Ballmer confirms Microsoft working on iPad competitor


30 Jul 2010

The chief executive of tech giant Microsoft Steve Ballmer has confirmed his company is urgently working with its hardware partners on the production of tablet computers to compete with Apple’s latest hot consumer gadget, the iPad.

However, he did not give a timeline for the production of the tablet device during a conference with financial analysts in Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, yesterday, saying only that it would be shipping when it is ready, CBS News reports.

Ballmer described Microsoft’s tablet or slate computer rival to the Apple iPad as “job No 1 around here”.

He also added that Microsoft “has to make things happen with Windows 7 on slates”.

Although Microsoft has been dabbling about in slate computing for a while, it has yet to produce a game-changing tech product in the tablet arena to rival what Apple has managed with the iPad.

Ballmer also admitted that Apple had sold more of its iPad devices than he would like, adding that the company had done an “interesting job” on the new gadget.

Article courtesy of Businessandleadership.com