Photos: The seven new tablets and smartphones that want to be your next iPad

All the essential launches from Samsung, Sony, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and ViewSonic...

2011 has been the year of the tablet for the annual IFA trade show in Berlin, as hardware makers once again try to muscle in on the multimillion-selling iPad's turf.

Alongside the fresh crop of slates, IFA saw a rash of touchscreen smartphones released - and we've gathered together a selection of the hardware unveiled at the show for your gadget-viewing pleasure.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7

Samsung made a number of announcements at IFA 2011, including the Galaxy Tab 7.7 which is the first Samsung tablet to feature a Super Amoled Plus touchscreen with a resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels.

Features include a 1.4GHz dual-core processor, support for 32GB microSD cards and a three-megapixel camera.

To see more of the Galaxy Tab 7.7, check out Photos: Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 launches with Super Amoled Plus.

Running Android 2.3, known as Gingerbread, the Galaxy Note is technically a smartphone, but it sports a 5.3-inch Super Amoled touchscreen, almost putting it in tablet territory.

For more of the Galaxy Note, check out Photos: Samsung Galaxy Note - a little smartphone, a little tablet, a lot of gadget.

Like Samsung, Sony Ericsson unleashed both tablets and smartphones at IFA, including its Xperia Arc S which lets users take 3D panoramas.

The Xperia Arc S has a 1.4GHz processor, an 8.1-megapixel camera and 4.2-inch display. It runs on the Android 2.3 OS, known as Gingerbread, and will be available towards the end of this year "in selected markets".

For more on Sony's latest Xperia smartphone, check out Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc S offers 3D photo panoramas.

At IFA this year, Kazuo Hirai, president of Sony's consumer products and services group, showed off the Sony Tablet S and Sony Tablet P.

The Tablet P folds in half and has two touchscreens which can either be used together as one large screen or separately as two small screens.

The Tablet S is thicker at the top than at the bottom so it can be easily read when placed on a flat surface.

To see more on the Sony S and P tablets, and for other products launched by Sony at the IFA, check out Photos: Sony S and P tablets, Walkman and Xperia Arc phone unveiled at IFA.

Toshiba launched the AT200, which it claims is the thinnest Android tablet yet at 7.7mm thick.

The Toshiba AT2000 runs the Android 3.2 operating system, known as Honeycomb, and has a 10.1-inch LCD screen with LED backlight.

To see what other features the AT200 has to offer, check out Photos: Toshiba unveils the thinnest Android tablet yet, the AT200.

ViewSonic 10pro

ViewSonic also added to its tablet range at the trade show, with slates including the ViewPad 10pro pictured above.

The ViewPad 10pro gives users the choice to switch between two operating systems - Android 2.3 for personal use and entertainment, and Windows 7 Professional for business use.

To find out what other tablets ViewSonic launched at IFA, see Photos: ViewSonic's tablet trio unveiled - from dual core to dual boot.