Regardless of the seemingly mixed reviews greeting the launch of Samsung's Galaxy Tab, Android tablets are set to prosper in the coming year - if only in terms of the sheer number of them.

Another OEM working on a new tablet using the OS is LG, with Engadget suggesting an official from within the company confirmed that an 8.9-inch tablet (previously dubbed Optimus Pad) will launch in the US and Europe in Q1 2011.

"LG Electronics decided to launch a new tablet PC, so-called LG Pad, both in the domestic and overseas markets in the first quarter of the next year when Google unveils Honeycomb, tablet PC-version Android OS," a senior official from LG Electronics said, according to MK News of Korea.

To tablet or not to tabletHowever, the existence of the device – which is also set to sport a dual-core Tegra 2 chip – has since been played down by LG.

Engadget reports that the company contacted the site to declare that it currently has nothing official to reveal regarding any Android tablets.

"It'd seem whoever the cited official in this piece is, he was dishing details that LG doesn't want the world to know yet. LG's PR team has also pulled a tweet about this story, ostensibly to cover its tracks," Engadget's Savov concludes.

Off messageDespite such denials, LG has previously talked up its tablet strategy, confirming the development of the Optimus Pad back in August.

"We do not want to introduce a large smartphone," said LG CEO and president Skott Ahn at the time, presumably taking aim at Samsung's 7-inch Galaxy Tab.

"We will introduce the best in market tablet that will stand among the best existing products, especially among hardware and software."

[source: Engadget]