Top 10 products to look forward to in 2011

Predicting the future is always tricky, but we can already foresee plenty of exciting products to look forward to in 2011. Although it's possible the likes of Apple, Google or HP will introduce something completely unexpected, here are the 10 products we're most looking forward to in the new year. They fall into three broad categories: tablets, smartphones and processors.

RIM PlayBook

Blackberry maker RIM may be a very profitable company, but it's also steadily losing marketshare in the lucrative smartphone market to Apple and Google. The Canadian giant hopes to take a bite out of the tablet market though with its PlayBook tablet. Although demoed back in September 2010, it won't be available until some time in 2011.

The 7in tablet will have a dual core processor and uses a brand-new operating system that could eventually make its way down to the humble Blackberry. The PlayBook can not only run online Flash content, but it can also run applications designed in Flash and Adobe Air too.

The PlayBook is not only an interesting product in its own right, it also the fortunes of an entire company resting on its diminutive, metaphorical shoulders. We can't wait to try it out.

Read more about the RIM PlayBook here.

Apple iPad 2

As we've come to expect from Apple, nothing is officially known about the next version of the iPad. It almost certainly exists somewhere deep in Jonathan Ive's labs though, if only because of the intense competition the current iPad will face in the new year from competitors such as the RIM PlayBook.

Rumours are swirling over what the new iPad will be like. Will have it FaceTime video conferencing cameras? Will it have an SD card slot? Will it be lighter and cheaper? Will it come with a sparkly new version of iOS? Only Steve Jobs knows and he's not telling.

Read our review of the current Apple iPad here.

Motorola Android 3.0 tablet

Motorola has staked the future of its mobile phone business on Android. For many, the company is almost synonymous with its Droid series of Android-equipped smartphones, even though Motorola only uses the Droid name in the US.

Motorola hopes its run of good fortune will extend to tablets as the company prepares to launch its own competitor to the iPad. Little is known the tablet, apart from the expectation that it will run Android 3.0 Honeycomb, the first version of the operating system designed specifically to work on tablets.

It's due to be unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this month. The PlayBook will almost certainly make an appearance too, giving showgoers a prime opportunity to compare the two.