Microsoft-Branded Win 8 Tablet by Q4 2012?

interesting

why bother....2012....lost years....

microsoft, "start" a new company so that your tablet might sell better.

Not all at. The current W7 based tablets are terrible because well W7 wasn't designed to be put on one. W8 on a MS branded tablet with Office optimized for a tablet will sell like hot cakes. Apple will surely have their MacOS on a tablet by the end of next year also. Once that happens Android tablets are done. The iPad running iOS will still be around because Apple has the best marketing department on the planet and could sell shit on shingle calling it the iCrap.

A W8 tablet with a docking station that has a more powerful GPU and possibly a secondary CPU? RIP Android tablets. RIM's PlayBook I think will still be around because they have the business market locked up.

They are trying to release it q4 2012?!?! Good luck getting a descent ROI with only 2.5 months until the world ends =D

The problem with other vendors that Microsoft is now trying to fix is the way the represent the Microsoft brand. If Microsoft gave OEMs the ability to produce the XBOX, then it would not have been the success it is today. Microsoft also saw this same problem with their MP3 players and decided to design the Zune without allowing OEMs the right to make a version for themselves. These are all very smart moves on Microsoft's side. Many people here might not like that, but in reality too many cooks in the kitchen does not make a better meal.

I hope Microsoft does design a line of computers, tablets and mobile phones with their own name on it. It will allow them directly to compete with Apple.

All Microsoft needs to do is create a tablet that can be used in a proper Microsoft-based Enterprise company, like mine. We are already purchasing iPads for people who go from room to room and meeting to meeting at our corporate and I'm sure they could INVADE that space.

It needs to come faster. Q4 2012 is too late - that would be giving Apple another generation of iPads.

Considering the success of "Kin" maybe they'll name it "Tin".

I agree with some of this but RIM's going to continue to lose market share. They don't have the business market locked up as tightly as you think. They shipped the Playbook without a native mail app. This tells me they're more worried about getting something (anything) out there instead of releasing a quality device. Email is important for business.

The only thing about releasing at the end of 2012 is that it better be polished and ready to perform. That's where I think they're going to fail in that the hardware won't be up to spec or lack of apps at launch or something else. And don't forget, if they have any plans of overtaking Apple as far as Tablets, it better be all shiny and pretty too.

I'm all over this. Hello java, hello flash, hello php, hello real multitasking ... no more limitations! Q4 2012, I throw my ipad 2 out of the window. I said it along time ago the death of the apple in the mobile space will be a real windows OS on a tablet, designed for a tablet. The same thing that destroyed the innovative mac , will destroy the IPAD, apples insistence on being proprietory and deciding which technologies should exist , like the hate of flash, even though it's ubiquitous to the net, despite it's short comings. Go MS, can't wait.

Lack of apps, what are you talking about, windows 8, can run all windows app, it's not like iOS this isn't a new thing, it's different approach in fact, it can run like desktop if you want, that's the beauty of windows 8, this is the death nail to iOS, windows will ahve an instant library much larger than app store, and it will have all the existing software of windows.

They'll probably be up to the iPad 4 or 5 by then, considering the iPad 2 just got released a little while ago and the iPad 3 is set to be released later on this year (Q4 2011).

I hope Microsoft puts power into this thing and not find excuses to make upgrades for the next version (like the iPad 1, 2, and eventually 3). I mean, come on. The technology is already available. there's no reason why, for instance now we can't have a tablet with a 12 MP camera on the back and at least a 5 MP camera on the front.

LOL. You want a 12 MP camera on a tablet. So your vision of the future is people carrying 10" devices to use as a camera? Honestly, I think a rear camera on a tablet is a joke. There is no reason for it to exist at all, let alone be 12 MP. And 5 MP front facing camera on a tablet? Are you doing 1080p video chats? Does your tablet screen support 1080p in the first place? Don't want the specs just to say you have higher specs than other tablets, want the specs that actually make a difference.

remind me again about this on q3 2012 when something concrete comes up

I think you need to read between the lines on this rumor. Microsoft is probably loosing partners to Google, because Android is free and available now. Apple has already sold 25 Million tablets and is well on its way to selling more than the XBox 360 in only it's second year. That's quite amazing since the iPad cost much more than the XBox. Microsoft is, as usual, quite late to the tablet party, even though they invented the platform. That fact alone shows you what a miserable company Microsoft has become.

So there you have it - Google is the new Microsoft all hail Google, Apple is still Apple only bigger, and Microsoft has been put out to pasture with IBM, Sun, SGI, Novell, etc.. I just love this industry!

Its really a shame that Microsoft failed marketing the Zune because both the software and hardware rock and completely blow away the iPod.

The fact that Microsoft may actually produce and sell their own tablet seems to validate the complaint that the Windows 8 GUI was designed for and around it's use on tablets and other portable devices.

I just threw it out there as one issue that could possibly plague a release. The fact is, if this isn't an absolutely top-notch tablet, it's going to fail until they actually get it right several versions later.

You mean like the iPhone?
That was a steaming turd when first released but it sold a bomb, the only reason people keep buying the damn things is to upgrade to the thing that was missing from the previous one that competitiors had released already months before.
Cameras? CPUs? Storage? Expandable memory? Screen size? Durability?
If you know where to look, they are not even in the top 10 for every single category.
But hang on! It's thin and and now it's white! - CHA-CHING!!!!

Actually, as a previous phone enthusiast I beg to differ. The iPhone offered something the US market never saw before. A capacitive multi-touch phone. Before the iPhone, I was in love with SE world phones like the W810i and the K800i. When the iPhone was announced, I dropped these phones immediately and flocked in line. The iPhone was my first Apple product (no iPods here still).

Were they the first in the market with a capacitive multi-touch phone? Yes.

Did Apple create a phone that a 99 year old grandma could use? Yes.

Did Apple change the mobile game? Yes. Every damn phone now is multi-touch or bust.

Did Apple just put USA in the spotlight for phone manufacturers? F* Yes.

Thats why they sold like hotcakes. Finally, a phone not from Japan or Europe that can stand toe to toe and look better.

I do not know why many people will think that if there is a Windows OS designed for tablet, it will magically be render all existing Ipad, android tablets etc obsolete. What is going to happen, is that despite Windows having the largest software library in existence, none of the existing software is going to be able to take advantage of a touch interface, and trying to use them on Windows 8 is just going to be as painful as trying to use them on Windows 7 tablet. It has to be the NEW software, specially designed for touch interface, to make a Windows 8 tablet worthwhile.

Biggest issue with existing Windows software is not the keyboard interface, it is the mouse centric interface where precise point and click is required. Figure is too fat to replace a mouse pointer. Current Apple and Android approach is to make button big so that click on them are easy. Existing software, which relies a lot on menu, keyboard shortcut etc have issues to seamlessly translate into a touch interface.

Interesting, and this new could be possibly true since Microsoft is trying to diversify.