Intel sets stage for new tablet announcements from HP, Dell, Acer and many others

Mark September 27 the date for another big coming out party for Windows 8.

Intel is planning a special event  in San Francisco next week to showcase devices running on its next Atom processor, the  “Clover Trail” Z2760.

But the bigger news is the guest list. Executives from Acer, Dell, Asus, HP, Lenovo, Samsung and ZTE will be present, which means we can expect the announcement of whole bunch of new tablets and tablet-laptop hybrids.

Notably absent from the list is Microsoft, which is likely taking a step back and giving its hardware partners a chance to show of their products on their own.

Seeing as this is an Intel event, all the new devices are likely to run Windows 8, not Windows RT, the version of the operating system designed to run on ARM chips.

While we don’t know exactly what to expect, Windows makers are going to have to address the elephant in the room — price. If a leaked product roadmap from Asus is any indication, some tablets are going to be priced starting at $600, which doesn’t bode well for their potential success.

Intel’s September 27th event comes two days after a Microsoft-hosted Windows 8 event in New York City. Clearly, next week is going to be a big one for Microsoft’s next operating system.

Photo:Flickr/ keitamiyoshi