Thursday, January 6, 2011

Windows at CES? Where?

Reading the coverage, 2011 CES is the opposite of 2010's.  Last year, everyone focused on HP's Windows 7 Slate tablet and many were excited about the possibility of the Microsoft Courier dual screen tablet.  A year later, and the Slate tablet is barely visible having only released it for sale three months ago, and Courier was canceled -- in fact, no major manufacturer is producing a Windows 7 tablet.  Instead, everyone from LG and Samsung, Panasonic to Sony, Motorola, HTC and Acer are showing off tablets running Android.  And look at all the smart phones being intro'd at CES 2011, running Android..  Barely seen a Windows Phone 7 device.

If that isn't a sign that Windows is being squeezed out of the mobile future, I don't know what is.  Maybe Windows on mobile devices isn't dead - never count out the big guy - but so far their biggest announcement at CES 2011 has been the support for ARM chips in Windows8, which means another two years away.

The changing of the guard is palpable.  So I guess this means more lawsuits from Microsoft, trying to fend off competition like an aging oligarch.

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