The New York Times is suggesting that Microsoft will reveal a range of products set to compete with the iPad at next month's CES. According to the report, monstrous bossman Steve Ballmer will have a selection of products from Dell and Samsung to give Apple a run for its money in the tablet market.
The devices will, of course, run Windows 7, although they will switch to a layered interface when held in portrait mode. The Samsung device is said to be aesthetically similar to an iPad, though not quite as thin, and will also include a sliding keyboard. The aim with these gadgets is to "move beyond play."
Microsoft is said to be encouraging the building of Apps in HTML5, which would eliminate the need for a dedicated store and would allow developers to host their software on their own sites. A more extreme rumor suggests that Ballmer may even reveal a tablet running Windows 8.
Interesting news if true. Having recently picked up an Android, I only really need something that runs Windows Apps without needing a phone contract. One of these would do, and then I could cover pretty much all the mobile gaming stuff that matters.
Microsoft to Announce New Slates Aimed at the iPad [New York Times]
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Contest:
8:40 AM on 12.14.2010 | 
Still, I can definitely see that the market for tablets will be huge. I'm trying to convince my parents to dump their desktop and get a tablet. All they use is the internet and email anyway. The portability would maybe encourage them to use their computer more.
The Zune owes its creation almost entirely to that fact.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/05/microsofts-courier-digital-journal-exclusive-pictures-and-de/
Win7 tablets will be as successful as the previous 2-3 generations of tablets were, or as successful as Zune was vs iPad, or as successful as WinMob6.5 was vs iOS. MS are trying to use muskets against machine guns and they will fail miserably.
I don't Micosoft has enough momentum and enthusiasm outside of their own company to support a device like this.
There are valid reasons to have Apple products on the market. For example, I have an iMac because PCs suck at video editing.
While there may be cheaper alternatives, they're not as well supported as the software/hardware I use. The same can be said about a lot of other Apple products.
Apples' goal was a tablet that anyone can use. If MS releases a tablet that more closely matches the PC's functionality while maintaining the iPads' ease of use mentality and MS could make some noise.
Throw in flash support to ease the pain of slow HTML5 adoption and MS could have a winner.
That's actually a good example of Apple managing perception over reality. That a PC isn't as good at video editing is pretty much a myth at this point. The highest end PC will always run rings around the highest end Mac, and with a lot more options. FCP hasn't exactly received the greatest of support, while PC editing options have improved leaps and bounds.
I don't know. It *could* be good, but anything less than a really ambitious device will be seen as too little, too late.
Bullshit. I've never been able to do the work I do on a PC. Even if I could, by the time I got everything I would need, guess what? It'd be just about as expensive as getting a Mac.
It took me years of going through different PC video edit software to find one that works for me and even then I hate it. I am sure better software is out there but there so much, in so many places, and it's a sprawling mess. With Apple, you just kinda get on with it.
It might not be "better" but it gives off a feeling of greater efficiency, and so it's no wonder many video editors go with the Mac.
the whole tablet market is trying to play catch up to apple. the android tablets run like shit compared to the ipad. and i dont mean that in an aple fanboy kind of way. i have an iphone but i like and think that android is an awesome platform for phones. i think that competition is good for everyone. but i work at best buy and i played on some of the android tablets and its really a let down. i was excited cause they are much cheaper but they really are not as good. they dont feel as intuitive and just navagating through the os itself was a bad experience. i hope that they are able to get something out that is good before this new ipad comes out next year otherwise they can never catch up. i wouldnt buy an ipad cause they are too expensive and i have an iphone. but i would buy a $250 android tablet if they were better.
and i didnt mention windows 7 mobile because its not worth mentioning. other than to say its not worth mentioning.
the whole tablet market is trying to play catch up to apple. the android tablets run like shit compared to the ipad. and i dont mean that in an apple fanboy kind of way. i have an iphone but i like and think that android is an awesome platform for phones. i think that competition is good for everyone. but i work at best buy and i played on some of the android tablets and its really a let down. i was excited cause they are much cheaper but they really are not as good. they dont feel as intuitive and just navagating through the os itself was a bad experience. i hope that they are able to get something out that is good before this new ipad comes out next year otherwise they can never catch up. i wouldnt buy an ipad cause they are too expensive and i have an iphone. but i would buy a $250 android tablet if they were better.
and i didnt mention windows 7 mobile because its not worth mentioning. other than to say its not worth mentioning.