Steve Ballmer will once again be making his appearance at CES 2011 and is rumored to be announcing new slate devices with a new interface and may be demoing Windows 8. The rumors speculate that Ballmer will unveil several devices that are supposed to compete with the iPad.
According to the New York Times, Balmer will unveil several devices made from Dell, Samsung and several others onstage. Most interesting in the rumors is the information about a new layered interface to the Windows 7 platform. The insider states, "people familiar with this device said it will run the Windows 7 operating system when in landscape mode, but will also have a layered interface that will appear when the keyboard is hidden and the device is held in a portrait mode. "
The rumored Samsung device is also said to be similar size to that of the iPad, the device will not be as thin but will contain a unique slide out keyboard. This comes in contrast to Apple"s iPad that only has a virtual keyboard.
Also mentioned is that Ballmer may be showing off Windows 8 onstage too. While nothing else was mentioned about what we could see if Windows 8 is shown off, the rumors and speculation are setting a high bar for Microsoft. Neowin will be at CES 2011 and will cover the keynote live to bring you all the announcements as soon as they happen.