“From our understanding, the poor battery life of early PlayBook units may be due to its incorporation of Adobe Flash,” Wu said in a note to clients. “As seen in recent tests for the new MacBook Air, use of Flash can cut battery life in half. It should be no surprise to anyone that our checks indicate Adobe is furiously working on reducing Flash’s consumption of resources to make it a viable mobile platform vs. HTML5 that both Apple and Google are moving toward.”

Wu expects the PlayBook trail the Apple iPad’s ten-hour battery life, and says that it will only measure up to the Samsung Galaxy Tab’s six-hour charge with “significant re-engineering.” He credits the iPad’s industry-leading battery life to the fact that Apple makes its own in-house software and battery chemistry.

“Apple’s unparalleled and fundamental ownership of core technology is what enables the company to deliver superior battery life, not to mention a superior user experience,” Wu explained.

Research In Motion has responded to analysts’ concerns saying that it is on track to “optimize the BlackBerry PlayBook’s battery life” and looks forward to “providing customers with a professional grade tablet that offers superior performance with comparable battery life.”

The upgraded ‘Archos 7′ device features a 7-inch touchscreen display, 800-MHz Rockchip processor (up from a 600-MHz in the original Archos 7), an Android 2.1 operating system (upgraded from Android 1.6). It costs approximately $200, making it one of the most competitive Android tablets on the market.

The Archos 70, meanwhile, comes equipped with a 1-GHz processor and 250GB hard drive, the largest hard drive ever on an Android device. It is priced at $349.99.

“We strive to be the leader in the Android and Windows-based tablet market by creating award-winning innovative options at affordable prices,” said Archos founder and CEO, Henri Crohas, in a statement.

‘Apple iPad’ and ‘Google Android’ were among the most ‘tweeted’ terms this year, holding the fourth and fifth place spots on Twitter’s annual trends list.

“Twitter Trends are a window into what the world is talking about,” commented Twitter spokeswoman, Jodi Olson. “These Trends indicate the things that are most meaningful in our lives. Each day on Twitter, people tweet about news, sports, entertainment and cool new technology — and everything else in between.”

References to ‘Apple iOS,’ ‘Apple iPhone,’ and ‘HTC’ were also plentiful on Twitter throughout 2010, a year when demand for multi-function smartphone devices reached new highs around the world.

Not surprisingly, however, the ‘Gulf [of Mexico] oil spill,’ was the most tweeted topic of the year overall.

Canada’s leading newspaper publisher, Postmedia Network, has launched Apple iPad apps for ten of its local papers.

The new software applications take advantage of the iPad’s ample screen real estate to duplicate the look and feel of a newspaper, while adding innovative features that allow users to customize and interact with content. These features include a photo gallery, built-in video player, and the ability to comment live on stories using social media tools.

“This is the latest step in our digital first strategy,” explained Postmedia’s executive vice president of digital media, Malcolm Kirk. “By combining innovative technology with our newspapers’ compelling content, we are proud to invite our readers to experience the latest innovation in Canadian publishing, on iPad. The new apps also give our advertisers an opportunity to reach their target audiences in dynamic new ways.”

iPad-ready versions of the Vancouver Sun, Vancouver Province, Victoria Times Colonist, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Regina Leader-Post, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Windsor Star, Ottawa Citizen, and Montreal Gazette are now available through the iTunes App Store. The apps are ad-sponsored and therefore available at no charge.

Rogers will seek to make 3G-enabled ‘tablet’ devices more appealing to smartphone owners, by allowing users to share a single data plan between tablets and phones.

Rogers plans to begin selling Research In Motion’s much-anticipated PlayBook device, a 7-inch touchscreen tablet, among other tablets, in the first quarter of 2011. Although the first incarnation of the PlayBook will come with Wi-Fi only (i.e. no 3G chip), future versions are expected to have mobile broadband connectivity built in.

“We’ll start with the Wi-Fi and add the 3G when it’s available,” commented Rogers’ Chief Marketing Officer, John Boynton, adding that when that day comes, customers will be able to connect to the internet on smartphones and tablet devices, using a single data plan for both.