Microsoft Twitter hardware hints don’t refer to tablet

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer recently said that developing its own slate to rival the iPad was a priority for the company, given Apple’s massive success with the device.

And that’s despite the canning of the dual screen Courier, which got many people excited when pictures of the prototype emerged last year.

The most recent buzz regarding Microsoft and tablets comes from the Hardware division’s Twitter account, which the Telegraph reported had posted up a mystery image of their next creation.

The cropped shot doesn’t give many clues away, but the company also tweeted a hint: “Don’t be so touchy…flat is where it’s at”.

A “flat” device started immediate speculation, by the Telegraph and MS Twitter followers alike, that this could be the first shot of Microsoft’s tablet rival for the iPad.

We don’t think so. It doesn’t look like a tablet to us, and more to the point, Microsoft’s Hardware division went on to rule out this idea totally, with the tweet: “Love the excitement about our next product! Just remember, we make keyboards, webcams and mice…”

So, what is the mystery product? It seems fairly likely it might be some manner of magic trackpad. Suggestions from Twitter followers include a “Kinect slab”, which makes sense with the “don’t be so touchy” line – a hands-free motion controlled mouse, as it were.

Other less inspiring guesses include a folding keyboard. We’ll be keeping our eye on Microsoft’s Twitter feed for the final reveal.