Slide Show: Tablet Wars!

Dell Tuesday unveiled its first-ever tablet PC, the Latitude XT, with a street price of $2,499. The device will be available by year's end, and Round Rock, Texas-based Dell will sell it both direct and through solution providers. [READ MORE]

The Latitude XT has a 12.1-inch screen, weighs in at less than four pounds (according to Dell's spec sheet) and offers "capacitive touch" -- a more sensitive and some believe more intuitive version of touch screen than pen touch.

But Dell is entering a market that name vendors have already been working in for several years, including Fujitsu. Fujitsu earlier this year began shipping the LifeBook T2010 Tablet PC which, like the Latitude XT, uses an Intel ultra low voltage processor.

The T2010 provides as much as 9 hours of battery life, according to Fujitsu, which is slightly less than the battery life of a fully configured version of the Latitude XT. Early indications are, though, that the T2010 may actually exceed 9 hours in real life depending on use. The T2010 has a starting list price of $1,599.

Dell isn't the only company making a statement this week about touch technology on the tablet platform. Toshiba, Irvine, Calif., is launching its Portege M700 series, and says the device is the company's first that integrates a touch screen LED backlit display.

The Toshiba M700 follows on the heels of success in its Portege R400 line, launched earlier this year, which made the CRN 10 Best Products Of 2007. The M700, list-priced starting at $1,699, is built with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and a 160 GB hard drive.