Tablet mania in Vegas as CES conclave begins

Close to 100 models will be on display at the Consumer Electronics Show - Research In Motion, Motorola, HTC, Asus, HP, Microsoft, Toshiba, Vizio, and Lenovo are among those trying to get into the act. But only a small number - I'm guessing a dozen - are likely to make the grade. Some won't even make it past the show. So which ones will survive? From Ina Fried at All Things Digital:

A good corollary is the e-reader market. There were tons of e-readers at the Consumer Electronics Show last year. And indeed, the space has grown beyond the Kindle, but most of the market is divided between the Amazon e-reader and top competitors like the Nook, along with a lot of also-rans and a fair number of products that never made it out of the gate.

Among the key factors: Distribution, partnerships, timing, price, and how it compares with the iPad. Says Fried: "Any would-be rival needs to have some sort of leg up on the iPad. The most frequently seized upon shortcomings are the lack of Flash support and USB ports, but there are other opportunities."

Tablet mania was one of the topics on "Airtalk" this morning.