During its annual Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto on Monday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer reveals high hopes for its newly launched tablet, Surface.
According to ZDNet, Ballmer believes, the company and its partners will sell 375 million PCs in 2013, of which, "a few million" will be Surface PCs. By stating that, Ballmer has entirely refuted experts' verdict about the Surface's expected failure in the market due to low customer interest.
Microsoft, which is currently prepping Windows Phone 8, Windows 8, and a future Xbox for consumers, will not let Apple win an easy game, ascertains Ballmer. "Not the consumer cloud. Not hardware software innovation. We are not leaving any of that to Apple by itself. Not going to happen. Not on our watch."
Meanwhile, Microsoft announced its plans to buy Perceptive Pixel for high-performance multi-touch workstations and "wall solutions."
The company, however, has not revealed anything about the possibility of a Microsoft smartphone to be released in coming days.
Microsoft unveiled Surface tablets during I/O conference last month. The latest Microsoft slate is expected to be released this fall. Surface comes with a 10.6-inch screen and, in the Windows 8 Pro version, the display will deliver a high-definition experience with 16:9 widescreen featuring ClearType HD Display technology. The latest Microsoft tablet also packs in a lightweight tactile keyboard that's a slimmed down version of a true keyboard with actual moving keys and a multi-touch track pad along with a 0.7-millimeter built-in kickstand that pops out from the back panel and holds the slate upright, letting the user enjoy media or type comfortably. Surface can also accept stylus input and the company has shown how with the digital ink writing, highlighting and underlining on the tablet have become easy.
Surface comes with Windows 8 and has 128GB of storage onboard. Both the RT and the Windows 8 Pro versions of Surface boast two USB ports.
