Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer delivers his keynote address at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show, Wednesday Jan. 6, 2010 where he showcased the new touch-enabled slate from HP
Posted on 10/05/2010 1:45:22 PM PDT by WebFocus
Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer has promised a Microsoft Windows tablet computer to join the burgeoning market led by Apple’s new iPad.
"You'll see new slates with Windows on them. You'll see them this Christmas," he told an audience of students, staff and journalists Tuesday at the London School of Economics.
Microsoft has been heavily criticized for its inability to effectively penetrate the smartphone market as well as being slow to respond to the immediate success of the iPad -- despite record sales of Windows 7. IT research firm Gartner expects 10 million tablet PCs to be sold this year as consumers begin embracing such devices, which include Dell's Streak and the Eee Pad from Asus.
The Apple iPad alone sold 3.3 million in its first quarter. Selling at a rate of approximately 4.5 million units per quarter, the iPad has now earned the prestigious title of fastest-selling electronics device of all time. And until now, Microsoft has had no answer.
The tech giant abandoned the Courier, an innovative dual-screen tablet that technology fans eagerly anticipated, in light of the successful release of the iPad earlier this year.
Other tablet initiatives, like the HP Slate Ballmer unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year, never came to fruition, complicated by HP’s acquisition of Palm. The smaller company gave HP access to a fully fledged mobile operating system instead, called WebOS.
And while Microsoft has finally confirmed the launch date for its Windows Phone 7 operating system -- stick with FoxNews.com for the big event on October 11 -- a recent video discovered by Engadget of an alleged HP Slate prototype hints that the experience still hasn’t been streamlined for touchscreen operation.
Ballmer admits Windows 7 isn’t fully optimized for the tablets.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Late to the game, as usual.
Microsoft’s iPad Answer?
WHAT WAS THE QUESTION?............
I hereby make an ad hoc claim to the name “1Pad” at this date and time barring any prior claim.
As for Microsoft, put a fork in it, Ballmer has been a disaster to this once flourishing GROWTH Company.
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and predict it to be an unstable, bug infested pile ‘o’ crap(the typical result of MS trying to do something other than operating systems).
I’d love to have the $$$$$ they have pissed away on dead end ventures.
Hahaha. GFL with that, Microsoft.
Son of Zune.
RE: Late to the game, as usual.
That’s what they said when Microsoft came out with the Internet Explorer, SQL Server, XBox series, .NET framework ( to rival Java) and even Windows 7.
"It's time we make a product that doesn't suck" says Steve Ballmer.
“I’m gonna go out on a limb here and predict it to be an unstable, bug infested pile ‘o’ crap(the typical result of MS trying to do something other than operating systems).”
I thought your description applied equally well to Microsoft “operating systems”.
lol!
I have no faith that this thing will not be a big glass brick.
Let’s face it, Microsoft does NOT do anything user-friendly. Yeah, Windows does business applications but the OS itself is user-hostile.
I have Windows 5 for Phone on my PDA and it is clunky as all get out. My wife’s iPhone is so slick it almost anticipates what you want to do.
My business forces me to use Windows but by and large it stinks (and don’t get me started on Office — 2003, 2007 and 2010).
yawn, c’mon microsoft. We need a healthy competitor against Apple and Google. You got to do better than this
Allow me, if you would be so kind.
A garden tractor and a motorcyle each serve a purpose. One is primarily designed for productivity, the other for leisure.
Consider the laptop. They weigh 4-15lbs, have a battery life that is 2-6hrs, cost $500-2500, have a keyboard, mouse and a screen. This is a productivity device. The monitor is designed to fold over the keyboard, typically you expect to use this device for limited periods with a battery, but primarily with the adapter plugged in. While you could watch a DVD on it, listen to music or read a book with it - most people do not. Why? Because the experience is sub-par. Most travellers with a laptop also travel with an iPod. If you fly a bit, the laptop is in constant danger of being destroyed if the seat in front of you suddenly reclines. The laptop is bulky and awkward.
Now the iPad. Let's start with the fact that there is no keyboard or mouse. You can hold it in ANY orientation. You touch your finger to launch any application, read or view any media. The display is IPS, far superior to ANY competing laptop. Cost is $500-700 for the non-3G version. The weight is 1.5lbs and the battery life is 10-12 hrs of actual use. Re-charge time is about 2-3 hours. Movies look fantastic on this display, as do Kindle or iBooks. This is a leisure device. Sure, I have Numbers (Excel), Pages (MS Word) and Powerpoint (Keynote) on mine - and I could use them if my life depended on it. But, that's a productivity suite that I use at the hotel room when I unpack my laptop.
With my iPad, I have a small, light powerhouse. I surf the net, send email, make reservations, play games, watch movies, listen to music, read books, newspapers, magazines ect on my iPad. My laptop travels in my carry on. With a lot of time to spend on a plane, I can be 'entertained' for 10-11 hrs.
Hope that helps.
“Microsoft’s iPad Answer Will Be Here for the Holidays (Expect a Windows 7 iPad this shopping season)”
Always nice to have a new way to get viruses!
Can’t wait to see how they butcher a tablet...
I don’t have any issue with lateness. Apple is late with mp3 players and mobile phone. But when they enter any market, they improve it alot. Can’t say the same for Microsoft. They tend to release stuff thats equal or maybe a little worst than the best on the market and they feel thats enough. Its not enough.
The only thing that made Windows Mobile palatable was companies like HTC basically writing over the native GUI and making everything touch-friendly - basically, doing the work that Microsoft should have been doing.
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