HTC is currently hard at work on a range of Windows RT tablets, according to rumours.
The report comes from Bloomberg which cites unnamed ‘people familiar with the matter’, alleging that HTC will produce both 12-inch and 7-inch Windows RT devices.
Aside from rumours of a 7-inch Xbox Surface tablet based on a custom Windows build, this is the first time anyone’s mentioned a 7-inch Windows 8/Windows RT tablet since Microsoft revealed the platform in 2011.
According to the report, HTC’s new Windows hardware will land in Q3 2013 and will run ARM-based Qualcomm processor architecture.
The news follows reports that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has held meetings with HTC chief Peter Chou, purportedly to discuss Windows Phone 8, but this new information, if true, could suggest that Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets were also on the agenda.
‘HTC had also been considering a tablet with Windows 8 running on Intel, but scrapped those plans because the company determined it would have to charge too much -- around $1,000 -- for the device, making it difficult to sell enough of them,’ claimed Bloomberg.
A 7-inch Windows RT device would certainly give Microsoft something with which to fight Google’s Nexus 7, Apple’s iPad Mini, Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD and Barnes & Noble’s Nook HD, all of which have generated plenty of consumer interest.
Microsoft has previously said that with Windows 8/RT and Windows Phone 8 sharing the Windows NT kernel the interface and apps can be easily scaled between phone and tablet formats and to various screen sizes.
However, whether this will readily include the 7-inch form factor isn’t clear.
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