Google, Microsoft Prepping iPad Rivals

ByAntone Gonsalves InformationWeek  April 13, 2010 08:35 AM

Google and Microsoft are reportedly working on their own slate computers that would challenge Apple’s iPad.

Google chief executive Eric Schmidt told friends about the company’s new device at a recent Los Angeles party, and the company is talking to publishers about delivering books, magazines and other content to the device, The New York Times reported Sunday. The gadget would run exclusively on Google’s Android operating system.

Microsoft, on the other hand, has built a prototype of a slate. The device, called the Courier, is about the size of an average paperback and unfolds to reveal two screens, a Microsoft employee claiming to have seen the device told the Times. Users would be able to write on the screens using a stylus and would be able to drag content between the two screens.

While Microsoft engineers have talked about having the device ready for release by early 2011, no official announcement has been made on whether to sell the computer.

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