If you thought the tablet race was dead – what with Apple’s iPad slicing through every competitor – you might be shocked with news that AT&T is surfacing with their very own computer tablet. Rumors spread early today that AT&T will reveal a LTE device due January 8 called the AT&T Pantech Element.

Equipped with Honeycomb, 8-inch display, dual core 1.5GHz processor and 16GB of internal storage, reports techcrunch.com, AT&T’s Element could bring a whole new element of surprise to the tablet debacle. 

As news spread that other tablets were being significantly reduced in priced recently, like Blackberry Playbook, AT&T’s Element at just $299 could finalize your search. Especially if it outfits on all requests, but with two cameras that includes a 5 megapixel shooter with 1080 video capture and waterproof skills which claim to drive up to 1m in water, it's a pretty great deal. 

Of course, we can’t ignore the other rumors that have tech sites like CNET to claiming Apple will release a new, reduced price of the iPad this year, either. The original models entry-level pricing of $499, was always high but standard to typical Apple devices. Now, Apple might be delivering an Amazon Kindle Fire competitor in a $199 model – so despite AT&T Pantech Element’s introduction, will you wait?