Microsoft has yet to come out with a decent alternative to Apple's iPad and the host of tablets running Google's Android, but that's not stopping the company from grabbing a bit of attention for itself recently after showing off a quad-core slate that "might" be running Windows 8. Microsoft didn't say much about the device itself, but according to reports the company is planning to unveil and showcase this tablet at the Build developers conference next month.

One report from IT consultant Alan Burchill, an attendee at the Tech Ed conference in New Zealand where the tablet was briefly flashed, said Microsoft would be giving these out to attendees at an "upcoming Microsoft event," but those claims have since disappeared from his original post with no explanation as to why.

Microsoft decided not to comment on the report, but considering Windows 8 is on the agenda for Build, one would expect they'd at least tout the device as Windows 8-ready. During the event the company also said there are quad-core Windows 7 slates coming later this year that will offer eight hours of battery life, a 10-inch HD screen and 1080p playback. He didn't mention what processor would be powering the device, and as far as we know Intel doesn't make any quad-core x86 chips with the kind of low voltage to enable 8 hours of battery life, but we'd be glad to be proven wrong.

On the ARM front, Nvidia's Kal-El is supposedly planned to arrive in tablets sometime around September, while rivals Qualcomm and Texas Instruments are also expected to have something ready before the year closes.