About half a day before the mysterious Microsoft event, everybody is busy guessing what the Big M is going to announce. Worry no more. Chinese fan site WPDang just got words from their trusted sources: it’s a tablet computer.
A lot of tech websites have been speculating that the mysterious new product (if there is a product at all) will be a Nook-ish device. Well that is half right. Apparently the Microsoft tablet doesn’t have anything to do with Barnes & Noble. It’s based on ARM processor, running the much anticipated Windows RT, aka “Windows 8 for ARM”.
There’s no word on specifications and price yet. But according to WPDang, the device will be manufactured by Microsoft’s existing Xbox 360 OEMs. We have seen the build quality of the world’s most awesome set-top box which happens to do epic gaming plus sci-fi-ish motion sensing. So there shouldn’t be much to worry about when it comes to the build.
Although it’s great to finally have a Microsoft branded tablet in the market, the launch of such a product is also declaring direct competition with all existing hardware partners. For a company who has been dedicated to building a PLATFORM that enables all partners to make their own share of money, Microsoft seems to be changing its own rules in a significant way. Hopefully the Microsoft tablet sets the bar for all ARM-based Windows 8 tablets instead of igniting an OEM rebellion.
