It is only a few days before the much awaited unveiling of the iPad 3. However, Apple is currently facing intense competition in the tablet space.

Although Apple, Inc. and its iPad have dominated the market in the past two years, new devices are providing serious competition.

Tablets introduced in the recent Mobile World Congress show that Apple is no longer the king of innovation for mobile devices. And the $200 tablets in shelves have made the iPad an "expensive" tablet.

Below are some of the tablets that distinguish themselves from Apple's iPad.

Amazon's Kindle Fire

Online retail giant Amazon released its own version of a 7-inch tablet late last year in an incredibly low price of $199 compared to Apple's $499. Moreover, the consumers are treated with a huge retail store where they can purchase their goods via their device.

Nook Tablet

The Nook Tablet has been a sensation last year for those people who love to read. The tablet is definitely easier on the eyes and is smaller compared to iPad. Moreover, if you just want an e-reader, its size is definitely an advantage.

Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2

Samsung's released its latest version of its Galaxy Tab. The 7-inch Galaxy Tab 2 measures 10.5mm-thick, and will be Samsung's first foray into the brave new world of Android 4.0. The tablet sports a 1GHz dual-core chip backed up by a decent 1GB of RAM; between 8 and 32GB of built-in storage plus a microSD card slot; a rear three-megapixel shooter plus a VGA front-facing cam for video calling, all fronted by a seven-inch 1024×600 screen. Samsung 10.1-Inch Galaxy Note: Virtually doubling its current Note tablet in size, the 10.1-inch tablet is said to be aimed at the Wacom art tablet market. However, information is scarce about this product.

LG Optimus Vu

LG officially unveiled its LG Optimus Vu last weekend. The device is equipped with 4:3 ratio IPS screen, measuring 5-inches. It's fairly well equipped with "Rubberdium" pen for stylus action, while a dual-core 1.5GHz processor is backed up by 1GB RAM, 32GB of storage and a 2,080mAh battery that should keep it chugging away nicely. It also has an eight-megapixel rear camera and a 1.3MP front-facing cam for video chat. The device is also equipped with LTE-chipset in there for 4G-equipped markets (that's not us), and it's all crammed into a pretty svelte 8.5mm thick frame.

BlackBerry Playbook

The PlayBook's smaller form factor and integration with BlackBerry smartphones recommend this tablet to its very specific niche.

ASUS' PadFone

ASUS comes up with a hybrid device with its new PadFone. The company have shown this device before did not formally introduced it to the public. However, the device is a 4.3-inch tablet/phone combo has us hot under the collar with its purported quad-core Tegra 3 processor.