NYT: Windows 8 Tablet May Be Introduced at CES

Will Windows 7 devices have to share the spotlight at CES in January?

Windows 7 has been extremely well received but we'd be lying if we said we weren't already a little bit intrigued about Windows 8. We've been hearing snippets about the next version of Windows for a long time and it's safe to say our curiosity is well and truly piqued.

Fortunately, it looks like we may not have long to wait before we get to see a little bit of Windows 8 love. The New York Times is reporting that we may see a Windows 8 tablet demo at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next month.

NYT cites people familiar with the matter in reporting that the Ballmer keynote will feature a lot of tablet-talk. Ballmer will apparently demo several slate devices, including offerings from Dell and Samsung. The Samsung device is said to feature Windows 7, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and a special UI layer for when the tablet is in portrait mode.

However, the most interesting thing NYT sources came out with was that Ballmer might also introduce a tablet or companion device featuring Windows 8. Sources didn't give any more detail than that, but it's certainly gotten us all excited for CES next month.

Last year Ballmer and HP beat Apple to the tablet punch and announced the HP Slate (pictured), which was running Windows 7. Unfortunately, the two companies shared very little information about the device, and couldn't even say when it would be available to purchase. The iPad came and went and there was still no sign of the HP Slate. Eventually word got out that HP had decided to can the device as far as the consumer market was concerned and instead use it to target the enterprise market. Despite being announced before the iPad, it only went on sale last month.

Let's hope Microsoft and Ballmer do a better job of delivering on CES 2011's promises, whatever they turn out to be.

(via PC World)