Microsoft to sell 80-inch Windows 8 touchscreen PCs

Most folks would probably consider a tablet to be a mobile device with a screen that ranges from 7 to 12 inches or so. Not Microsoft VP Frank Shaw, who recently told Wired UK that CEO Steve Ballmer has a Windows 8 80-incher hanging on the wall of his office.

It’s a whole lot more accurate to call something that size a touchscreen all-in-one, of course, but it illustrates one of the goals Microsoft has set out for Windows 8. They want it running on any size screen that any manufacturer can produce, and they want those screens to offer touch input. Shaw also mentions that every screen should be able to watch and not just be watched, which is a knowing wink at Kinect for PC.

Tabzilla, according to Shaw, has become Ballmer’s go-to device. “It’s his whiteboard,” said Shaw. And it’s also something that other executive types will be able to hang on their office walls. Microsoft will apparently sell the device  as they do the Surface, and it’s the same sort of beast: one that’s not intended for purchase by the general public.

It’s not Sharp who is working with Microsoft on the gargantuan touch PC as you might expect. Though the Japanese company showed off a similar 80-inch Aquos Board (pictured) at CES 2012, this one’s being built by an as-yet-unnamed partner.

As for it not being able to users like you and me, Shaw figures it’s only a matter of time before that changes. LG’s already got a dual-core Smart TV on the way, so how long could it possibly take before someone decides to slap Windows RT on a big screen and sell it to consumers?

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