Microsoft, Tablet Computer | featured news

A tablet-optimized, Windows OS could be ready to see the light of day as early as next week, according to recent market chatter and media reports. The new operating system follows a smart move in January to ditch the older, problematic Wintel legacy and focus on new versions of Windows for the System on a Chip (SoC) architecture, many times more suitable for tablet devices, according to Sandeep Aggarwal at Caris. Trade The News goes so far as to report that these new products are being optimized to work on NVIDIA chips.

Microsoft Corp is set to report a dip in earnings on Thursday, a year after the launch of its Windows 7 operating system blew away Wall Street estimates, as sales of personal computers lag expectations and Apple Inc's iPad eats away at the fringes of its core market.

Microsoft's dominance is starting to fade as Macs, smartphones and tablets grow more popular.

Unleash the tablet PCs! Asustek is planning on launching a whole pack of tablets. As Joe Stalin once said, sometimes quantity has a quality all its own. Research In Motion’s Playbook tablet is coming early next year. Samsung will start selling the Galaxy Tab in November. Now Asustek Computer President Jerry Shen says he plans to launch five — FIVE! — tablets next year. Take that Steve Jobs.

A new Microsoft SEC filing published late Thursday revealed that the company punished its CEO Steve Ballmer for his inability to turn around the company's struggling mobile efforts so far. The proxy statement notes that his total compensation of $1.35 million, including a $670,000 base salary and a matching bonus, was lower than in 2008 due to the "unsuccessful launch of the Kin" and "a loss of market share" for Windows Mobile. The Compensation Committee singled out the absence of a real Windows tablet rival through a need to "take advantage of new form factors."

In an effort to counter Apple's iPad-fueled momentum in the personal computing market, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said his company plans to introduce a full range of Windows 7-based slate PCs "over the course of the next several months."

A top Microsoft Corp. executive voiced confidence that the company's software will prove dominant in the burgeoning market for tablet personal computers, saying the company offers better support for manufacturers than rival Google ...

According to sources familiar with the matter, Microsoft has cancelled Courier, the folding, two-screen prototype tablet that was first uncovered by Gizmodo. Gizmodo was told that on Wednesday, Microsoft execs informed the internal team ...

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is set to reveal his own rival to the Apple Tablet, according to the New York Times Bits Blog. We first learned about a Microsoft tablet device in September.