If you’re in Las Vegas this week, chances are you’re there to attend the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show. It’s the largest tech show in North America and it’s an event that separates the men from the boys in terms of who can best cover the insane amount of products being announced seemingly every 15 seconds. But did you know that right before CES, on January 8th and 9th, AT&T held their 2012 Developers Summit? That event didn’t get a lot of attention, despite being in Las Vegas, but one important tidbit that’s slipped out is that AT&T held a joint session with Qualcomm to discuss 4G LTE enabled Windows 8 tablets. Here’s the session’s description:
A Metro Style Hemi™ – Windows 8 tablets super charged with 4G LTE
Attend this session and see how to transform the higher speed and lower latency of LTE into an amazing user experience. First, learn from Qualcomm about the power of their Snapdragon chip, and how developers can tap into the Snapdragon Developer Program to create rich Windows 8 apps that help deliver differentiated consumer experiences that capitalize on LTE’s potential. Then see how the intuitive elegance of Windows 8’s Metro-style application design has been layered over this horsepower. Finally, hear how standalone applications can be transformed on this powerful platform, converting independent programs into streamlined, integrated live tiles. Opportunities abound in this session for developers of connected apps; discover how AT&T and Microsoft are working to make developing connected applications easier.
This poses a lot of questions: A) What’s a “Metro Style Hemi™” and doesn’t Chrysler own that name? B) Will AT&T sell Windows 8 tablets to their customers? C) Which Qualcomm chips were being used to run Windows 8 on ARM? D) How far along is Windows 8 on ARM? E) When will Windows 8 tablets running Qualcomm’s chip hit the market?
Chances are we’re not going to get answers until the second half of the year.