Microsoft to Launch its Own iPad-killer Tablet

Microsoft sent out invitations for a major announcement in Los Angeles next Monday, rumors about just what the company will be announcing are starting to fly, beginning with TheWrap reporting that the company would be announcing a Microsoft-manufactured tablet, AllThingsD followed claiming that Microsoft wanted to take on the iPad directly.

Sources say 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. Microsoft’s tablets may include machines running ARM-based processors as well as models running on traditional PC processors, sources said.

Following the success of own device Xbox, Microsoft could be actually working on manufactured by Microsoft itself, running on Windows RT (a version of Windows 8) tablet intended to rival Apple’s iPad.

Other sources claim that Microsoft is actually aiming at Amazon not Apple, by bringing a 7-inch tablet and not to mention that Microsoft had signed a deal with Barnes & Noble to invest in nook business. A Nokia-made, Microsoft-branded 7-inch tablet is also a possibility

The timing is interesting, as it comes just before Google I/O, where Google is expected to announce a new 7-inch tablet running Android.