Tablets at the IFA Consumer Electronics Unlimited show in Berlin

It was tablets, tablets, tablets at the IFA Consumer Electronics Unlimited show in Berlin in early September. Here's a preview of what we'll be seeing soon on the shelves.

IDG News Service

Lenovo IdeaPad A1

Lenovo's IdeaPad A1 has a 7-inch screen and is among one of the cheapest 7-inch Android tablets available at US$199. It runs Android 2.3, codenamed Gingerbread, and the company wouldn't say whether it would be upgraded to Honeycomb. It will become available around the end of September.

MIA: Galaxy Tab 7.7

Launched at IFA, but quickly yanked from the company's booth because of legal issues, was the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, a follow up to its bigger brother, the Galaxy Tab 10.1, introduced at IFA last year. The Galaxy Tab 7.7 has a 7.7-inch screen and a dual-core 1.4GHz processor. It uses Android 3.2.

Samsung Galaxy Note

Confused as to whether it is a tablet or a smartphone the Samsung Galaxy Note has a 5.3-inch Super AMOLED display with a 1280x800 pixel resolution. Bucking the trend, Samsung decided to add a stylus with the hybrid. The stylus, called the S Pen, allows users to underline text in documents, annotate screen captures or take quick notes. The Galaxy Note will start shipping in November and cost US$820 without taxes or subsidies.

Toshiba AT200

Toshiba's Android Honeycomb-based AT200 is only 7.7 millimeters thick, thinner than both the iPad 2 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. It has a 10.1-inch display and a 1280-by-800 pixel resolution. It's powered by a 1.2GHz processor. It will start shipping during the fourth quarter, but the company didn't announce and pricing.

Sony Tablet P

Sony CEO Howard Stringer announced a pair of tablets at the show. The Tablet P has a clamshell design and dual 5.5-inch screens. It also runs Android Honeycomb and has an 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor. The two tablets were announced in April and until IFA were known as the S1 and S2. The Tablet P starts at US$860.

Sony Tablet S

The Sony Tablet S is one of two tablets announced by the company at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin. The Tablet S sports a 9.4-inch screen and is shaped like a wedge. It runs Android Honeycomb and can also integrate with other Sony products. For example, it can be used as a remote control for a Sony television. It has a 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor. The Wi-Fi only version will start shipping in Europe at the end of September and the 3G-equipped on in November. It will start at US$690.

Interactive storefront

Okay, so it's not really a tablet … Germany's Fraunhofer Institute has developed an interactive shop window that allows customers to learn more about products and even order them when the store is closed. Fraunhofer's motion tracking sensor has been under development for a decade, long before the Microsoft Kinect sensor--which can also be used--debuted.