Seattle, Nov 07: After a decade of development, several false starts and hundreds of millions of dollars, Microsoft Corp. will today launch its long-awaited Tablet PC that allows users to write with a pen. The device, a flat laptop-style computer, is targeted at people on the go -- mainly office workers rushing from one meeting to another who need to stay connected to their e-mail, presentations, documents and notes. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is confident that the software is on the verge of delivering the next big thing, a device to liberate the computer user from the keyboard, but analysts say the verdict is still out on whether the Tablet PC's time has finally come. ''By allowing people to have a device where you don't need to use the keyboard, you simply literally have it in tablet form, you can take notes, you can read long documents sitting in any location that you'd like, you can annotate things and share those with other people,'' Gates told shareholders at a meeting earlier this week.
Microsoft's early attempts to get pen-based computing off the ground failed and Apple Computer Corp.'s Aapl.O Newton, the precursor to current handheld computers, was also a commercial flop though one that was hailed as visionary.



Determined to avoid that fate, Microsoft is putting its full muscle behind the new platform with an estimated 400 million dollars already invested in development and research.



Gates said he will unveil the Tablet PC at today's launch ceremony in New York city. He has devoted a good portion of his time to the new gadget, although he oversees an expanding empire of products.


Bureau Report