Rumour: Microsoft to announce own-branded tablet powered by Windows RT this Monday

According to website Gizmodo, Microsoft will make an "important announcement" at an "unconfirmed location" somewhere in Hollywood this coming Monday.

This information doesn't really mean much on its own, but Mashable is reporting on a rumour from Hollywood blog The Wrap, which purports that the Redmond-based software giant will soon be "making a foray into a new hardware category that would put the company in direct competition with rival Apple".

So, tablets, in other words.

This rumour, by the way, is cited as coming form "an individual with knowledge of the company". The purported tablet, should it not simply be the figment of somebody's imagination, will be made in-house, much like Microsoft's extremely popular Xbox. It'll be powered by Windows RT - the tablet version of Windows 8.

Attempts to release a Microsoft-branded tablet haven't fared too well in the past, with the most recent, Courier, seeing the chop before it saw the light of day.

We guess we'll find out on Monday whether or not Microsoft really has an iPad killer in the works.