News today has surfaced that Microsoft and tablet manufacturer Hanvon are poised to make sweet music together, creating new tablet designs for business users. This is the first signs that Microsoft are re-thinking their tablet strategy in a bid to take on Apple and Google for a piece of the tablet market.
Today's announcement basically describes an alliance of sorts between one of China's most mature x86 tablet manufacturers and the world's leading x86 software developer. Zhang Xuejun, president of Hanvon, has indicated that for them, the tablet is very much a business tool as opposed to an entertainment or content consumption device. He goes on to mention how business users will demand a Windows OS on their tablets and hopes that this alliance will bring plentiful dividends in the future.
This news has not so far hit the media mills of the West, but the story will no doubt become standard fare as Microsoft attempts to create a high value perception for Windows 7 on business class tablet devices. x86 tablets will struggle to gain momentum in the mainstream consumer space for variety of reasons including cost, weight, touch-screen usability and battery life. Business users who are content with a Windows style experience and can afford a caddy to lump their tablet around for them may just bite. Then again they may not.
Check out the interview we did with a Hanvon rep during computex 2010.
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