Dell seems to be taking a graduated approach to tablets. While other big names around it seemed unwilling to commit themselves in a hurry, Dell was quick to enter the nascent market with the 5-inch Streak, which marked a very circumspect foray into uncharted territory. Dell was probably trying to hedge its bet by letting the Streak function as a phone. The PC maker now seems ready to raise its tablet game a notch.

Dell CEO Michael on Wednesday flaunted a 7-inch tablet during a presentation at Oracle's annual OpenWorld conference in San Francisco, but did not give away any details about the device. However, the tablet bears a close resemblance to leaked shots of “Looking Glass,” a 7-inch tablet Dell has been rumored to be working on for quite a while now.

There was one question about the Streak that Jon Phillips, Maximum PC's editorial director, could not answer while reviewing the device: “Smartphone, tablet, GPS navigator, what is it?” He wasn't alone, though.

“We’re going to take Dell up on the tablet designation, which is why it receives a 6 verdict – two verdict points lower than what we gave the iPad in June. With even a 7-inch screen (which is rumored, by the way), the Streak would warrant a solid 7,” reads the business end of that review.

The odds of the next Dell tablet receiving more than 6 verdict points from MPC have certainly improved with this announcement.

Android is expected to be a force to be reckoned with in the tablet market and some of the upcoming Android-based tablets have already generated a fair amount of buzz. But Hugo Barra, director of products for mobile at Google, reckons Android, in its current avatar (Froyo), is not “optimized for use on tablets.”

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is being seen as an iPad rival, but to Barra it is nothing more than a supersized smartphone. "Android is an open platform. We saw at IFA 2010 all sorts of devices running Android, so it already running on tablets,” Barra told TechRadar.

"But the way Android Market works is it's not going to be available on tablets that don't allow devices and applications to run correctly. If you want Android market on that platform, the apps just wouldn't run, [Froyo] is just not designed for that form factor.”

Point taken, but isn't the iPad a supersized iPhone?

Apple kick started the tablet 2.0 era with the iPad. While the iPad has become synonymous with the slate/tablet form factor, it is certainly not a perfect embodiment of the tablet concept. However, Apple's tablet can get away with its imperfections as long as there is nothing substantial on the market to compare it with. Of course, that won't remain the case for too long as competitors are readying a raft of tablets to take on the iPad.

But market research firm iSuppli believes Apple will be able to preserve its dominant position in the market despite the upcoming competition: “The iPad will account for an overwhelming 74.1 percent of global tablet shipments in 2010, with the remaining 25.9 percent consisting of a mix of older PC-type tablet products and competitive slates. Even in 2012, the iPad will continue to control nearly two-thirds of shipments, at 61.7 percent, as the competition strives to develop ecosystems of tablet apps and content that can match up with those of Apple.”