Entrants Flood Race to Rival iPad .

A race to respond to Apple Inc.'s hit iPad gadget enters a new phase next week, as a host of companies use a Las Vegas trade show to talk up a broad array of tablet-style devices.

Companies expected to introduce touchscreen tablets at the Consumer Electronics Show include big names such as Motorola Inc., Dell Inc. and Acer Inc., as well as smaller manufacturers. Trying to stand apart, the devices will offer displays of various sizes and different operating systems. Some will have two built-in cameras; others none.

The stakes are high for many players—particularly Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp., kingpins of PC technology that have so far struggled to match the momentum in tablets of Google Inc.'s Android software and chip designs from ARM Holdings PLC.

A number of firms, including ViewSonic, Dell, Acer and Asustek Computer Inc., are hedging bets on Android with additional Windows-based models. Still others plan to emulate Apple by using their own software.

For example, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. has said it will use the QNX operating system for its seven-inch PlayBook, which the company unveiled in October and plans to sell for less than $500. RIM, which bought QNX Software Systems in April, plans to show off the PlayBook again at CES.

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What's In Store for Technology in 2011

It has been a big year in personal technology, from the debut and early success of Apple's iPad, to the rise and continuous improvement of Google's Android smart phone platform, to the continued surge in social services led by Facebook and Twitter.

Apple: Coming off a highly successful 2010, in which it introduced a new category of portable computer—the multitouch tablet—and sold millions of the product, Apple will have to withstand an onslaught of competitors by wowing consumers again with the second version of the iPad. At the same time, it will have to make a widely expected transition for the iPhone from a single carrier in the U.S., AT&T, to a second, likely Verizon

Google: The search giant, also riding high, is now in so many product areas it competes with nearly everyone. In its core search business, it must focus on fending off a surprisingly strong challenge from Microsoft's Bing by giving consumers more attractive, actionable results.

Microsoft: The software giant still generates strong consumer loyalty with its older products, like Windows and Office and Xbox, all of which have had updates in the past year or two. But it faces big challenges in two hot areas: smart phones and tablets. Its new Windows Phone 7 platform has some nice design features, but also some missing capabilities that need to be addressed.

RIM: The BlackBerry maker had a good 2010 in some ways, though sales were propped up by two-for-one giveaways, and consumer surveys show enthusiasm fading for the iconic smart phone. The company has an answer: a new software platform called QNX, but is vague on when that will show up on the BlackBerry. For 2011, RIM's big move will be a new QNX-based tablet, the PlayBook, which looks speedy and highly attractive in the limited demos RIM has provided.

HP: The technology behemoth's laptops and printers have proved popular with consumers. But it hasn't had any real presence in smart-phones, tablets or consumer cloud services. To solve the problems, in 2010 HP bought innovative but struggling Palm, whose smart-phone operating system, webOS, and phones, the Pre and Pixi, got good reviews but sold poorly and didn't attract many third-party apps.

Facebook and Twitter: The twin leaders in social networking were red-hot in 2010, attracting vast numbers of users. They have huge opportunities for further success, but face challenges. Smaller services, like social-coupon company Groupon, continue to emerge with new social and community ideas consumers like.

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The e-Book Market Is Garnering Rising Interest

Amazon.com stays mum about sales of its e-book reader the Kindle. Private sources pegged 2008 unit sales between 300K and 500K. More rosy is the forecast. An equity research analyst projected early this year that Kindle and its content can bring Amazon.com $1.2 billion in 2012.

Whether such forecast is accurate is anyone’s guess. But there is no doubt that electronic books and literatures are an under-monetized asset. This week I learned, in quite a surprise, that Shanda Literature, a subsidiary of China’s largest online game company Shanda Interactive, earned almost 100 million Yuan (equivalent to $14 million) in revenue in 2008. Shanda Literature operates three online Chinese literature communities where users contribute original stories and novels and share with one another. Visitors and community readers can opt to pay to read premium content, and Shanda Literature provides the distribution and payment platform and earn commission from each microtransaction. $14 million might be too small by American standards, but given the fact that Shanda just formerly established the subsidiary eight months ago (the portals were first set up in 2004), and the fact that the $14 million was based on micropayment, I would call Shanda Literature’s accomplishment “impressive.”

Let’s turn back to Amazon.com’s business model with Kindle. Earlier this month, Amazon made available an e-book reader software for Apple’s iPhone. It indicates that Amazon realizes that the Kindle is just half the digital literature market. The more lucrative part longer term might be the content and distribution business. Making e-book reader software available to more devices and platforms is just like Apple made its iTunes software to Windows-based PCs back in 2003. The goal is to expand the application’s reach so as to maximize the potential user base. Amazon will not be content with just distributing books in its physical form. It is reasonable to assume that its ambition is to become a digital publisher and play a commanding role in how e-books/literatures will be published and distributed. It may even distribute user generated content as the e-publishing platform tears down the all the barriers between an unrecognized yet talented writer and the traditional book publishing ecosystem. Since we could vote Kelly Clarkson as our “American Idol,” why we can’t let users vote their “Stephen King” or “Dan Brown” through an e-publishing system?

Perhaps recognizing e-book/e-literature market’s potential, two more collaborations were forged over the last two weeks. Last week, Sony partnered with Google to make the latter’s digital book content available on Sony’s e-book reader devices. Then Barnes & Noble yesterday announced that it will make its own e-book reader software available to RIM’s Blackberrys. Earlier this month, Barnes & Nobles also acquired an e-book seller Fictionwise.com. These deals revealed an intensified interest in the e-book business. As consumers get more accustomed to reading books on a digital device, the book publishing industry could be the next victim of the digital age.