Since before the launch of the iPad, we have heard rumor after rumor about tablets about to hit the market. Time and again, these rumors proved to be just that… rumors, and we’ve seen nothing. The amazing sales figures of the iPad have overshadowed all the manufacturers and models that never arrived. Companies like Microsoft and HP are two of the most notable companies with phantom tablets.

It is no surprise that after the unprecedented success of the iPad, that surprised even the biggest optimists, competitors want to get back in on the newest and hottest hardware platform.

Toshiba announced its Libretto which is a hybrid machine that has the form factor of a netback, replacing the physical keyboard with a second touchscreen and adding an accelerometer. 

Cisco is capitalizing on the iPad’s biggest shortcoming. Of all the demographics gobbling up the iPad faster than Apple can have them made, the enterprise is the slowest of the bunch. Let’s face facts, the iPad’s strong suit is not its business performance. Sure you can get the iWork suite or DocumentsToGo and you can connect to an Exchange server but the iPad is not build for the enterprise. Cisco plans to  fill that hole wit the Cius (pronounced See us?) next year. It will sport a front and rear facing camera and do full video teleconferencing. It will be priced below $1,000 and be aimed at businesses.

The latest entry is LG. There is not much information as of press time. We do know, however, that it will be powered by Android, which should not be much of a surprise to anyone.

Microsoft remains quiet and after the failure of the Kin, needs to get into the mobile space in a big way so maybe we will hear form them in regards to a tablet.