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Microsoft Expected To Debut Tablet Rival To iPad

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with Microsoft's big secret.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

INSKEEP: Microsoft is not confirming or denying this. The company is expected to unveil a tablet device at an event in Los Angeles later today.

Bloomberg News reports that sources say the device would compete with Apple's iPad and Amazon's Kindle. Microsoft is rumored to have partnered with Barnes & Noble to create this product. The manufacturing move, if it happens, would be unique for the company, which has focused heavily on software.

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Another American tech company has created a supercomputer now ranked the fastest in the world. IBM's Sequoia supercomputer recently took the number one spot on the list, which is published every six months. The Sequoia machine beat out the previous number one, the Japanese Fujitsu.

The supercomputer will be used to run simulations that help extend the life of aging nuclear weapons without needing actual nuclear tests. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.