Microsoft Announces 'Surface' Tablet

MrSeb was one of several submitters to write in about Microsoft's foray into the tablet hardware market. From the article: "At its much-discussed 'big unveil' this evening, Microsoft did indeed launch a tablet — but rumors that the device would showcase a Barnes & Noble partnership were misplaced. Instead, Microsoft showed a ... device that integrates a better keyboard option than typing on the screen without adding size or weight. That's where the new keyboard — which doubles as a screen cover — kicks in. At 3mm thick, it adds virtually nothing to the device's size, but it opens up a world of inputs. There are two covers available — the Touch Cover (very thin) and the Type Cover (with proper, tactile keys). Microsoft is touting the device's magnesium body, vapor-deposited construction, full PC functionality, and additional features like being the first tablet to showcase a 2×2 MIMO wireless antenna. Windows RT (ARM) and x86 versions are both in the works, with the x86 version apparently having a higher quality screen. No word on hardware specs yet; Microsoft is claiming it 'rivals the best ultrabooks' and uses less power than the Core i5." Microsoft has a launch site with a few pictures. There is a vague spec sheet: the x86 version is slightly thicker and has a larger battery (and comes with a pen) than the ARM tablet, but that's about all it reveals. Update: 06/19 16:06 GMT by T : Nick Kolakowski at GeekNet's SlashCloud says this may be Microsoft's best chance to compete in a cloud-centric mobile computing world.

Comments

Neat cover ...

[hattig]

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/science-technology/microsoft-unveils-new-tablet-for-uncool-people-2012061931075

IMO, the keyboard touchpad cover is an interesting (and required for Windows and Office) invention.

But the low-resolution display (1366x768) on the ARM version is going to compare badly against the iPad 3 and upcoming Android tablets, and the pricing will have to reflect that.

Re:Neat cover ...

[Anonymous Coward]

IMO, the keyboard cover is just what is needed in the tablet space. It is the number 1 selling accessory for the iPad. But I can't shake the feeling that we're gradually building a laptop yet again. Remember the netbooks that started small, limited, and cheap. They gradually grew larger and more functional until they were basically laptops. Further back there were the handheld PC's that started very limited and gradually aded features like a color screen, networking stack, web browser, until they basically resembled mini laptops (albeit still limited in functionality.) Some of them even run Linux.

Re:Neat cover ...

[DrgnDancer]

I dunno. Work bought a couple of iPads recently for developing a mobile app. While the high res display is non-obvious in things like the desktop or e-mail, anything graphical is quite obviously and noticeably better on the new screens. We pulled up satellite imagery in Google maps and were quite literally shocked by the quality of the images. This was without any lower res screens to compare with initially, it was just obviously better than what we had seen before. After a few minutes someone brought out an older iPad and someone else an older Android tablet so we could do a direct comparison. That made the quality more obvious, but even standing alone, the quality was impressive.

Of course we're all computer professionals (programmers and systems people), and we work with graphics day to day, so maybe that's part of it. All in all, I was impressed. Honestly, the screen update from my iPhone 3GS to my 4S, while nice and certainly noticeable in a direct comparison, hadn't impressed me all that much. On the larger screen it's *much* more obvious.

Interesting but...

[Registered Coward v2]

it looks more like a Macbook Air than an iPad, despite it's being a tablet. MS even says:

Microsoft is claiming it 'rivals the best ultrabooks' and uses less power than the Core i5.

which reveals the problem it faces:

Despite being a tablet, the keyboard makes it a "computer" in the minds of a consumer; and yes I know the iPad is a computer but what's important is the psychological difference in the consumer's mindset and approach. A tablet is a portable device that does a lot of neat and useful things but isn't as full featured as a computer; so you are willing to accept tradeoffs such as no really powerful office suite that is fully compatible with the desktop version.,/P> That's one of the brilliant things about the iPad - it's design broke the user's mindset and created a new paradigm - complete with a new OS and user interface. MS, maybe because of its desktop centric worldview can't seem to understand that and has come out with a device that they may call a tablet but will probably be viewed by many as a computer; and unless they meet those user's expectations of what a computer s they may just have yet another netbook on their hands. We've seen what tablets did to the netbook market, and it will be interesting to see how this device fairs.

Re:Zune or Xbox?

[Verunks]

I think that there is one crucial difference though, with zune they didn't bring anything new, it was just another mp3 player, the xbox was successful because they added something that other console didn't have at the time(xbox live), surface seems more like the latter, it's not just another tablet that tries to compete against the ipad, it's a tablet laptop hybrid with an os that seems to be quite good for both

Re:Zune or Xbox?

[NormalVisual]

The ipod wasn't anything new either

I disagree. As others have mentioned, the scroll-wheel interface was extremely effective when compared to a lot of the others, it had an insane amount of space for such a tiny player at the time, and the eventual integration of iTunes with the Music Store was very new for the industry, all of which contributed to the iPod's success. At the time, it was simply a much better product, IMO.

Most importantly, it wasn't shit brown. :-)