Sources report that a 6 x 8 inch prototype has been making its way around the Redmond campus, and is one of a number of new tablet form-factors expected in coming months, the Microsoft Watch story says.

Microsoft Watch editor Mary Jo Foley writes...

Microsoft has been criticized, by even some of its closest Tablet allies, for trumpeting the Tablet's arrival, but then failing to follow through with adequate marketing. Some said Microsoft has been compounding the problem by delivering conflicting messages about the future of the Tablet operating system. The new hybrid Tablet/eBook device may be Microsoft's attempt to reinvigorate interest in the Tablet. The new system allegedly is a pet project of Microsoft chairman Bill Gates. Gates could show off the hybrid prototype during his keynote at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) on April 25, according to sources. The new hybrid gadget is not a Pocket PC, nor some other kind of PDA. It's not a modified Smartphone. And it's not a personal communicator. It's definitely a mini-Tablet of some sort, sources said.

Meanwhile, over at eWeek, contributing editor David Coursey takes a less sanquine view of these developments. "Despite the hype, electronic books and higher-powered small devices are years away from being ubiquitous," he says.

Coursey continues...

Make these devices inexpensive enough and students could do electronic coursework on them. Add wireless and students could submit assignments, consult electronic libraries and IM friends about after-school gang activities. Or pep rallies, perhaps. The soon-to-be billion-dollar question is: When will electronic books and higher-powered small devices be ready for mass-market consumption? My bet is we're talking five years before Tablet PC features will be an expected part of a notebook computer. Let's tack on another five years before students routinely do their assignments on personal e-book slate computers.

Read the full Microsoft Watch story here...

Tablet PC: The Next Generation?
Read the eWeek op-ed column here...

Microsoft's Tablet PC Odyssey

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