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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Acer Jumps Into Tablet Fray

As the rise of tablets threatens its low-cost laptop business, computer maker Acer Inc. unveiled plans to begin selling tablets that run either Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. software.

The Taiwan company said it will release three touchscreen tablets next year. The first, based on Microsoft's Windows platform, will have a 10.1 inch screen and be released in February. The company will also release two tablets using Google's Android platform in April, one with a 7-inch screen and one with a 10.1-inch screen.

Acer is the latest personal-computer maker to join the tablet bandwagon after Apple Inc.'s iPad, released in April, attracted strong consumer demand. Samsung Electronics Co. has begun selling a Google-based tablet with a 7-inch screen. Other companies, including BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. and Hewlett-Packard Co., have announced plans to introduce tablets to compete with Apple's product.

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