Rumor: Microsoft Announcing a Self-Branded Tablet on Monday

Rumor: Microsoft Announcing a Self-Branded Tablet on Monday

Microsoft has announced that at 3:30PM pacific time on Monday the company will unveil something “you will not want to miss”. The message is intentionally vague, and is written in the tricky and annoying language of “marketing”. Thankfully we live in the digital age, and anonymous sources have confirmed Microsoft will allegedly unveil a line-up self-branded tablets to a captive audience in LA. Naturally Microsoft has denied to comment on these rumors, however both All Things D and The Warp claim to have independently verified the reports. 

The source tracked down by All Things D admits “that Microsoft concluded that it needs its own tablet, with the company designing both the hardware and software in an effort to better compete against Apple’s strengths.” The author went on to claim that both ARM and x86 based machines will likely be shown, though it is not clear if reporters will get hands on time with the new devices. Wired has also speculated that the new hardware might be manufactured by Nokia, and could closely parallel the way Google handles its Nexus line. 

If Microsoft does enter the tablet wars directly, it could be as risky a gamble as Windows 8. Apple has been making some modest gains against the PC in recent years, but for all intensive purposes that war is over; Windows has won. Tablets on the other hand are a completely different matter. If Microsoft fails to capture market share quickly, the self-branded hardware could end up harming their reputation with consumers even more.      

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