With the help of Samsung, Dell and several other key partners, Microsoft is planning to take on the iPad 2 with a Windows 8 Tablet. Even more shocking is that Microsoft may unveil or at the very least demo, the first Windows 8 tablet at CES 2011 next month.
By way of a New York Times article this morning we now have the first hint of Microsoft’s CES 2011 keynote. During the presentation there will be several new tablet demos, including one that sports a slide-out keyboard — remember the Samsung Gloria? According to the report, the Samsung tablet will run a software layer when the device is in portrait mode and the keyboard is tucked away.
Meanwhile, Microsoft is focused on a central app store design entirely around native tablet applications and encouraging developers to focus on HTML5. The focus on HTML5 will not just benefit the Microsoft Windows 8 tablets since both iOS and Chrome OS also support the web standard.
Microsoft’s focus on Windows 8 has been at the core of its tablet strategy. The company has devoted a significant amount of resources to the new all-touch interface and despite reports of a late 2011 or early 2012 launch, CES 2011 is the perfect stomping grounds for a demo.
There’s still a possibility that Microsoft maybe stick to their guns with a Windows 7 software layer for the tablets they’ll unveil at CES. Regardless of whether the partnerships with Dell and Samsung result in Windows 7 or Windows 8 tablets, the hardware will be on hand at CES and we’ll be live to report the news as it breaks.
So, now it’s time to chime in. Do you think Microsoft will power their iPad 2 killers with Windows 7 or Windows 8 when they demo the devices at CES 2011? Go ahead, sound off!
via Engadget
