Microsoft could be developing Apple tablet competitor
MS-Watch | at | by Mike
Rumors about Microsoft developing a tablet PC, all the better to compete with Apple's much-speculated-about multitouch offering, gained a new head of steam in the blogosphere over the weekend of Sept. 19.
Microsoft and rumors of tablet PCs, of course, are nothing new. Back in August, I wrote about the whispers, first reported in Wired, that Dell and Intel were collaborating on a touch-screen tablet due for release at some point in 2010.
At the time, I contributed to the chatter by postulating that Microsoft would want a piece of that potential touch-screen market, predicted by research company DisplaySearch to expand from its current $3.6 billion to $9 billion over the next six years; and that certain innovations in the upcoming Windows 7, specifically its multitouch capabilities, seemed positioned to take advantage of future tablet PCs from OEMs.