Microsoft announces Windows tablet PC plans
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| Technology reporter, BBC News |
| Tablet devices which run the Windows 7 operating system will launch in the coming months, according to Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer. |
| Steve Ballmer showed off a slate device by HP in January 2010 |
| Asus, Dell, Samsung, Toshiba, and Sony are among the manufacturers working on Windows slate PCs, he told delegates at a company conference. |
| Mr Ballmer said the area was “terribly important” to Microsoft, but did not mention any specific release dates. |
| Apple’s iPad touch-screen device sold 3 million units within 80 days of launch. |
| “This year, one of the most important things that we will do in the smart device category is really push forward with Windows 7-based slates,” Mr Ballmer said at the firm’s annual World Partner Conference. |
| The devices will come in various forms, some dockable and some with keyboards, he added. |
| In April 2010, Microsoft shelved development of the Courier, a dual-screen tablet device, and rumours have swirled about the future of HP’s slate, which was revealed by Steve Ballmer at technology fair CES in January 2010. |
| The device has not been brought to market, but Mr Ballmer did name HP as one of the manufacturers working with Microsoft on Windows tablet devices. |
| Tim Danton, editor on PC Pro magazine, said that the challenge for Microsoft in the tablet market was that the Windows operating systems were not designed for a touch screen format. |
| “They are fundamentally built for a mouse and keyboard – trying to develop everything for touch is very different,” he said. |
| “Windows 7 has some touch functionality, but it is still not a core part of the operating system. Microsoft would be better looking at its Windows 7 phone operating system and using that.” |
| Mr Ballmer also said that cloud computing, in which devices use internet-based programmes and storage rather than hardware, is a priority for Microsoft. |
| “We are at an inflection point in technology history,” he said. |
| “For customers, cloud computing creates tremendous value, which translates to massive opportunity for Microsoft and its partners.” |
| Robert Wahbe, Microsoft’s Vice President, Servers and Tools, wrote in a blog post that the firm was “investing deeply” in cloud computers with products such as Windows Azure, a cloud-based platform. |
| However, while some market analysts are predicting that the area will continue to grow in terms of popularity and investment, others are more cautious. |
| “The amount of cloud computing is quite small at the moment, so even if it does double that is not such a big deal”, said analyst Laurent Lachal at rival research firm Ovum.Read more at www.bbc.co.uk |
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