Microsoft has been pushing tablets for many years now. It made a big splash last year at CES with what eventually became the HP Slate 500 but, so far, Windows-powered tablets have not had the same success that Apple’s iPad has had. According to a The New York Times report, Microsoft is set to take another stab at this market early next year.
Citing “people familiar with Microsoft’s plans,” it reports that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will unveil a number of new tablet devices at CES 2011. Among the manufacturers expected to have their products showcased are Samsung and Dell. The Samsung device will apparently be about the same size as the Apple iPad but will feature a slide-out keyboard. It will run Windows 7 in landscape mode and switch to a layered interface (presumably over Windows 7) when the keyboard is hidden and the devices is running in landscape mode.
Another source suggests that Steve Ballmer could also show off the upcoming Windows 8 running on a tablet and other devices.