Microsoft Announces New 'Surface' Tablet, New Hardware and Software Based on Windows 8

[elgrecomac]

Microsoft's strategy is very clear

They have 2 flavors:
Flavor 1 - non-corporate users who will still have a PC/Mac at home
Flavor 2 - a full replacement to a laptop for business users where all MS Office apps will run plus other non-MS apps used in a corporate environment.

All things considered, not a bad strategy. My biggest complaint re: my iPad is having to lug around my work computer along with my iPad all day long. Now MS has, potentially, provided an alternative.

Bravo, Microsoft, for providing some competition to Apple in this arena as I am getting really tired of a closed and very rigid itunes/Apple Ecosystem.


P.S. and for those bitching about the weight of this device, well, I spoke with several people over the weekend who own iPads like I do and the two biggest complaints were the iPad's weight when reading a book and the fact that they needed to buy a Kindle to read books outdoors in sunlight. Neither Apple or MS have cracked these nuts yet.
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17" MBP with VMWare Fusion for selected biz apps, iPad 2 (jailbroken, of course!), iPhone 4 (jailbroken, of course)

 

[AppleScruff1]

If they made this thing a gaming powerhouse and allowed an actual tactile controller (any bluetooth controller) to work with it natively, this would be selling well no doubt. That's the biggest gripe about iOS - the lack of any real controller. You can only ***** touch the screen so much when playing games. Most of the fun games are really limited by the stupid touch screen controls.
And now steve-o has gone so I hope someone at apple has enough balls to actually create an api for gaming controllers. These stupid restrictions makes apple look like sony.

You said it will be a failure, remember?

 

[faroZ06]

If they made this thing a gaming powerhouse and allowed an actual tactile controller (any bluetooth controller) to work with it natively, this would be selling well no doubt. That's the biggest gripe about iOS - the lack of any real controller. You can only ***** touch the screen so much when playing games. Most of the fun games are really limited by the stupid touch screen controls.
And now steve-o has gone so I hope someone at apple has enough balls to actually create an api for gaming controllers. These stupid restrictions makes apple look like sony.

Totally. We also need plugins for apps to be allowed on the store. Well, if MS does either, Apple will have to do it too.

 

[JoEw]

Yes because a slit in the shelle somehow consumes power?


Yes you already know how windows 8 tablet edition is going to behave on that tablet


Time will be the judge of that, but at least its better then having tablets that some find uncomfortably hot.


Tegra 3 is power inefficient ?

Why else would there be a split in the shell?

Mhmm to hot... Being the owner of this said device that is so uncomfortably hot it's not even usable

If it runs in the right operating system

 

[Anti-Lucifer]

Ah so the last ipad (wich I bought btw) was a failure then?





Why? With his logic an imac or macbook shouldnt have cooling vents .

This is the same pointless argument as thiness .

Power consumption, noise, weight those are important things.


A tegra 3 doesnt require that much cooling, and i5 does .



No thats a step too far. And seeing my wife complain about her new ipad getting to warm to her liking I wished apple had introduces such a vent to get rid of the excess heat.

I'm just responding to the need of any active cooling. I have a few iPad 2's and 2 iPad 3's - I don't have a heat issue (well, it does get hot) but not uncomfortable to touch) even when playing games like infinity blade 2,etc. I don't like noise and having any active cooling is a no-no on a tablet. On the laptop, it's expected but if apple can come out with some liquid cooling without fans, that's even better.

 

[faroZ06]

You said it will be a failure, remember?

This could be a real gaming device that people would buy. Tack on some media playing and business stuff, and it will sell. Still, the iPad has all of those people who don't even play games at all in the bag.

The PSP Vita comes to mind. I think even Microsoft could do a better job than Sony, a company that I respect for its good cameras and other things but not their computers, Blu Ray, or gaming consoles.

 

[Anti-Lucifer]

You said it will be a failure, remember?

why are you rolling your eyes?

I was merely commenting on this:

"No one has as many apps as iOS. What the Surface needs are some good quality apps at launch."

shall we go back and forth again like little school girls?

 

[Tee1up]

This is the beginning of the end for the iPad and Apple.

What an amazingly myopic comment Dad. I told you not to go online without taking your tablets.

 

[Renzatic]

I have no doubt the battery life on the Pro won't be anywhere near the iPads. The pro is like an evolution of the Asus EEE Slate. Good concept, poor execution. Win 7 just wasn't fun to use on a tablet, and the unit ran hot, heavy and poor battery life. The Pro looks to improve on all those fronts. Time will tell if it improves them enough.

It's not just about improving them enough, it's about whether people will want to buy a tablet that replaces both a low power iPad style tablet and an ultrabook. It's a machine that has traits of both, but doesn't necessarily pander to the strengths of either one.

I can see the potential of the thing. I can see how it could be a hit. But is there enough there to convince people to give up a tiny laptop or a low power tablet for something that lies inside a very narrow margin?

 

[ds2000]

Looks brialliant tbh. Wonder if hackint0sh could work with the intel version.... that would be epic!

 

[faroZ06]

why are you rolling your eyes?

I was merely commenting on this:

"No one has as many apps as iOS. What the Surface needs are some good quality apps at launch."

shall we go back and forth again like little school girls?

What he means is that this device has a chance. I think it can sell, but not exactly as an iPad competitor.

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Looks brialliant tbh. Wonder if hackint0sh could work with the intel version.... that would be epic!

Oh gosh, drivers...

 

[swagi]

A lot of Apple fans easily forget that Microsoft's last hardware venture wasn't the Zune but the Kinect which just so happens to be the fastest selling consumer electronics device in history out performing any Apple device.

Competition is good and congrats Microsoft.

Yes - and it just sits on my shelf collecting dust after the novelty wore off. Using gestures and speech to control the XBox is nice sometimes, but as soon as you realize you do everything faster with a controller, Kinect just collects dust.

And having tested four different games I still have not found the Kinect Killer Feature (yes, Autovista in Forza is nice, yes, giving squad commands in Mass Effect 3 is nice, but...meh).

So this may be a warning to all people dreaming up an Apple TV set with Siri and gestures. Trust me - it sucks! Speaking from Kinect experience and the implementation on the XBox is fantastic.

 

[Anti-Lucifer]

What he means is that this device has a chance. I think it can sell, but not exactly as an iPad competitor.

Like I said before, this thing will only work if it's priced cheap. I don't mean $498 ($1 off from iPad 3 16GB).

We'll see how well this turns out. Like many over promised, under delivered tablets (xoom, rim tablet, android tablets), etc. there is no faith left. I am extremely happy with my iPad 3. The only thing I wish for it to have is a faster cpu because it's not up to speed when it comes to encoding videos. Longer battery life would be icing.

The iPad has proven itself. It's gonna take some great stuff from any competitor if they are to overtake the iPad in sales. I don't think this tablet is it

 

[AppleScruff1]

why are you rolling your eyes?

I was merely commenting on this:

"No one has as many apps as iOS. What the Surface needs are some good quality apps at launch."

shall we go back and forth again like little school girls?

I stated facts. You reversed your earlier statements.

 

[faroZ06]

Yes - and it just sits on my shelf collecting dust after the novelty wore off. Using gestures and speech to control the XBox is nice sometimes, but as soon as you realize you do everything faster with a controller, Kinect just collects dust.

And having tested four different games I still have not found the Kinect Killer Feature (yes, Autovista in Forza is nice, yes, giving squad commands in Mass Effect 3 is nice, but...meh).

So this may be a warning to all people dreaming up an Apple TV set with Siri and gestures. Trust me - it sucks! Speaking from Kinect experience and the implementation on the XBox is fantastic.

Remember the Wii? That thing sucked compared to the Gamecube even with its ability to play Gamecube games....... You need batteries in the Wiimote to select the Gamecube game. Does the Wiimote ever work without replacing the batteries? No. Does my cousin ever have batteries? No.

 

[k995]

Why else would there be a split in the shell?

To get rid of heat, you know like every tablet generates?

Mhmm to hot... Being the owner of this said device that is so uncomfortably hot it's not even usable

Oh to me no, but my wife does, she actually switched back to the ipad 1 . (not that I am complaining to be using the new ipad now )

If it runs in the right operating system

If they repeat vista-> windows 7 and can trim it for tablets I dont see any reason why it could be ineffecient .

 

[Anti-Lucifer]

I stated facts. You reversed your earlier statements.

hey, i'm not going to go back and bicker with you. It's quite ridiculous for many to scroll thru the junk posted.

I want to say some legitimate things here too - and there is no doubt that if this thing was a gaming powerhouse, it would sell. too bad the thing doesn't even turn on!

Let's just wait and see the fallout...

 

[faroZ06]

Like I said before, this thing will only work if it's priced cheap. I don't mean $498 ($1 off from iPad 3 16GB).

We'll see how well this turns out. Like many over promised, under delivered tablets (xoom, rim tablet, android tablets), etc. there is no faith left. I am extremely happy with my iPad 3. The only thing I wish for it to have is a faster cpu because it's not up to speed when it comes to encoding videos. Longer battery life would be icing.

The iPad has proven itself. It's gonna take some great stuff from any competitor if they are to overtake the iPad in sales. I don't think this tablet is it

What if this tablet comes with Halo 4? And if it can play XBOX 360 games? It has a big chance as a gaming device.

 

[Renzatic]

Remember the Wii? That thing sucked compared to the Gamecube even with its ability to play Gamecube games....... You need batteries in the Wiimote to select the Gamecube game. Does the Wiimote ever work without replacing the batteries? No. Does my cousin ever have batteries? No.

Dude. Son. Man. Buy a Wiimote battery pack and charger stand. Sucks you have to spend extra to get something that should've come standard, but hell...they work great.

 

[k995]

I'm just responding to the need of any active cooling. I have a few iPad 2's and 2 iPad 3's - I don't have a heat issue (well, it does get hot) but not uncomfortable to touch) even when playing games like infinity blade 2,etc. I don't like noise and having any active cooling is a no-no on a tablet. On the laptop, it's expected but if apple can come out with some liquid cooling without fans, that's even better.

We dont know if the fans produce any noticable noise.

 

[Anti-Lucifer]

To get rid of heat, you know like every tablet generates?


Oh to me no, but my wife does, she actually switched back to the ipad 1 . (not that I am complaining to be using the new ipad now )

.

Are you serious? The new iPad does not generate so much heat I have to go back to an iPad 1. But if she insists......

 

[faroZ06]

Dude. Son. Man. Buy a Wiimote battery pack and charger stand. Sucks you have to spend extra to get something that should've come standard, but ****...they work great.

But none of my friends ever have it OK I know that's a horrible excuse. Still, why can't you just select the channels with the Gamecube controller? It's annoying to switch. Also, the sensor bar (actually an IR transmitter) tends to be tangled, lost, or broken. I had to use a lamp last time to select the game.

Anyway, I was kinda exaggerating the badness of the Wii. The Wii has a few good games. The motion gaming was a gimmick though.

 

[Renzatic]

Are you serious? The new iPad does not generate so much heat I have to go back to an iPad 1. But if she insists......

It can get a little on the uncomfortably warm side.

But none of my friends ever buy it
Anyway, I was kinda exaggerating. The Wii has a few good games. The motion gaming was a gimmick though.

Eh. For the most part. Thought it worked great for Metroid, though.

 

[2IS]

We dont know if the fans produce any noticable noise.

Do we even know if it has fans or if the vents are passive?

 

[AppleScruff1]

We dont know if the fans produce any noticable noise.

We don't actually know anything about this tablet.