Windows 8 adding phone features? Good call
According to a screenshot, Windows 8 could give your tablet phone features, such as the ability to make calls and send texts.
What's that? You think phoning people on a tablet is ridiculous, prompting a thousand lazy comparisons to Trigger Happy TV? You're quite right. But it seems Microsoft sees it differently, as it may well be baking phone features into Windows 8.
One tile from the operating system shows missed calls, while a user's profile includes the option to send him an SMS or call his mobile. Hmm.
The tiles were spotted by eagle-eyed bloggers iStartedSomething, but aren't the only evidence. A rumour is doing the rounds that the prototype Samsung Slate PC given to developers at last week's conference included a 3G chip with voice-calling capabilities, not just data.
These nuggets of info could point to some kind of wireless connection to your mobile, so instead of needing a separate SIM you could access your phone's abilities and contacts from your tablet. It'd make sense being able to speak to someone while working on your tablet PC without having to use a separate device, after all.
A couple of weeks ago the boss of chipmaker Nvidia said Windows Phone apps could run on Windows 8. The tablet OS already mimics Windows Phone's tile-based way of working, so it looks like convergence is the name of the game here.
Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer admitted a while ago that Windows Phone is still "very small" -- less than 2 per cent of the market, to be precise. Titchy. Making apps work across Windows 8 would open them up to users of the 400 million Windows PCs sold every year.
Windows 8 isn't due to land until next year, so we've a while to wait to see if your tablet will double as a phone.
Are you looking forward to Windows 8? And is a tablet having phone features a good idea? Let us know on our Facebook page.
Image credit: Pocketnow