera and a 0.3 MP sensor on the front. The lack of consistency is intriguing, and seems to indicate that, beyond video-calling capabilities, no one is quite sure whether tablet photography will have similar success when compared to mobile phones.

Below, we have a full comparison of this year's upcoming tablets, with the first-generation iPad included for reference.

	Apple iPad (iOS)	Motorola Xoom (Honeycomb)	HP TouchPad (WebOS)	BlackBerry PlayBook (QNX)
Display	9.7" IPS	10.1" LCD	9.7" LCD	7" LCD
Resolution	1024x768	1200x800	1024x768	1024 x 600
Processor	1 GHz Apple A4	1 GHz dual-core Tegra 2	1.2 GHz dual-core Snapdragon	1 GHz dual-core TI OMAP 4430
RAM	256 MB DDR	1 GB DDR2	1 GB	1 GB
Battery Life	10 hours of video playback	10 hours of video playback	Unknown	Unknown
Dimensions	9.53" x 7.48" x 0.54"	9.8" x 6.6" x 0.5"	9.45" x 7.48" x 0.54"	5.1" x 7.6" x 0.4"
Weight	1.6 pounds	1.6 pounds	1.6 pounds	0.9 pounds
Storage	16GB, 32GB, 64GB	32GB	16GB, 32GB	16GB, 32GB, 64GB
WiFi	802.11a/b/g/n	802.11b/g/n	802.11b/g/n	802.11a/b/g/n
Cellular	3G	3G/4G	3G/4G	4G
Bluetooth	2.1 + EDR	2.1 + EDR	2.1 + EDR	2.1 + EDR
GPS	A-GPS (3G only)	GPS/A-GPS	A-GPS	—
Front-facing camera	—	2 MP	1.3 MP	3 MP
Rear-facing camera	—	5 MP	—	5 MP
Video Calling	—	Google Talk	Skype	Yes
Video Recording	—	720p	Unknown	720p
Multitasking	Partial	Yes	Yes (card-based)	Yes (card-based)
Browser	Webkit (Safari)	Webkit (Chrome)	Webkit	Webkit
Mobile Hotspot	No	Yes	Yes	No
Adobe Flash	No	Yes	Yes	Yes

What are your thoughts on Palm's tablet announcement? How do you think this year's tablets compare? Which are you most interested in buying? Let us know below!