The Motorola Xoom packs a 16-by-10 aspect ratio, a dual-core processor, 1080p playback and Flash support, and will run on Verizon’s network. Initially, the tablet will run on Verizon’s 3G network, but Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha said the Xoom that goes on sale in the first quarter of this year will be upgradeable to 4G by the end of the second quarter.

“The software is not completely done,” Jha said, adding that the hardware isn’t either.

Google Android boss Andy Rubin had briefly showed a prototype Motorola tablet at last month’s D: Dive Into Mobile conference and said that Honeycomb was being designed expressly with tablets in mind.

The Xoom, Wi-Fi Samsung Tab and G-Slate are in addition to the Toshiba, Asus and Vizio tablets announced earlier in the week.

Nearly all of these tablets are running some flavor of Android, though a handful of Windows 7 tablets are also being shown in Las Vegas.

However, the scene in Vegas offers a somewhat skewed view of the tablet market. Outside Sin City, the iPad is still the dominant player, while a number of tablet competitors expected soon have opted not to launch here. HP is having an event next month to focus on future webOS devices, while Research In Motion has said it will launch its PlayBook before the end of March.

Motorola also used some of its afternoon event to show off the Motorola Atrix 4G, a smartphone introduced at an AT&T event earlier in the day. It packs a fingerprint reader, a dual-core 1GHz processor, and the ability to dock to an 11-inch screen and keyboard to act as a mini-laptop, with eight hours of battery life.

When docked, the phone can power a full desktop version of Mozilla, including full Flash support, allowing for a PC-like experience all powered by the smartphone. AT&T Senior Vice President Jeff Bradley said it is too soon to say how much the device will cost, but promised the price will be competitive. Although AT&T has the U.S. exclusive on the Atrix, Motorola said it will be offered through Bell Canada and Orange UK.

In addition to the Atrix and Tablet, Motorola announced its first phone to run on faster LTE networks–the dual-core Droid Bionic, which is slated to arrive early in the second quarter on Verizon Wireless. Motorola also introduced the Cliq 2, an update to Motorola’s first Motoblur phone for T-Mobile.

Update 5:45 pm PT: As for timing, I confirmed that the Motorola Xoom is indeed the “lead device” for Honeycomb and will be the first on the market when it ships later this quarter. The LG model is slated to ship “in the coming months,” and other Honeycomb tablets will follow.

Google isn’t sharing a lot of new details on Honeycomb, but Rubin did make a short blog post and upload this YouTube video, which touts Google Talk video chatting, a specially designed YouTube App and access to Google Books.

“Many of Android’s existing features will really shine on Honeycomb: refined multi-tasking, elegant notifications, access to over 100,000 apps on Android Market, home screen customization with a new 3D experience and redesigned widgets that are richer and more interactive,” Rubin said in the blog post. “We’ve also made some powerful upgrades to the web browser, including tabbed browsing, form auto-fill, syncing with your Google Chrome bookmarks, and incognito mode for private browsing.”

.

“The next generation of Windows is going to evolve on new hardware,” said Windows unit President Steven Sinofsky.

Before the demo though, Sinofsky traced the history of Windows, noting that from 1992 through Windows Vista the system requirements increased significantly from one version to the next. With Windows 7, though, Microsoft held most technical requirements steady and even lowered some of them.

As for the demo of the new stuff, Sinofsky began with a few caveats.

“We are calling this a technology demonstration,” he said, cautioning it wouldn’t show any new user face stuff or address pricing, timing, etc.

Sinofsky said it is too soon to talk about what requirements will be for the next version of Windows, but said the company is keenly aware of the need to have Windows running on ever-smaller devices.

Update 1:25 pm Microsoft has three demos and it is saving Windows on ARM for last. It’s starting by hoeing off some new PCs running on the current version of Windows–Windows 7.

The second demo will be an update of touch input on Microsoft’s tabletop Surface computer, and the final one will show Windows running on ARM.

1:33 pm The next-generation Surface is thinner and uses infrared cameras inside the screen’s pixels instead of a big projector, allowing for devices that can be either a tabletop or mounted vertically. It will be cheaper as well, though Microsoft doesn’t say how much the machines will cost. First-generation Surface machines had a price tag in the thousands of dollars.

On to the chip demos.

Microsoft starts by showing a development board using a next-generation Intel design running Quicken.

Okay, nod to Intel complete.

Next up is Office running on an ARM chip. This demo is on Microsoft Word and has it printing to an Epson printer. Microsoft shows demos of chips from Qualcomm, Nvidia and Texas Instruments.

On the Nvidia machine, Microsoft shows hardware, accelerated browsing in IE9 running on a Tegra 2 processor, as well as running PowerPoint and an “Iron Man” movie preview.

1:48 pm Asked by Mobilized what work still needs to take place to make Windows on ARM a reality, Sinofsky says that it is the case that programs compiled for x86 processors won’t immediately run on ARM chips, but said the company isn’t ready to talk about the programming model. He does say it is unlikely Microsoft would use virtualization to make old programs, suggesting there will be some work for developers.

Sinfosky says that Microsoft has done the work to enable Windows to run and create a framework for third parties to build software and device drivers.

As for the timing, Sinofsky doesn’t give a date, but does reiterate that Microsoft these days aims to have a new release of Windows every 24 months to 36 months. “I don’t think it’s that long away,” he says. He notes some people want Windows releases faster while other large customers would rather have more time between releases. “Somewhere [around] 24 to 36 months between releases seems about right.”

The ARM compatibility will go into the next release of Windows, but Sinofsky takes time to point out to Mobilized that once again, he isn’t calling it Windows 8.

“This is the next generation of Windows,” he says.

However, the move has been in the works for some time, according to a source familiar with Microsoft’s development plans. Indeed, the source said that ARM support has been part of the company’s earliest planning for the next version of Windows, a process that kicked off before Windows 7 hit store shelves in October 2009.

Microsoft’s effort is far enough along to show a number of key programs running on ARM-based chips, something the company is expected to do at a 1 pm PT press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Despite that progress, though, it will be some time before the release of Windows 8, or whatever Microsoft will call the next version of the operating system, and Microsoft isn’t expected to commit to a date (or a name) here at the show. There’s still a lot of compatibility work that must be done, not only by Microsoft but by the people that create the hardware and software that runs on top of Windows.

Speculation that Microsoft might be headed in this direction has grown, heightened by the competition Windows faces from Apple and Android-based devices, as well as the fact that Microsoft and ARM signed an expanded licensing agreement last year that appeared to signal a closer relationship, though both sides were deliberately circumspect about the deal.

In focusing its energy on Windows, rather than on its Windows Phone operating system, Microsoft is taking a different tactic than either Google or Apple, both of which are betting that a new class of highly mobile devices needs a new operating system built from the ground up.

By contrast, Microsoft is wagering that users want and need all of the power that comes with Windows and would buy a Windows machine, if only it could better compete on issues such as battery life, where Windows today suffers by comparison. Adding the new processors will allow Windows to better fit into a wider range of devices, including slates and other highly mobile devices, Microsoft is likely to say.

And while it is eager to welcome Qualcomm, Nvidia and Texas Instruments into the camp of Windows processor partners, expect Microsoft to put in a good word or two for its traditional chip buddies, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, which it is counting on both now and in the future, to provide plenty of chips for Windows-based machines.

One area of apps involves gaming. I’m not just referring to the single player, heads-down games that consume a person for hours until she beats her own best score, or the scores of strangers around the Internet—though plenty of those exist for the tablet. I’m talking about old-fashioned board games, the kind that involve sitting around with friends or family and actually having fun together. Some of these apps are purely digital. But one company is bringing real board-like elements to tablet games.

This week, I tested a game that successfully marries digital and analog games by using the first physical device to digitally interact with the Apple iPad screen. The $40 Duo by Discovery Bay Games (yoomigame.com) doesn’t plug into the iPad, nor does it connect to the iPad via Bluetooth or other means. It sits on the iPad screen in a specific spot and uses a built-in light sensor on its underbelly to interpret light signals displayed on the iPad screen during a game.

To play the Yoomi game with Discovery Bay Games’ Duo, players drop jewel-like tokens onto the top of the device to vote on possible answers to questions.

The first accompanying game app to use the Duo, called Yoomi, is free from the Apple App Store and can be played by kids as young as 3 years old. It simply asks players to guess what one person would choose between two possible answers, or options, both of which are displayed as digital cards with text and images on the iPad screen. Cards include options like, “dig a hole to China” or “find buried treasure.” Up to six people or teams can play, and each receives a set of jewel-toned tokens that they’ll try to get rid of before the other players by guessing each person’s choice. Playful music and sound effects accompany each game.

Players cast their votes by placing tokens on one of two spaces atop the Duo, a plastic hollow device with clear sides and a tiny black switch. Each space represents an answer, and the person about whom everyone else guesses privately chooses one answer by reaching into the Duo and touching the iPad screen to select the answer.

After the other players cast their votes, a Reveal button on the iPad screen uncovers the chosen answer. Suddenly, the space at the top of the Duo representing the correct chosen answer drops like a trap door, collecting all tokens that were there. The iPad is passed to the next person and play continues, with each person selecting an answer for others to guess until one person or team is out of tokens.

At first, I was skeptical that the Duo and the Yoomi game could replicate playing with traditional board games. Since so few aspects of my life aren’t touched by digital technology, putting down my laptop, iPad or BlackBerry to play a board game always feels like a treat. But I found that while playing Yoomi, the iPad becomes the game board, stationed in the center of a table or circle of friends and passed around for each person to cast a vote.

Since the iPad has plenty of additional functions, playing a game on it may invite distractions from the outside world. Other apps continued to work in the background on my iPad, like my Facebook and Entertainment Weekly apps, which send occasional pop-up notifications onto the screen. The thought of personal Facebook messages popping up would be enough to embarrass any teen into not wanting to use his or her iPad to play with family members. On a good note, the chime indicating I received a new email on the iPad was automatically silenced during game play.

And of course, the iPad costs at least $500, so even though the $40 Duo is relatively affordable, the whole set won’t fit most family budgets.

Still, several advantages come from using a digital game that incorporates physical components, like tokens and a device that collects those tokens. Instead of holding a controller and staring at a TV, like with video games, players need to look up at one another to see how many tokens each person has and who’s winning. And the Yoomi game questions are provocative enough that people will want to ask one another why they chose their answers or voted a certain way.

One of the most exciting things about this technology is its ability to use a light sensor for communication between the iPad screen and another object. Discovery Bay Games CEO Craig Olson said the company might consider using this technology for other products such as a health-related device that, when placed on the iPad screen, allows data to be automatically recognized and recorded.

Like other digital apps, Yoomi can be updated with new content to replenish the 150 pairs of digital cards that come loaded with this free game; another 150 pairs will be sent in an update later this year. Mr. Olson said people tend to burn through digital games much faster than traditional board games, and the ability to send new game material without manufacturing and delivering physical parts is a real boon.

The people working at Discovery Bay Games know a thing or two about traditional board games: Numerous Discovery Bay Games employees worked at Cranium, the charades-esque game that gets people humming, whistling, drawing with closed eyes and miming. Duo is likewise deliberately designed to encourage interaction with others.

In the next nine months, some 12 to 15 other iPad app games will be released for use with Duo, including a $2.99 Smithsonian Fact or Fiction game and a $2.99 Discovery for Kids–Astonishing Comparisons game.

This summer, Discovery Bay Games will start releasing other physical devices that will work with the iPad and range in price from $30 to $60. Some will use the light-sensor technology while others will use different signaling methods to communicate with the iPad. These will launch in conjunction with lead titles, like a Highlights for Children game and a Saturday Night Live game. Mr. Olson said the company is developing for the Android platform as well as for Windows 7 devices.

For now, the Duo and Yoomi are a fun way to add technology into family game night, with continuously updated content keeping game material fresh. As games improve to take full advantage of the other tablet functions, they’ll become even more enjoyable and interactive.

Write to Katherine Boehret at katie.boehret@wsj.com

Notice to Readers

Starting today, The Mossberg Solution column becomes The Digital Solution. It will still be written by Katherine Boehret and edited by Walter S. Mossberg.

But also be prepared for many of these tablets to evaporate into pillars of dust (or at least be relegated to the dustbins of history).

A good corollary is the e-reader market. There were tons of e-readers at the Consumer Electronics Show last year. And indeed, the space has grown beyond the Kindle, but most of the market is divided between the Amazon e-reader and top competitors like the Nook, along with a lot of also-rans and a fair number of products that never made it out of the gate.

Here are some factors to separate the Ten Commandments and Rosetta Stones from the tablets that are just funny-shaped slabs of stone.

1. Distribution

It’s all well and good that Company X wants to sell a tablet, but it’s only got a chance if it can convince either some big retailers or some major carriers to stock it on their store shelves.

2. Software strategy and partnerships

A lot of the products being announced are from PC or cellphone makers just jumping into the next shape of the device. What makes tablets interesting isn’t their shape; it’s what they allow you to do. So far, that’s been largely the easy consumption of media and Web content, but there could be other compelling uses on the business side.

On the Android side, the version of the operating system matters as well. Andy Rubin has said that Honeycomb is designed with tablets in mind. Although Samsung has won plaudits for cramming an older version onto the Galaxy Tab, expect the bar to be raised by the first Honeycomb tablet, which many expect Motorola to show off at CES. Once it does, any tablet running an older version of Android may seem lackluster by comparison.

As for the Windows slates, you get the good and bad of Windows. On the plus side, such machines are highly compatible with other PC software. However, Windows (even the more touch-friendly Windows 7) doesn’t really shine without a keyboard and mouse nearby, and Windows machines don’t get the battery life seen by the iPad and other ARM-based devices. Microsoft is expected to show Windows running on ARM at CES, but that software and any tablets running it are still many months, if not years, off.

In any case, if the software and services aren’t good, all you have is a computer that is missing its keyboard. Remember, there have been slate computers on the market for years.

3. Timing

There are a lot of announcements coming at CES, but first to announce doesn’t mean first to market. A key question for all these new entrants is just when one will be able to buy their precious tablets. Toshiba, for example, said its Android-powered tablet won’t be out until the summer.

Also, not all the major players are sharing their plans at CES. But some of the tablets that are introduced after this week will still beat some of the CES-announced products to market. RIM’s PlayBook is scheduled to be out by March, while HP has scheduled a Feb. 9 event in San Francisco to talk about its webOS plans.

4. Price

A low price won’t make a product a success, but too high of a price can doom it to failure. The iPad is the barometer here, so companies know the price they have to beat.

5. The iPad

There wasn’t a consumer market at all for these devices until the iPad came and created it. It still dominates the market and is likely to do so for some time. While there is probably room for some non-iPad competitors, all tablets are going to be compared to Apple’s.

So any would-be rival needs to have some sort of leg up on the iPad. The most frequently seized upon shortcomings are the lack of Flash support and USB ports, but there are other opportunities.

Still, not only is the iPad not going away–it’s likely to get some enhancements in fairly short order. The products that sound good in Las Vegas might have lost their luster by the time they come to market (if they make it that far).

However, while the company is set to discuss the effort at next month’s Consumer Electronics Show, there is still a lot that must be done before such products can hit the market.

Among the steps needed is for hardware makers to create ARM-compatible drivers, a time-consuming effort that explains in part why Microsoft is talking about the initiative well ahead of any products being ready.

It took Microsoft years, for instance, to move mainstream Windows users from 32-bit versions of the operating system to 64-bit versions, in large part because it took that long to get all of the necessary hardware drivers to enable the shift.

Microsoft has scheduled a press briefing for 1 pm PT on Jan. 5, ahead of Steve Ballmer’s keynote later that night. The event is expected to be the forum where Microsoft will discuss the ARM effort. A Microsoft representative declined to comment on the reported ARM move.

However, speculation about such a move has been increasing since the two companies signed an expanded licensing agreement back in July. Microsoft was deliberately vague at the time regarding the impact of the new agreement, making reference to then-existing efforts such as Windows Embedded and Windows Mobile.

“ARM is an important partner for Microsoft and we deliver multiple operating systems on the company’s architecture,” Microsoft general manager KD Hallman said in a July statement. “With closer access to the ARM technology we will be able to enhance our research and development activities for ARM-based products.”

Moving to ARM processors as an option for full-fledged Windows could pave the way for machines with significantly longer battery life–an issue that has become more important as competing mobile devices, especially tablets and smartphones, have been able to best the PC in that regard.

While much of the speculation regarding ARM-based Windows machines has centered on the impact this could have on tablets, the move is said to be as much about netbooks and low-power notebooks as it is about slates.

Though the Windows tie to Intel-architecture chips is legendary, it’s not the first time that Windows has run on chips other than the standard fare from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. Windows once ran on chips from Digital Equipment, and Microsoft has also done server versions that supported Intel’s Itanium chip. However, such efforts are expensive and time-consuming. The fact that Microsoft is going ahead with the undertaking highlights the size of the threat posed by devices running on the lower-power-consuming ARM chips.

Although CES is an unusual venue to reach PC hardware makers, it does provide a big stage for Microsoft to reconfirm that it is serious about playing in the ultramobile device category.

Bloomberg first reported Microsoft’s plans to bring Windows to ARM earlier on Tuesday.

The New York Times posted a story this week playing up the fact that Microsoft will have new tablets to show at CES.

That’s true, but remember–the exact same thing could be said last year. In fact, it was. The New York Times did some similar hyping last year and I similarly warned folks not to get their hopes up.

As was the case last year, Microsoft will show some new tablets as part of Steve Ballmer’s annual overview of all the new hardware coming for PCs, according to sources familiar with Redmond’s plans. Acer, for example, plans to show off its Iconia dual-screen tablet as well as a Windows 7 slate.

Ballmer may even talk a bit about what is coming on the hardware and software fronts, but don’t expect too much, particularly on the Windows 8 front.

The real issue for Microsoft remains the fact that, while it has been talking about tablets for years, Windows-based tablets still don’t present a real challenge to the iPad. And that’s not likely to change after CES.

There has been additional speculation about whether Microsoft is doing work on a tablet based on Windows Phone software, but even if such a project exists, I’m hearing nothing is imminent on that front.

Instead, I expect Ballmer to spend most of his time talking about Microsoft’s areas of strength on the consumer side, particularly around Xbox and Kinect.