Microsoft, Tablet Computer | featured news

According to internal documents obtained by the website TechCrunch, Microsoft has offered $1 billion for the digital assets of Nook Media, Barnes & Noble's digital book venture. According to internal documents obtained by the website TechCrunch, Microsoft has offered $1 billion for the digital assets of Nook Media, Barnes & Noble's digital book venture.

CEO Steve Ballmer told French daily Le Parisien that sales of the company's first tablet "are starting modestly." Ballmer also said that the supply shortages were a "good sign." He added that Microsoft will "fix this problem quickly" as the company increases capacity, which is part of its overall strategy.

According to a report by the Verge today, Microsoft is planning to release Office for the iPhone, iPad and Android in early 2013. Relying on inside sources, the Verge reports that Office Mobile will be offered as free apps that allow Android and iOS users to view Microsoft Office documents on mobile devices. The Verge also notes that Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents will all be supported, but edit functionality will only be enabled with an Office 365 subscription, which can be purchased using the app.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer can't afford to be wrong about Windows 8. On Thursday in New York, Microsoft unveiled a dramatic overhaul of its ubiquitous Windows operating system. It will go on sale Friday, fused into more than 1,000 PCs and other devices. If it flops, the failure will reinforce perceptions that Microsoft is falling behind competitors such as Apple, Google and Amazon as its stranglehold on personal computers becomes less relevant in an era of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.

When Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) unveiled the Surface tablet in June, it pulled back the curtain on nearly three years of secret development. This Friday, buyers will finally be able to get their hands on the $499 tablet.

At 9:00 this morning, Pacific time, Microsoft’s future goes on sale. The first Surface tablet, Microsoft’s dramatic foray into the hardware business, is available for pre-order starting today. It will be available for purchase in stores starting Oct. 26. With its release, Microsoft instantly becomes the third major player in the tablet market, a market where it is taking a fundamentally different approach than its rivals, Apple and Google.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) hints at Windows RT tablet prices and their release dates. Another one of Redmond's mammoth blog posts is getting the reading-between-the-lines-analysis treatment today, as the company announces more details of Windows 8-on-ARM PCs.

If you happened to peruse the annual report Microsoft filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week, you may notice that a rather obvious little bit of news was confirmed in the documents: That the Redmond-based company's Surface tablets will hit shelves on Oct. 26, along with Windows 8.

As Microsoft announces a new tablet, technology experts offer their first impressions of the device, as well as insights into what the product could mean for Microsoft and its rivals. The BBC has compiled a round-up of what some of them are saying.