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While Lenovo already has a number of consumer Windows 8 devices waiting to hit the market, the Wall Street Journal reports the company also has a consumer tablet running Windows RT on an Nvidia Tegra processor.

What kind of tablet? One with a "keyboard that flips around," the WSJ says.

ABC News confirms the WSJ report and claims the Nvidia-powered Lenovo tablet is a Windows RT version of the "flexible" IdeaPad Yoga, an ultrabook-tablet hybrid first seen CES 2012.

The Tegra-powered Yoga joins the first-seen version, which runs on a "next generation" (Ivy Bridge) Intel Core processor.

Windows RT is the first Windows version running on ARM processors, such as the Nvidia Tegra mobile device processor family. It cannot run all legacy Windows programs, instead depending on apps from the online Microsoft Store.

Go Nvidia Partnering With Lenovo on Windows RT Device (WSJ.com, registration required)

Go Lenovo Yoga Coming With Windows RT (ABC News)

Do 21st century gamers still care for virtual reality (VR) headsets? Maybe they do, judging from the interest spurred by the Rift-- the latest attempt at head-mounted displays from newly-formed company Oculus.

Proof of such interest comes through Kickstarter, which Oculus are using for crowd-sourced funding. Unlike most Kickstarter campaigns, Oculus only "sells" early developer kits through the service-- managing to get over $1 million (with around 3500 sponsors pledging $300 for a single dev kit) in less than a week.

Each dev kit (available as in either assembled or slightly cheaper build-it-yourself form) comes with access to the Oculus Developer Center, as well as a copy of Doom 3 BFG Edition for PC.

What puts the Rift apart from previous, failed attempts at head-mounted displays? Apart from technology (the company promises " a truly immersive experience "), what the Rift really has is interest from games developers. These include big names such as Doom creator John Carmack, Epic founder Cliff Bleszinski and Valve president Gabe Newell.

The tech specs are also interesting, mind-- head tracking offering "ultra low" latencies and 6-degrees of freedom, a 110-degree field of vision and resolutions of up to 1280x800 (640x800 per eye). Inputs come through DVI, HDMI and USB (no VGA) and it runs on either PCs or mobile devices.

A consumer version of the Rift is, as Oculus puts it, "still a ways down the road," but the interest shown from developers should in the least generate a fairly interesting finished product. Or one that is better than the many attempts at VR we've seen in the past... Virtual Boy, anyone?

Go Oculus Rift

That Microsoft upset its OEM partners by producing a tablet by itself is not really news-- so what Acer CEO J.T. Wang tells the Financial Times about the Surface only provides further confirmation.

Wang believes the Surfaces will be "negative for the worldwide ecosystem" causing other vendors to "take a negative reaction." He nearly begs Microsoft to "...think it over... please think twice."

"If Microsoft is going to do hardware business, what should we do? Should we still rely on Microsoft, or should we find other alternatives?" Wang continues.

Back in June reports emerged on how Microsoft kept the Surface a closely guarded secret, letting other vendors know about the tablet only 3 days before the official launch. A bit like what Apple does, basically. But can it really do that? After all, while Apple works by itself (and can really do whatever it wants) Microsoft still depends on its OEM partners around the globe.

The Microsoft 10-K report filed on July 2012 admits the Surface might have upset OEM partners, saying "our Surface devices will compete with products made by our OEM partners, which may affect their commitment to our platform."

Then again, with tablets booming (even some of the non-iPad ones) while PCs remain flat, can Microsoft afford to ignore Windows-based tablets? Also, can it really trust its partners (HP, Acer, Dell, etc) with its tablet dreams? We will only know the success (or lack thereof) the Surface will bring come launch day on October 2012.

Go Acer Chief Takes Aim at Microsoft Surface (FT.com, registration required)

Go Microsoft 10-K Form Filing

Microsoft has been calling its distinctive tile-based user interface "Metro" since its first appearances on Windows Phone. But not any more-- since no other than Metro AG owns the "Metro" name.

According to anonymous sources speaking to Ars Technica, the German retailer is threatening Microsoft with legal action, causing the Microsoft Legal and Corporate Affairs team to send out a memo (also leaked to The Verge) banning use of the "Metro" name.

As we all know, Metro is huge, and a quick check through the German DPMA register reveals the retailer registered the "Metro" name for use in computer software, hardware and even storage devices.

In other words, Metro has a case against Microsoft should legal push comes to shove.

What shall we call the Microsoft tile-based, then? Very simply-- "Windows 8-style UI" when referring to Windows 8 applications and "New User Interface" when talking about all Microsoft products using the UI.

Ars Technica quotes a Microsoft spokesman saying "We have used 'Metro style' as a code name during the product development cycle across many of our product lines. As we get closer to launch and transition from industry dialog to a broad consumer dialog we will use our commercial names."

Interestingly, the press release announcing Office 2013 around 2 weeks ago does not refer to Metro-- it instead mentions "Windows 8-style applications for Office."

Go Microsoft: "Metro" Out, "Windows-Style UI" In (Ars Technica)

Go Microsoft's Metro Branding to be Replaced According to Internal Memo (The Verge)