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Research In Motion might have stayed behind in terms of introduction an actual product in the market. However, the company hasn't lagged behind in announcing competitive tablets in the growing segment. At the ongoing Mobile World Congress, RIM has announced two new models of upcoming PlayBook tablet - one with HSPA+ support and other with LTE. The original PlayBook models - WiFi and WiFi+WiMAX are scheduled to start shipping by the second quarter of this year. In a way, RIM has leapfrogged 3G and looks forward to future-friendly 4G tablet models.

At the Consumer Electronics Show 2011 last month, RIM PlayBook did win many hearts and accolades with is initial performance. Powered by the new BlackBerry Tablet OS (QNX Real-Time OS), the PlayBook has dual-core 1GHz microprocessor and 1GB RAM. It comes with a 7-inch WSVGA (1024x600) touchscreen display that promises 1080p HD video playback. The 5 megapixel back panel HD camera promises respectable image quality while the front panel 3 megapixel HD camera will offer HD quality video conferencing and chat.

Apart from current generation features offering hardware, the BlackBerry Tablet OS powered with QNX technology will also let you tether with BlackBerry OS 5.0 or higher running smartphones. Smoother web browsing experience is expected as the BlackBerry tablet OS supports Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Java, OpenGL, and Adobe Mobile AIR. Not only that, you can also enjoy full-fledged web browsing with HTML5 support.

Keeping the features aside, PlayBook WiFi and WiMAX models are expected to start shopping in the second quarter of this year. These two new models supporting HSPA+ and LTE would be introduced simultaneous during the same period.

The tablet war will heat up in the second quarter of 2011 when several feature rich tablets would be available. Motorola XOOM, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, HTC Flyer, LG Optimus Pad, Apple iPad 2 and RIM PlayBook will have a huge fight in the consumer market ring. It's too early to guess which tablet will win since all of them have promising specifications.