Already, CES hasn't yet begun and I've seen, or at least heard of, six new tablet manufacturers: Toshiba, Sharp, Panasonic, Asus, LG, and Motorola with its much-buzzed-about Motorola Zoom.

The Motorola Zoom, which the Internet media has been in a frenzy about for a week now, deliver some enticing features, like a dual core processor, Android Honeycomb operating systems, 1080p video playback, 3G with upgrade capabilities to 4G, an HD widescreen, front and back cameras, Flash support, and multitasking. But stealing the company's press conference was the new Atrix 4G smartphone. Not so much for the phone itself, although it's a sleek device; but more so for accessories like a laptop dock that turns the phone into a fully functioning mobile computer.

The Atrix has a dual core processor itself, 1 GB of RAM, a qHD display, fingerprint reader, and an application that allows it to be used in full browser mode. Plop the device into the laptop dock, which is nothing more than a casing, screen and keyboard that looks like a netbook, and you can operate the phone and interact with all of its features as though you've tethered it to an actual netbook. Dock it and whatever you were working on will instantly appear on the dock's 11.6" display. The 13.9mm thin laptop dock doesn't have any innards itself, but does boast built-in speakers and up to 8 hours of battery life; plus charging capability for the docked phone.

Bell has already confirmed that it will bring the Atrix smartphone to Canada, and hopefully this will also include these innovative accessories. (There's also an HD dock with three USB ports, HDMI out, and charging capability for connecting it to a desktop computer.)

Sharp's Galapagos tablet, mentioned in an earlier post, is already available in Japan in 5.8" and 10.8" widescreen sizes. It's based on the Linux operating system, and incorporates Sharp's mobile document format, which the company says is the most widely used version in Japan. It has advantages like being able to adjust content layout automatically. Complementing Galapagos, which Sharp deems an "e-media tablet", will be Sharp's own e-reader service and applications. The device also has a microSD memory card slot, and built-in WiFi (no 3G just yet). It is scheduled to launch in the U.S. some time this year.

Panasonic is hoping to differentiate its tablet, called the Viera tablet to fall in line with the company's flat panel TVs, through a cloud-based feature that makes it really integrate with the big screen experience. Using the tablet, owners of Panasonic Viera TVs will be able to access content through them. The tablet is based on the Android operating system, and is also already in Japan, with plans for North American availability later this year.

LG aimed to keep an air of mystery going by simply confirming that it will have a tablet, but revealing no details about it. Stay tuned once we get a look at it tomorrow.

Scheduled for release in Q2, Toshiba's tablet will be available with the Honeycomb Android operating system, although the company was demonstrating it using Android "Froyo." It boasts a 10" screen, Flash video support, WiFi, and built-in Webcams. Other features include a mini USB, full USB, and HDMI ports; plus an SD card slot. It has a textured black back, which can be switched out for a number of other colour options.

Asus sees power in numbers and revealed four tablets, including models like the Eee Pad Slider, which is meant to be the "best of both worlds" between a tablet and a notebook, featuring a 10.1" capacitive touch-sensitive screen that also has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard for added comfort when one desires physical keys. It is powered by the NVIDIA Tegra 2 with a dual-core CPU and NVIDIA GeForce GPU, and includes features like built-in digital cameras (1.2 MP front and 5 MP rear), and 3G connectivity. It is powered by the Android 3.0 operating system.

Clearly this is just the tip of the tablet iceberg, but will any of these models be able to crack into a category that Apple has so successfully dominated? We saw the same trending last year with e-readers, when several companies attempted to take on Amazon's Kindle, and none has managed to surpass it in sales. But with staunch support for the Android platform from developers, the custom AV market, and the smartphone world, at least a few of these devices, and others to come once the show officially begins, will keep Apple on its toes.

Note that the rumour mill suggests that Apple will be revealing a second generation iPad next month, although this has not been officially confirmed by the company.

This isn't a notebook: it's a laptop dock that houses the new Motorola Atrix 4G smartphone to allow users to enjoy full computing functionality.

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