In a recent interview given to an analyst at CES 2010, Robbie Bach, the President of Entertainment & Devices Division at Microsoft has given out an insight on what can we expect from the much awaited Windows Mobile 7. From the looks of it, it seems like Windows Mobile is finally going to get a complete makeover to make it more consumer oriented, user friendly and modern(ish). It wont act, look or feel anything like the current versions of Windows Mobile that we known as of today.

As reported previously, Steve Ballmer in his keynote today at CES 2010 announced the HP Slate PC which is said to go retail later this year. What is interesting about this Slate PC is that instead of running a stripped down or a customized version of Windows or Windows Mobile, it will be running full fledged version of Windows 7 (Starter most probably). Here is what Ballmer had to say about it.

CrunchGear has got the latest scoop on the rumored Microsoft/HP built slate/tablet PC. According to their sources, Microsoft in partnership with HP is set to announce a portable Slate like tablet PC which will run on top of Microsoft software.

The are a number of rumored reports around the web, suggesting a possible announcement of Microsoft Courier Tablet like Slate tablet PC tonight during Steve Ballmer’s opening keynote at 2010 CES. If this happens, then we could very well have a Slate/Tablet PC, running Microsoft software well ahead of Apple’s rumored iSlate/Tablet, which is expected to be unveiled on January 27th, in Apple’s mega event to be held at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.

HP today has announced TouchSmart tm2, the much awaited follow up to TX2 in their convertible tablet PC lineup. The TouchSmart tm2 is going to be powered by Intel Core 2 Duo processor with monstrous 9 hours of battery life off its standard 6-cell battery. The duo capacitive multitouch touchscreen is compatible to work with both fingers and pen, oh and it will ship with Windows 7 as pre-installed OS. Best of all, like all the new HP notebooks, the TouchSmart tm2 will have aluminum build which is slimmer, lighter and stronger than its predecessor the tx2.

The International Consumer Electronics Show 2010 kicks off tonight with keynotes by Steve Ballmer, CEO Microsoft and Robbie Bach, President of Entertainment & Devices Division. Their keynotes like always will be streamed LIVE all the way from Las Vegas on January 6th, 2010 at 18:30 PST (Pacific Standard Time). Click here to see what time is it in your region.

It seems like Windows Mobile 6.5.3 is going to drop before the major version 7 release, which is scheduled for late 2010. In Windows Mobile 6.5 API documentation at MSDN (Microsoft Developers Network), WMExperts have found out references been made to Windows Mobile 6.5.3, which indicates a new minor version release over the current version 6.5. The said references can be found in “Developing Widgets” section of Windows Mobile 6.5 documentation.