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If 2010 belonged to one particular technology it would undoubtedly be the tablet. It’s only fitting then that 2011 will see some wickedly cool tablets, five of which are below for your reading pleasure.

Motorola Xoom
The first Android tablet from a big manufacturer after the Samsung’s Galaxy Tab, the Motorola’s Xoom is a 10-inch device that will run Android 3.0 (Honeycomb). Even if these are just rumors, we are mighty impressed by the tablet’s specs, which include an Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, 2MP and 5MP front and back cameras respectively, a gyroscope and 32GB of internal storage along with support for microSD cards.

When it’s expected: The Xoom is widely expected to be unveiled in January at CES 2011 and launched in February.

Apple iPad 2
The device that sparked the tablet revolution will definitely see a new version this year what with Apple’s tradition of annually updating their handheld devices. Of course, Apple has kept the iPad 2’s development a complete mystery so we have to rely on rumors flitting around the Internet. One such rumor states that the iPad 2 will be powered by a 1GHz dual core Arm Cortex A9 processor. Also, the iPad 2 is supposed to have a more improved retina display, the same display that’s currently on the iPhone 4. The iPad is also supposed to get dual cameras and much better speakers.

When it’s expected: Considering the complete vacuum of official information leaves the field open for speculation. We would expect the tablet to show up in the early period of third quarter 2011.

RIM PlayBook
RIM was taken by surprise when Apple and Google stormed into the smartphone segment and has subsequently lost plenty of ground to them. With the PlayBook tablet RIM is getting into the tablet market early and as far as we can tell, the PlayBook should do quite well for itself. RIM has certainly cut no corners with the tablet as can be seen in its 1GHz dual core ARM processor and dual cameras, one of which can even record 1080p HD video. To top it all off and to make the PlayBook a viable alternative for business users, the PlayBook has productivity features such as HD videoconferencing and strong wireless data security.

When it’s expected: Unless something untoward happens, the Playbook should be launched in January 2011.

Notion Ink Adam
The homegrown Adam tablet from Notion Ink has certainly got everyone excited and not without reason. It has a 10.1 inch Pixel Qi display that greatly improves the readability factor of fonts and is powered by a dual core Cortex A9 processor along with an Nvidia Tegra 2 graphics chip. Performance is also taken care of by 1GB of RAM. The Adam will also run a custom hybrid version of Android Gingerbread and Honeycomb.

When it’s expected:The pre-orders have already begun and it should be more readily available in January and February.

Asus Eee Pad EP121
While the Asus tablet may not have generated as much excitement as the Apple and Android tablets, it’s an interesting device since it is the only one in the list running a full desktop OS in the form of Windows 7 Home Premium. It’s also larger than the other tablets with a 12-inch display and has an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, making it a device that’s closer to notebooks than tablets.

When it’s expected: Since Asus revealing the tablets in June, things have been pretty quiet. The tablets are still expected to launch in the first quarter of 2011.