Sales of Microsoft's Surface tablets - both Windows RT and 8 - have been considerably less-than-stellar. Nevertheless, Redmond is said to be designing a new lineup of devices, including a 7-inch tablet which could kick off mass production in late 2013.
A report from analyst company Gartner said that the traditional PC market will slip in 2013 by 7.6 percent as people open their wallets to spend on tablets and smartphones instead.
Rumours that online bookseller Amazon might be developing its own smartphone gathered momentum after it announced that it had hired a a 20-year Microsoft veteran who most recently worked in its Windows Phone unit.
More than a billion smartphones and tablets are in use around the world, and research outfit Flurry has detected more than 2,000 unique device models so far.
The latest survey of connected intelligent devices from IDC has revealed what we were all beginning to suspect – the day of the PC has gone, while tablets and smartphones continue their inexorable ascent.
While the humble desktop PC emits a death rattle across the world, consumers are flocking to tablets - devices which tend to be much more comfortable to keep on your lap when channel surfing.
While Steve Jobs claimed that any tablet smaller than nine inches was doomed to fail, Intel's PC business chief doesn't see much of a future for big stand-alone tablets.
Microsoft’s Surface tablets are off to a rather unimpressive start, but Redmond now believes that it can woo more business users by selling its gear in bulk. The new service allows business users to place volume orders for Surface tablets. We are, however, not convinced it will help Microsoft’s cause.
While the rest of the world is not saying much about Windows 8 on tablets, it seems that it has found a loyal supporter in the analyst community.
So far Microsoft's Surface tablets have missed sales expectations among average consumers, and Samsung pulled the plug on some of its Windows RT tablets.
