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Many tech companies are talking tablets at this week’s annual International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. After being mostly blind sided by the popularity of Apple’s iPad last year, several tech companies are looking to debut their own versions of this new form of tablet computing.

Analyst Richard Doherty of the Envisioneering Group says that more than 100 companies will debut versions of a tablet computer. For example, Motorola, Toshiba, Research In Motion, Asus, Acer and Vizio are among the companies expected to unveil tablets during this week’s Consumer Electronics Show.

Apple’s chief competitor, Google’s Android, is expected to be used in many of the new tablets.

Samsung released its 7-inch screen Galaxy Tab in November. Other companies’ debuts may still be awhile. For example, tablets from Toshiba and Motorola aren’t expected until the second half of the year.

The new tablets are expected to fill in gaps with features the current iPad doesn’t have. For example, the Tab and Toshiba’s Tablet will feature two cameras for videos and photos, a USB port as well as a slot for SD memory cards for photos, and work with Adobe Flash software.

Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs isn’t worried about the competition and called the new tablets “dead on arrival.” He said many of the competing tablets will be too small with 7-inch screens. “Seven-inch tablets are tweeners — too big to be a phone and too small to compete with the iPad,” he said.

Analysts expect Apple to announce it’s next version of the iPad soon.

Source: “Is 2011 the Year of the Tablet?; Tech Companies to Play iPad Catch-up at CES,” USA Today (Jan. 4, 2011)

From faxing on-the-go to creating property “reminder” tours, several new applications for smartphones aim to help improve your efficiency while away from your office and impress clients.

James Dwiggins, chief strategy officer with Realty World Northern California and Nevada, provided dozens of mobile application and Web site ideas to attendees at Inman News’ Agent Reboot on Wednesday in San Diego. Agent Reboot is a series of one-day conferences nationwide that highlight the latest marketing and technology trends.

Among some of the apps Dwiggins highlighted included:

1. Gist: Pull together all your contacts from your address book, inboxes, and social networks to access all in one place. The app also pulls in your contacts’ status updates from their social networking pages, blog posts, and news to create an up-to-date business profile for all of your contacts. iPhone and Android. Free.

2. RECalc: Figure monthly payments, interest rates, and loan amounts with this mortgage calculator app. It also allows you to add in annual property tax and home owners’ insurance to give a snapshot to your clients about what they can expect to pay. iPhone. $1.99. For Android users, try Karl’s Mortgage Calculator. Free.

3. Expensify: Keep tabs on your expenses and get rid of the hoards of paper receipts. Take a photo of paper receipts with your phone’s camera and the receipts will be stored online digitally. This app also allows you an easier way to keep track of your mileage when driving clients around for tax purposes later on. iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Palm, PC, and Mac. Two accounts are free, $5 per account after.

4. Mobile Phax: Take a photo of any letter-sized document or page and this app will allow you to then send it as a PDF to any e-mail address. You can also send the document directly to a fax machine using eFax, fax(.com), send2fax, and other compatible fax programs. iPhone and Blackberry. $4.99 (plus packs available for additional monthly faxes).

5. Tour Narrator: Capture your customers feedback while they tour homes by using your phone to snap photos, take notes, and record audio. The information you gather can then be used to create a sales presentation that can be converted into a PDF with a URL that you can later send to clients. They’ll be able to browse through the properties and see the notes, photos, and listen to the audio as reminders of what they liked and disliked about the homes they toured. iPhone. $1.99.

6. Realtor.com: Access millions of listings with photos and property details, open house information, and map searches. You can also share listings via social networks. iPhone. Free.

7. Vlingo: Talk to your phone and tell it what to do. You can send text messages and e-mails by speaking your message. The phone will transcribe it to text and send, offeringa safer way to text and e-mail while driving. iPhone, Android, and Blackberry. $10.

Also, read about the Center for REALTOR® Technology’s new iPhone app, PlaceTags, and additional information about mobile real estate apps.

–By Melissa Dittmann Tracey for REALTOR® Magazine online