Microsoft iPad-killer Windows 8 tablet: Soon say several sources. Sweet!

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is rumored to be launching its own tablet Monday. Although there's some disagreement about its intended use and the platform it runs: Windows 8? Windows Embedded? Windows Phone??But naturally, in IT Blogwatch, bloggers blog the phrase 'iPad killer.'

By Richi Jennings: Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: The 1700-year Civ II war...
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Sharon Waxman & Alexander C. Kaufman tag-team the rumor reporting:

Microsoft...has scheduled a secretive event for Monday...in Los Angeles, where it will make a "major" announcement. ... [An] individual with knowledge of the company said that Microsoft would introduce a...tablet at the event...put[ting] the company in direct competition with giant rival Apple.
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Rumors have surfaced that Microsoft's new tablet will run on Windows RT. ... Previously, Microsoft-enabled tablets have been made by hardware manufacturers such as Samsung and Hewlett-Packard.???

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Ina Fried is in a spin: [You're fired -Ed.]

After signaling...that it would attack the market only through...partners, Microsoft has decided to enter the tablet business more directly...[our] sources have also heard in recent weeks.
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Microsoft...depends on an ecosystem of PC makers like Dell, HP, Acer and Lenovo to make...Windows-based machines. ... It is unclear how Microsoft intends to differentiate its work...and just how [OEMs] will respond.? ... They could focus more energy around Android, but Google is also in the hardware business.???

But Mary Jo Foley ain't so sure:

If these rumors are true, I?m wondering whether [it] might be more of a rival to the Amazon Kindle Fire than the iPad.
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Microsoft brass have continued to hint...[of] some kind of a Metro-centric reader. ...? [It] might be a Windows Embedded or...Windows Phone OS device...remember: The settlement/contract between B&N and Microsoft mentioned Windows Phone. A lot.
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In other words, it?s going to be a consumption-first device, not a creation one. ... And maybe even made for Microsoft by Nokia.???

Speaking of Nokia, Preston Gralla adds 2+2 and calculates a strategy:

Nokia said that it lost $1.2 billion in the first quarter, with sales falling a precipitous 29 percent [and] that it expected even worse to come, largely as a result of its...deal with Microsoft.
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Given the sea of red ink, I don't think it's likely that Nokia will survive on its own. ... Late last year Microsoft considered buying the company, but...backed off. But things have changed since then...[which is] quite an irony: The relationship may have driven [shares] down...so much that Microsoft can scoop it up at a bargain price.???

Meanwhile, whatever it is, Harry McCracken is looking forward to it:

Microsoft isn?t new to the hardware game: ... It?s created everything from mice to the ill-fated Zune to a robotic version of Barney.
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[It?s] not hard to see why Microsoft might want to do this, even though the company runs the risk of ticking off other hardware manufacturers. ... If third-party manufacturers [continue] larding it up with useless utilities, pushy security software and unwanted demoware...the iPad will continue to stand alone.
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But if a Microsoft tablet manages to make for a worthy alternative...either because it?s in the same ballpark or because it goes off in another direction?this could be fun.???

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And Finally...
Man plays Civilization II for 10 years. With horrifying result.?

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