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A web of rumor and suggestion has been spun in recent weeks about a new tablet-oriented version of Windows. But when major players like Acer start moanin' and complainin' about how they're going to make hardware to run the new OS, that's when you know something  has  to be afoot. According to Bloomberg , Acer CEO J. T. Wang spoke up at Computex to berate Microsoft for being too restrictive in what processors it will permit to carry its new baby, saying it is "really controlling the whole thing, the whole process." And he wasn't just speaking for Acer either, because he added that chip suppliers and PC makers "all feel it's very troublesome." It begs the question, if Steve Ballmer is borrowing Apple's approach and becoming a control freak, why doesn't he just go whole hog and build a Microsoft Tabletfrom start to finish?  Bloomberg

After announcing a trio of consumer laptops, you didn't think HP had forgotten about its business line, did you? The company also trotted out three lightweight models for the corporate set, including the 12.1-inch EliteBook 2760p convertible tablet, which has been rearing its head around the FCC as of late. Although it's an update to the current-generation 2740p, it sticks with its tried-and-true metal design. But -- surprise, surprise -- it steps up to Sandy Bridge Core i5 and Core i7 CPU options, promises 5.5 hours of battery life with the standard six-cell, and will be one of several models compatible with HP's newly minted (optional) prepaid data service, DataPass. Is this the Windows 7 tablet you've been looking for? It's on sale now starting at $1,500 -- stylus included. Next up is the EliteBook 2560p laptop, an update to the 12.1-inch 2540p. This one, too, has a tough aluminum-and-magnesium-alloy build, but it gets the good ol' Sand...

As far as tablets go, Gigabyte's S1080 is about as far as you can get from the iPad, with its dual-core Atom N550 processor, 320GB hard drive, and Ethernet port. (And, you know, the fact that it runs Windows 7.) Still, the company is going head to head with Apple's magical slate -- it just priced the 10-inch, 3G-enabled tablet at NT$22,900 ($787), a shade higher than the NT$22,800 price of a first-generation iPad with 3G and 64GB of storage. (Taiwan hasn't gotten the iPad 2 yet.) If having a Windows tablet with mouse buttons, of all things, floats your boat, it can't be beat, though finding a cheaperWindows slate should be a cinch. Computerworld