“This year one of the most important things that we will do in the smart
device category is really push forward with Windows 7-based slates and
Windows 7 phones,” he said.
“Over the course of the next several months you will see a range of
Windows 7-based slates that I think you’ll find quite impressive. This is a
terribly important area for us. We are hard-core about this.”
Asus, Dell, Samsung, Toshiba and Sony are among the consumer electronics
companies that will be making Windows-based slates, he confirmed.
“They’ll come with keyboards, they’ll come without keyboards, they’ll be
dockable, there’ll be many form factors, many price points, many sizes,”
said Ballmer.
“But they will all run Windows 7. They will run Windows 7 applications.
They will run Office.”
Microsoft is keen not lose out to Apple in the portable computing market.
Ballmer acknowledged that Microsoft had already failed to keep pace with the
likes of Apple and Google in the mobile phone space, and that its Windows
Mobile operating system had missed a generation in terms of its features
and functionality.
Ballmer said that would be rectified with the launch of the first Windows
Phone 7 handsets later this year.
“I think we will give you a set of Windows-based devices people will be
proud to carry, he told delegates.
Apple has sold more than three million iPads since the device went on sale in
April, prompting competitors to launch their own tablet-style computers.
Dell launched the Streak, a tablet running Googles Android operating
system, and others are also experimenting with the slate form factor.
Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it had ended development of the
Courier, a tablet-style device that some had seen as a potential rival to
Apple’s iPad.
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Tags: Apple’, Microsoft’, s chief executive, s iPad, tablet-style computers, Windows 7-based slates