For the second time in about six months, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer announced the company's intention to enter into the tablet market with Window 7 "slate" devices. "Over the course of the next several months, you will see a range of Windows 7-based slates that are really quite impressive," said Ballmer. He made the announcement during a keynote speech at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference, an event attended by 14,000 partners on Monday.

Microsoft will be working together with its PC partners such as Asus, Dell, Samsung, Toshiba and Sony, to field Windows 7 slates in the coming months, writes ZDNet's Mary-Jo Foley in a report. Other vendors spotted include Lenovo, Fujitsu, Onkyo, MotionComputing and Pegatron, according to InformationWeek.

Some additional information on the upcoming hardware: They will be available at a variety of price points and form factors--with keyboards, touch only, dockable, able to handle digital ink etc.

Microsoft's strategy appears to center around creating a device that will fit in with Microsoft's existing management and security products. Ballmer was quoted as saying, "We want to give you a consumer-oriented device, but a device that fits and is manageable with today's enterprise IT solutions."

For more on this story:
- check out this article at The Seattle Times
- check out this article at InformationWeek
- check out this article at ZDNet

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