While Google and Apple battle it out with their own take on the future of the tablet computer, one might be wondering where the heck is Microsoft in all of this? Based on my research, outside of the occasional demo, Microsoft tablets have been seemingly missing from the world thus far.

ZDNet reports that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has announced that Windows 7 Slates are just around the corner. Despite being incredibly late to the game, Microsoft does come to the table with some great partners: Asus, Dell, Samsung, Toshiba and Sony. HP is expected to be among those listed, but they remain unconfirmed as of yet.