Published on June 18th, 2012 | by Paterson Prosper

Sources: Microsoft And Barnes & Noble To Announce Tablet With Xbox Live Streaming Today

I think a Barnes & Nobles tablet with Windows 8 (or even Android/Win 8 dual boot) would be a very smart idea. Barnes & Noble already sells a fairly popular tablet that is cheap. Doing the same thing for Windows at a similar price point will mean that Windows 8 can quickly gain marketshare.

There’s a ton of speculation around what Microsoft will be announcing on Monday in Los Angeles. Both the Wrap and ATD claim the event will showcase a Microsoft built Windows RT/Windows 8 tablet. According to folks with knowledge of the situation, they’re somewhat right but mostly wrong. We’re being told that a tablet/e-reader built in conjunction with Barnes & Noble is on tap and that it will be entertainment driven.
Before we get to that, let’s go over the brief chain of events starting with timing and location. Invites for the event went out on Thursday with zero flair and zero info causing some ire amongst the press. (At least Apple has the courtesy to give us a weeks notice.) And they expect us to show up in LA four days later? I don’t think so.
The majority of Microsoft’s “major” press conferences the last few years have come with specific product group (Xbox, Windows Phone, Windows, etc.) branding. This invite was plain text.
If it were a Windows 8/RT tablet announcement, it wouldn’t be made in LA and it wouldn’t be made this early. That type of announcement screams developer conference. (Don’t get me wrong. Windows 8 and everything it entails will be huge for Microsoft but don’t expect anything this early.) Imagine the blowback from the press about such a stale and boring preview anyway? Again, why would that happen in LA on such short notice?

via Tech Crunch