Microsoft takes on tablets with keyboard-equipped Surface
In one of its most-hyped-up announcements of recent years, Microsoft has entered the tablet market with the Surface, a 10.6 inch table running Windows 8 on Intel and ARM platforms. At the launch event in Los Angeles, CEO Steve Ballmer said that Microsoft could offer something "unique" in that it can do both the hardware and the …
This topic is closed for new posts.
The keyboard cover is very nice at 3mm thick. I would love one of these for my iPad. I hope they do well.
No release date or price
So pretty much a classic Vapourware announcement then?
I suspect that they are struggling to get buy in from the big PC manufacturers to produce W8 tablets (look at Nokia vs Sumsung - which model would you emulate if you made PC hardware?), so ended up doing it themselves.
Several things that strike me as plain wrong (though just catching up with the announcement now)
1) Screen resolution? No retina type display then? Battery life. You know the things that sell tablets vs keyboards and colour schemes.
2) "Ultrabook prices". Ultrabooks I have seen (<cough> Macbook Air <cough>) cost twice that of an iPad. So Surface tablets will be twice the cost of iPads? Good luck with that.
3) Same brand name for 3 different devices that may or may not happen to run the same software downloaded from the web (x86 W8, WinRT ARM, and the big vertical market surface tables). WTF?
Finally.. shipping sometime in the future .. probably about the same time as 4th Gen iPads?
Given that MS are right now a small scale hardware maker, (the XBox was/is subsidised by MS game sales) will be interesting to see how much of a hit they will take on each hardware sale, as they are up against Apple with a very fine tuned pipeline for churning out devices quickly and with a low BOM
Re: No release date or price
The decision to develop the Surface familymust have been made sometime last year or earlier.
The Windows OEMs have done a really poor job in recent years with laptops. Intels Ultrabook initiative however flawed at least woke a few product designers up. Microsoft coming up with some designs that put HP, Acer, Dell and co to shame further highlights that fact and hopefully will spur those companies to offer some competitive products e.g. add an LG retina panel to 15".
Battery life and price, sure we need to know more.
Release date - there was no way Microsoft could have done an Apple and veiled Surface in secrecy until it is ready to ship, the OEMs will be unhappy enough as it is.
Is it called "surface"..
.. because there is absolutely no depth to this announcement?
Is this the good old bag of tricks being opened, pre-announcements to try and spoil a market? If so, I think they are a tad late..
Re: Is it called "surface"..
Google I/O isn't on for 8 more days. Seems it may have been strategically timed.
Good grief, it's got that Metro rubbish on it....
That aside, some interesting ideas there, the kick stand, keyboard, track pad etc.
However, I, and 'we', as family are not interested. We bought 4 iPad's (1's) between us. The children still have theirs which I can nick when I need once in a while. Sold mine to buy a HP Envy 17. No further need for tablets until one of them dies. Was taking an interest in Android tablets, until Google killed my Play Wallet/checkout (they're not sure themselves what to call it) account.
If Microsoft decide that it will only talk to a PC properly with Metro, than I am even less interested than I already am, which is not very much to start with.
Re: Good grief, it's got that Metro rubbish on it....
Well one advantage with the Win8 O/S is that you get proper user-accounts, so it wont matter if your kids pick up your tablet for example.
Anyway, I really like the look of this. There are a few of us who have been holding off from getting a tablet because we want a Windows version...I was hoping for a low-power AMD one and I think I would prefer a true hybrid to this. But if it's light enough and that keyboard gets out of the way, then I may go for the Intel one above. Don't like the sound of Ultrabook prices though as those are already over-priced and the price of those will be falling by the end of the year (Intel are lowering prices and AMD will have their own models out by then).
Re: Good grief, it's got that Metro rubbish on it....
Did you contact Microsoft to warn them about your family situation so they could take it into account and postpone the launch?
Not sure what the fact that your household is stuffed with aging iPads has to say about Surface.
Re: Good grief, it's got that Metro rubbish on it....
User accounts on a tablet? An idea as silly as user accounts on a phone.
Good luck when your kids smash the tablet.
@ Good grief, it's got that Metro rubbish on it....
Couldn't agree more. I've been using Metro for a few weeks now. It's a catastrophe for multitasking productivity. You can't have more than one window open at once, so if you're copying fields from one form to another, you're knackered.
Microsoft has truly been taken over by sales types whose entire job is to turn up, do a presentation with a pre-prepared set of slides and then chat up the management over drinks or take them out and get them laid. Metro is better than win 7 for tablets, but that's it. For real work, multiple windows, (visible when you're selecting others,) is three times as fast.
What has happened to MS. It's a tragedy.
Re: Good grief, it's got that Metro rubbish on it....
You bought FOUR iPads? Good grief man, get a grip. What's it like of an evening at your place, do you facetime each other from your own rooms? I can't imagine anything more antisocial than a family set of iPads.
Re: @ Good grief, it's got that Metro rubbish on it....
"Couldn't agree more. I've been using Metro for a few weeks now. It's a catastrophe for multitasking productivity."
Huh? What?
Erm, you do realise this is a tablet? That's the whole bloody reason they designed it.
Admittedly the problems you point out with Metro may be true. On a desktop. On a phone, it works rather well (although it's not much more customisable than iOS). I'd assume it will be good on a tablet too. I've never used it on a PC, but I'd be amazed if it's not wasteful of space. Although perfect for users like my Mum, who only do one thing at a time anyway - and to be honest struggle to manage that...
Re: Good grief, it's got that Metro rubbish on it....
"User accounts on a tablet? An idea as silly as user accounts on a phone"
Generally you'll log into your tablet using your hotmail/passport/Microsoft account. This will be the enabler to allow seamless syncing of app data between your desktop, your tablet and your phone.
Re: @ Good grief, it's got that Metro rubbish on it....
"Couldn't agree more. I've been using Metro for a few weeks now. It's a catastrophe for multitasking productivity. You can't have more than one window open at once, so if you're copying fields from one form to another, you're knackered"
Er.. yes you can, they dock in a 70/30 split on the screen. And the Share option in the Charms bar is a considerable leap forward for app data-sharing.
Re: Good grief, it's got that Metro rubbish on it....
"User accounts on a tablet? An idea as silly as user accounts on a phone."
Well maybe if like the OP you want to buy a separate iPad for every member of your family and get your free photo of Steve Jobs. But for the less extravagant amonst us, yes. User accounts on a tablet are a great thing.
"Win8 O/S is that you get proper user-accounts"
There's a delicious irony there.
Re: "Win8 O/S is that you get proper user-accounts"
"There's a delicious irony there."
I'm not seeing it? What is deliciously ironic?
Re: Good grief, it's got that Metro rubbish on it....
The 'ageing iPad's' work very well thank you very much, a testament to their great design, I must admit to being a bit poor and not being able to justify buying iPad 3's for my 9 year and 13 olds.
A family of five with three iPad is hardly an iPad 'stuffed' household, though there are 3 laptops and 4 desktops, so household stuffed full of Windows 7 PC's would be quite accurate.
Anyway the point was, are people with ageing decrepit iPad's 1's driven enough by 'must have the latest gadgets now' consumerism and/or the desire for better speed and performance to rush out and buy Microsoft Surfaces?
As for release schedules, the Xbox only made inroads because people ageing PS 2's were dying. I doubt the same will work here, unless people really are sick of their original iPad's and are desperate for a Microsoft device, that won't run any of their old purchases either.
Progress
If the "TouchCover" starts acting up, will it be called a BKOD?
XP?
Slap winXP or win7 on that baby, I will be first in line to get one!
Re: XP?
Right behind you.
(Though I still think the cancelled courier looked more interesting)
Re: XP?
You infidel! Metro is the truth, the way and the life.
You shall not defy the words of the Great Prophet Sinofsky.
So it's not an iPad, not a Transformer...
... but somewhere between them? Tablets are hot but Microsoft's core computing competency is 'things with keyboards' so what they've done is probably the smartest move they could have made, albeit that moving a lot earlier would have been a lot smarter.
As noted by almost everybody else, success will probably depend on pricing, screen quality and battery life, none of which we yet seem to know anything about.
Re: So it's not an iPad, not a Transformer...
But, unlike a transformer or an iPad, it runs a full blown OS, you'll probably be able to pull Windows off and install Linux on the Intel one, should you so desire.
Personally this is what's been keeping me from getting a tablet, I want a full OS, not a mobile OS which has been inflated to an under-spec laptop. I've been thinking about the Samsung Series Seven Slate, but this may be worth waiting for...
Specs aren't equal for both models
The article is wrong in quoting the specs: for example the RT version doesn't have Display Port, pen input or Full HD display.
It's best to link to Microsoft's (very brief) specifications: http://www.microsoft.com/global/surface/en/us/renderingassets/surfacespecsheet.pdf
Soooo, let me get this straight. It's a touchscreen device running a mobile version of Windows, with a flat keyboard inside its case, integrated kickstand and stylus?
That doesn't half sound familiar...
http://www.4winmobile.com/reviewer/waveydavey/Reviews/Ameo/conv_1.jpg
good for consumers
with more entrants into this market it is bound to help drive innovation and choice.
Re: good for consumers
Yeah, I'm sure Zune and KIN brought great competition to existing markets they were trying to penetrate.
Re: good for consumers
Yeah, Microsoft - always the friend of healthy well-functioning competitive markets!
Re: good for consumers - innovation and choice?
> it is bound to help drive innovation and choice.
Microsoft driving 'innovation and choice' ? I don't think so.
Metro is compulsory on Windows 8, it may make consumers choose something else, or choose to keep XP/7.
MS's have effectively killed Nokia's Meego and Meltemi. They will kill off Symbian ans S40 as soon as possible.
It is likely that HP dumped WebOS because MS threatened to remove discounts on all products for being 'disloyal'. Same with Netbooks.
Available for developers?
Prototype RT tablets were shipped to some key developers but for most of the dev community nothing.
MS really need to get some out there by end July if theres to be a decent showing in the Windows store by launch.
Any news on that?
Re: Available for developers?
"Prototype RT tablets were shipped to some key developers but for most of the dev community nothing"
At Build conference last year, all attendees were given tablets. However, I'm pretty sure these were all x86 tablets, not ARM. AFAIK, no ARM tablets have er, surfaced as yet.
For the dev community, there's around half a dozen different x86 tablets out there in the stores today (and indeed, 9 months ago), that you can buy and install Windows 8 Release Preview on and start writing WinRT applications today.
Whoo-hoo!
I'll bet this is an even bigger success than the Kin!
Seriously, sometime in the middle of next year, I'll probably pick one up at some brick'n'mortar's bargain bin, once the hack is available to load Android or some other distro on it, so I can put it to use after I'm tired of playing with RT.
Of course it needs a keyboard...
...Otherwise how could one press Ctl+Alt+Del?
Re: Of course it needs a keyboard...
ofcourse, almost forgot that
now i know why they needed a multitouch keyboard
Re: Of course it needs a keyboard...
I wonder if you can pinch+zoom Ctrl+Alt+Del on the multitouch keyboard? Surely that will be the iPad killing feature.
Re: Of course it needs a keyboard...
Perhaps you put two fingers on the bottom left corner, another on the top right....
Re: Of course it needs a keyboard...
Perhaps the final production models will have hard CTRL, ALT and DEL buttons built directly into the chassis, obviating the need for the keyboard to be kept handy?
VaporMg-Ware
Microsoft is returning to its roots with 'Vapor'. It used VaporWare to stop people buying competitive products to give itself time to write something that would do the same job.
Now it is using VaporMg-Ware in an effort to stop people buying iPad and Android tablets until it can get its own out the door.
Just remember that when they do eventually arrive they will be the 0.9 version.
Meanwhile OEMs will stop making any Windows 8 tablets and HP will go back to WebOS, but will include Android compatibility.
Re: VaporMg-Ware
A reasonably fair comment. Microsoft have had a habit over the years of promising great things and failing to deliver (or at least in a timely fashion).
Remember WinFS?
I'll be interested to see how this develops - particularly the x86 version.
Re: VaporMg-Ware
> particularly the x86
Would you really want a 'fry an egg' Intel CPU and a 'red ring of death' power supply in a *Magnesium* case ?
These could be the next stealth terrorist weapon.
Deja Zune?
Still, at least they've thought outside the box. This is not so much a tablet, then, as a ultra book with detachable keyboard? It's a good idea, but you're not going to be able to type on that keyboard on the train unless you're in the posh carriages with the tables.
So what happens to this when world+dog rejects Windows8 because of it's conjunctive twin Metro, and MS is forced to perform surgery and rush out Windows9 with a useable interface?
Re: Deja Zune?
I doubt Windows 9 will save Windows 8 like Windows 7 had saved Windows Vista.
Too many changes, and tech advancement these days is speeding up faster than 5 years ago.
People are waking up to the fact that it is possible to have fun and be productive without Microsoft, and there is no pertinent need to upgrade to the latest and greatest Windows/Office.
The Microsoft ecosystem will be increasingly marginalized (phone, desktop, web services, games) and we will witness the decline of the Redmond software giant within this decade.
MSChimera
The jackalope is considered "prior art" so MS has no patent worries on this one.
Office 'Preview'
"""Surface for Windows RT includes Office Home & Student 2013 RT Preview"""
What does the 'Preview' signify ? That it will expire and users will need to buy a real version? Or is it just that it won't work very well.
It also may be that 'Office RT' will be reduced facilities compared to x86 Office.
Re: Office 'Preview'
Yep, that's the way I read it too - it's a document previewer (hence the name) not document editor.
Time will tell.
Looks good to me.
Not being a big fan of the closed Apple approach (great kit, but give me a choice dammit), I bought a Galaxy tab.
And will I let anyone else in the house use it? With suspicious eyes as my email accounts, dropbox, personal stuff is all there, available. I did try an app lock, but then that's annoying for me too.
Add to that the frustration of not being able to use 2 or more apps side by side and I rarely use it now.
So this for me looks great. Very stylish and will run my existing Windows apps if I go for the Intel version.
I can see it replacing my Galaxy tab AND laptop quite easily at the right price.
If there was a reason to sack Ballmer
Then this is a very good reason why. This will tank.
They managed to get the screen the right shape .... that is a good start.
This topic is closed for new posts.
