Microsoft to Announce Tablets, Demo Windows 8 at CES
Microsoft didn't end up delivering on a lot of the tablet announcements made at the last Consumer Electronics Show in January, but the company plans to give it another try next month with some new tablets, as well as a look at Windows 8.
According to the New York Times, Microsoft plans to use CES 2011 to announce tablets they think will take on the Apple iPad. That includes product demos of upcoming tablets from Samsung and Dell that will run Windows 7. Sources indicate the Samsung tablet has a slide-out keyboard, which meshes perfectly with rumors we've heard about a Samsung Gloria tablet .
The Samsung tablet will reportedly run a special software layer over Windows 7 that will make it easier to use with a touchscreen interface , but when the keyboard is out it will revert to more familiar Windows 7 interfaces.
Another interesting bit from the report indicates that Microsoft will plan to skip the App Store model and request that developers make HTML5-based Web apps. This would make the apps much more universal, but it would also make them compatible with the iPad and even the Google Chrome OS. In fact, Google has planned a similar initiative for Chrome OS already.
Possibly the biggest rumor to come out of this, though, is that Microsoft will tease the successor to Windows 7. Windows 8 isn't expected to come out until late 2011/early 2012, but CES 2011 would be the perfect venue to get people thinking about it. Windows 8 will reportedly be much more tablet friendly than Windows 7, which is exactly what Microsoft needs to become truly competitive in the growing tablet market. Announcing a few tablets would also be the perfect segue to introducing Windows 8.
None of this has been confirmed by Microsoft, but TechNewsDaily will be at CES to give you the full rundown as Microsoft makes its presentation.
