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Microsoft Surface Pricing Goes Toe-to-Toe With Apple iPad
Nerval's Lobster writes "Microsoft has finally revealed the pricing of its upcoming Surface tablet to a small group of journalists, including Time's Harry McCracken, who wrote in an Oct. 16 posting that the device's 32GB version will retail for $499 (or $599 with the flexible keyboard cover) and the 64GB one for $699 (cover included). Preorders will apparently begin by midday Oct. 16. Microsoft unveiled Surface over the summer but kept the pricing a secret until now. That information vacuum led some to hope against hope that Microsoft would attempt something radical and price Surface extraordinarily low—$199, perhaps—in an attempt to undercut Apple's iPad. While that didn't happen, Surface at least matches its biggest rival's low- and high-end price points. The WiFi-only, 16GB version of the iPad retails for $499, while the WiFi-only, 64GB version costs $699 (iPads with a cellular connection cost a bit more)."
A related article at BGR explains why the Surface is Microsoft's latest attempt to re-invent itself.
Somewhere, a kid has been begging and pleading to get an iPad for Christmas.
Somewhere, a parent is thrilled to find that Microsoft's iPads are on sale for $100 off.
One day, both of them will relate the story to their therapists.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
Who's his co-workers?
Jack Mehoff?
Chuck Roast?
Phil Magroin?
Seymour Butz?
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
I've always wanted to pay over $100 for the pure pleasure of typing on one of those rubbery keypads with a lot of squish and almost no travel!
Price is the same at the same storage point. Anything else similar between the devices?
When your competitor has OWNED the market for several years, you don't MATCH their price, you blow it away.
Who would be dumb enough to pay the same price as a 3rd generation device to guinea pig a 1st gen device from a company that is known to suck at first releases?
And then there's Google's tablet for a dainty $199/$249
Microsoft really does suck at new things.
Finally, they enter the ballgame, just as Apple is set to debut the iPad Mini. Good luck with that, Microsoft.
But for the same price people will just buy an iPad with its established app store eco system, millions of already satisfied customers and huge market dominance. There had better be some petty attractive early adopter discounts or this'll be another Zune. Which is a shame, because the Surface looks awesome.
You pays your money and takes your choice. That's all
Hmmm. Windows 8 RT just doesn't interest me. I don't even think I'll even give these a glance until the x86 version arrives.
"False hope is why we'll never run out of natural resources!" - Lewis Black
I feel like this is the first product that finally removes the line. Even the best tablets before this didn't run the same OS and a laptop or desktop, and while the RT may be argued to not remove that difference, the Pro does. Not that the keyboard will be as good or the experience the same, but the product has finally arrived that removes the line. You can now install the same program file to your desktop, laptop, or tablet.
With the Metro interface we all love so much here on slashdot and of course being forced to use this wonderful browser!'
What is there not to love?
http://saveie6.com/
How does this tablet Zune squirt? Is it available in brown?
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Mod parent down.
Have you even touched one of those keyboards to know what you are talking about? Or are you just assuming it is like other portable keyboards that have come before?
Read the specs. The Touch cover has no travel, it has no keyswitches that move to activate.
It is a flat piece of plastic with touchscreen like capacitive sensors, similar to a smartphone/tablet screen.
targeting the existing 1.3 billion Windows users.
Neither the Surface nor Windows 8 appear to be catching fire. They need market share, not some Marketeer's dimwitted idea of "perceived value." This price point guarantees failure.
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
It remains to be seen exactly how this device works out, but with this new information It actually doesn't look like a complete failure at launch.
But not as an ipad competitor.
This device could appeal to people that want to bridge the gap between tablet (Modern, ipad or andriod like tablet - Not old convertable laptop tablet) and traditional windows platforms. Ipads and andriods suck hard at productivity applications. The surface, with office and other microsoft software, and sort-of-unification microsoft's platforms with win8, might actually be a good light use productivity tool.
As an ipad (or andriod tab) replacement? Hell no. Worst of both worlds. All the walled garden of apple and none of the flexiblity of andriod. No to mention an app and media store that's worth than either Google or Apple's.
I would say "I think they have to look up the definition of 'invent' again",
if MS had ever know the definition in the first place.
I can't stand Apple, but at least they are walking their own way. (Even though it's morally deeply utterly wrong way IMO.)
MS always either imitated... badly (and usually in a deliberately anticompetitive way)... or they just outright devoured the company (after killing it first, if possible).
This is just another case their a long list of FAIL.
At least nowadays, it hurts them.
But apparently, you can't teach an old dog new tricks, and so they never learn.
And Windows 8 is the nail in their coffin.
Good bye Microsoft. Nobody will miss you.
Shout it from the rooftop.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Start your bitching about how Microsoft is gouging for the extra SSD storage. ZOMG $100 for another 32 gig, I can buy 32 gig sd cards for $19.00! What a ripoff! ZOMG!
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
targeting the existing 1.3 billion Windows users.
I wonder how many Windows users will mistakenly buy a Surface tablet expecting it to run their "Windows" application/gaming software.
"...or an ill-conceived also-ran like the Zune."
No. It is a delusional, strategic blunder.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
This Christmas I was hoping to get a Nexus 7 for my son and the Surface for my wife. At around $200 each, they'd be pricey but possible gifts. Now, cross off the Surface - may check in with the Kindle Fire 2 instead.
I Don't Own An iPad or Android Device, nor am I Clairvoyant. But I think these may sell well.
I will probably buy one of these. They run Windows. They have a USB port. They will run a piece of software I want to run that will not run on IOS or Android, although it also has a version for OS-X. Apple does not sell an iPad-like device that runs OS-X.
Probably quite a few. The "Overview" section does say "Surface with Windows RT works exclusively with apps from the Windows Store." This is all "planned obsolesence" moving forward with Windows technologies means the previous generations need to go away. Apps need to go through the Microsoft Store to be published to Windows Phone/Windows 8/Windows RT. Welcome to the "new".
Note that it does have an microSD card slot. With that in mind, the point of the 64 Gb version eludes me completely.
Since this is a walled garden system, you might not be able to install software on the microSD storage.
Who's microsoft? I thought that went out witht he model-T.
True, you won't be able to. But what kind of software you'd install on an ARM Windows device that you'd need more than 32 Gb for that? I don't think that, even if you install every single app in the store, you'd hit the 32 Gb limit - not even close.
The point of having more storage on a device like that is for media content - music, videos etc - and possibly for downloaded files.
Given that they have to pay a probably unreasonable license fee, they're now competing against their partner at a disadvantage. Why should they even bother trying?
The IBM Thinkpad keyboard has a 2.5mm stroke length and is perfectly usable (superior to most other non buckling-spring designs). In fact the X1 has a 2mm stroke and is still usable, if a bit less familiar feeling.
The Touch cover, has no travel. It has no stroke length. It has No Keys/Keyswitches.
Take your mouse pad, get a ruler and a sharpie and draw a keyboard on your mousepad.
Now type on that. You now know what touch cover typing feels is like.
A full page of comments...and not a single post that can be taken seriously at all, well done Slashdot, well done.
What will give the Surface life or kill it are the availability of apps. Both consumer level stuff (like stuff like Angry Birds), as well as enterprise level Exchange support, Office support, and so on.
Right now, the iPad has three generations of a head start, a well established app ecosystem, apps that are usable in a business environment, and good Exchange support. MS has a lot of ground to cover.
The hardware design looks amazing, and would be very welcome when all non Apple hardware tends to be awful, with some notable exceptions like Asus.
The rest I don't understand. $500 and no retina/high ppi display? A 16:9 ratio on a device that is supposed to be meant for productivity? 10.1" is really pushing it for productivity, the wide narrow screen would just kill it. No stylus support. $100 buys you a crap keyboard - at least Asus docks include a big battery.
The Windows 8 tablets looks nicer but then the pricing gets ridiculous.
An older relative has been asking me what pad he should get.
I had written off the surface for myself but this forced me to reconsider. The surface has 2.5 advantages that in his case might be the killer app.
First it has that amazingly clever keayboard + kickstand that lets you have your cake and eat it to. It's got the access modality of a laptop. No weight and clumsiness penalty like the fliptops or ultrabooks.
second, it's the only tablet that has both a bonfied tablet interface (metro), and a bonified desktop interface.
this last one is killer. it lets you use this as a servicable desktop or laptop replacement. jack in a real screen, KB, and usb disk and you have a desktop computer that is probably better than the 4 year old peice of dell junk your older relative is using now.
and 2.5 it lets you use your old applications. Now granted you might want to buy new tablet optimized ones. but if you are very familiar and comfortable with a keyboard driven internet explorer, or office program or payroll program or genealogy program, you are going to want a desktop mode.
Notice that will all the other tablets you have to have a secondary computer. your genealogy program or payroll program just isn't going to work on the tablet. without a desktop mode You won't have access to the file system so you can't store and edit and send bulk things like photos easily.
With surface you can get by with just the tablet.
FOr someone like me, my preferrences are
1) 7" tablet = Fire HD (no video out on the nexus, better screen, sound, and faster internet than nexus).
2) 10" tablet apple ipad3. If you are paying more than $200 for a tablet, you want a good one, and apple is the best overall. an extra hundred or so to get the least dissapointing one is not worth worrying about when you just paid atleast 499.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
I had high hopes for the Surface...if only to keep Apple and Google and Amazon honest. But the $499 price is a complete non-starter. First of all, if you want the cover/keyboard you have to fork over an additional $100. Seems a little steep to me. $50 is more like it. Secondly, when you buy one of the other tablets you're buying into a vast ecosystem of apps. Microsoft? They have relatively little to offer. Sure they have Office but this is supposed to be a consumer tablet, not a corporate tablet.
Unless you are just a huge Microsoft fan to begin with I don't see any compelling reason to buy one of these. You can get an iPad with vastly more apps to choose from. You can buy an Android tablet for much the same reason, and cheaper to boot. You can buy an Amazon tablet for half the price and, if you have a Prime membership, access to tons of movies TV and books.
I was hoping that MS would price it at $399, including keyboard/cover. That would give them a fighting chance against the other guys. Even if they have to sell it at a loss at least they can get them in peoples hands and give developers an audience to write for. As it stands now, this will be Touchpad II.
Using your eyes, look at the surface keyboard. Notice how thin it is. How much travel could there possibly be?
Well maybe that's why they have the touch cover and the type cover, the difference being mechanical key action.
http://www.microsoft.com/Surface/en-US/accessories/type-cover
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Only the Surface Pro runs the Windows desktop. The Surface/WinRT machine mentioned is Metro-only.
Well that's not true. It does have a desktop mode. However, it is true that the RT will not use desktop apps.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/10/3296443/windows-rt-arm-tablets-no-desktop-mode
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
They want to sell Surface, which runs Windows RT, which rely on the Windows appstore, which is basically more or less empty at the moment.
By forcing desktop Windows users to "use" the Start Screen, it increases Metro and the appstore's exposure, entices users to check them out, which in turn entices developers to develop for it.
And then MS's appstore builds up and selling Surface becomes... Easier.
We'll see in 6-12 months-if the appstore momentum doesn't build up, the Surface will go into a fire sale.
They should lose money on every tablet they sell initially to get the damn things out there!
This is falling into the same trap as everyone else who has matched Apple's price --- Apple has the mindshare, the apps and the cool factor. You have to undercut that at least until you are well established!
They want to sell Surface, which runs Windows RT, which rely on the Windows appstore, which is basically more or less empty at the moment.
By forcing desktop Windows users to "use" the Start Screen, it increases Metro and the appstore's exposure, entices users to check them out, which in turn entices developers to develop for it.
And then MS's appstore builds up and selling Surface becomes... Easier.
We'll see in 6-12 months-if the appstore momentum doesn't build up, the Surface will go into a fire sale......
I think this concern is overblown. When the first iPhone was announced, Steve Jobs stated unequivocally that the iPhone OS *is* OS X. And yet no one was under the presumption that the iPhone would run OS X software. The reason for this, I believe, was that the UI and form factor was so different from a traditional Mac desktop, no one ever considered that their desktop applications would run on it, OS X or not.
Windows RT looks sufficiently different from traditional Windows, and it's only available on tablets. I think this is enough for people not to expect that it will run the traditional desktop apps they use with a keyboard and mouse, even though it bears the Windows name. The only thing I think will lead consumers ever to consider running desktop software is the availability of a desktop mode, but I think their expectations will be set by what they see first: the metro environment.
Actually, I think Microsoft will have the opposite problem: informing people that Windows 8 tablets, desktops, and laptops do in fact run desktop grade software.
But Microsoft is still firmly entrenched in business.
In the PC market which is an almost completely unrelated market at this time. Furthermore just because you sell a lot of product to businesses today doesn't mean they will buy a different product from you tomorrow. Businesses buy Windows and Office primarily due to network effects. These don't really exist on this new tablet product and so Microsoft really has no advantage over Apple or Google or Amazon. Corporations don't buy from Microsoft out of loyalty - just ask Research In Motion.
I predict large corporations will eat up Microsoft's new tablet.
Based on what exactly? What does it provide that they cannot get from Android or Apple?
I don't think that, even if you install every single app in the store, you'd hit the 32 Gb limit - not even close.
On the Apple App Store, games can easily hit a gig or more (especially AAA games like Infinity Blade or Rage). While some people don't mind uninstalling and reinstalling apps periodically, a lot of others would rather just have everything on their device at all time, so having more space where software can actually be executed would be useful.
Of course, I'd imagine most people aren't gamers/hoarders, but with even some freemium titles being a third to half a gig, I can see someone getting a large collection going rather fast, even if only downloading chart-topping titles.
Like the +4 comment from a techie above? This is a very real problem. http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3189429&cid=41672519
Implicit Evaluation with PHP
This thing is not going to sell. It will bomb. Even with a billion dollars spent in advertising. They are late to the party as usual and it's a P.O.S.
A) It's a lot less walled than you think. Contrary to the complete bullshit that some Slashdotters keep repeating, even the RT version comes with the Windows desktop, Windows Explorer, CMD, Powershell, etc. You can move files (including binaries) onto a SD card or flashdrive, or mount the SD card or flashdrive into the root filesystem (yes, NTFS supports this; has done so for years). You can even move your user profile onto the external storage if you really want to (Windows doesn't include a tool to do this explicitly, but it's possible either with some registry edits or with symbolic links, and both are possible with the tools that ship on Win8 and therefore on WinRT).
B) You plan to install 64GB of apps? Even leaving aside room for the OS and opre-installed Office install footprint, you plan to install even 50-odd GB of apps? A few AAA PC games combined will take up that much space, but hardly anything in *any* of the "app stores" is more than a few hundred megs, and most apps are less than 10MB. You'd need to install a horrendous number of those to fill up even 32GB of storage.
C) The "point" of the 64GB version is, of course, that some people would rather just buy their storage integrated, rather than needing to buy an additional storage module, even if that's the less economical approach. Additionally, if you don't rely on having an SD card inserted all the time, then you can actually use the SD slot for removable storage (although the presence of USB ports helps there too). Also, SD cards tend to have relatively crappy random-access time compared to SSDs (good bandwidth, but high "seek" time for flash storage due to the tricks used to get that high bandwidth out of so little silicon) and therefore you'll get slightly better performance accessing files on the internal storage.
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
Given that most users (I've encountered) find the whole Start Button change confusing (and therefore anger inducing) I doubt very highly it will endear the average consumer (kinda like pop-up ads).
This is going to be like Games for Windows Live or the Mobile App Marketplace: Dead on Arrival
The only virtual store Microsft ever got right was XBox Live, and the only reason that works at all is because it has stuff people actually want to buy
Rally to me, boys!
This is the tale of Zune, the Once and Future Tablet that would be King.
Faced with impossible odds, priced high so that Apple could laugh at it, nonetheless this feisty tablet almost worked.
Sometimes.
For it had a heart of ***** BLUE SCREEN ******
Rally to me, girls!
This is the tail of Zune, the Twice and Futuristic Table that would be Princess.
Faced with improbable odds, priced so that Apple fanbois would think it Premium, it had a heart so true and
***** GREEN SCREEN *****
Red is the color of my true love's button.
Red is the color of her heir.
Red is the color of her Bing Apples.
***** SIGNAL NOT FOUND *******
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Won't Apple allow bluetooth mouse functionality?
I get it (which is sad, kind of) for general purpose iPad apps (home screen, Apple apps, etc) but it'd be really nice as a controller for RDP/VNC/X apps and make a lot of games more playable on the iPad.
With a BT keyboard and mouse, I could really get a lot of shit done with RDP and my iPad. It's kind of OK with just a BT keyboard, but having to touch the screen for mousing is super inefficient.
Oh damn....
I just wish I could have a 10" tablet where I can have Android and typical desktop Linux distribution installed. Windows, not so much but I think it could be fun to play around some games like "Wargame: European Escalation" what is designed to work with touch screen as well.
But I just ordered 7" Android tablet (Galaxy Tab 2, 8GB and 3G) for price 280€. With Android 4.+ it will be awesome because you can make GSM Voice calls with it (you can do as well with 10.1" model, but no change for speaker call what the sale person told) and it replaces my smartphone now. There are few situations where I can not place that 340g device. 1. Joggin suite but even 100g smartphone is too heavy. And I don't want to be disturbed by calls when jogging and I don't care about GPS trackers. 2. At Heavy work, where body gets bumps and hits when example carrying woods or cutting trees and at those times you don't even hear that phone rings or you don't want to answer to phone unless it is very important. Any device with big display is un-usable at those situations. So having tablet near for important calls is not problem.
7" is best for reading and actually in bed and while on move. It truly is mobile. I was about to buy 10.1" model (Tab 2 10.1 32GB + 3G) for 399€ but I drop the idea because then I would need to use the mobile phone (GSM) with it and you can not actually have it while on move because 10.1" device is too big for mobile use. You need backpack for it already and it is too much.
I was very skeptical what Google told about 7" being "perfect size" when they presented Nexus 7 tablet and now I really understand what is the point with it.
If I would like to have now 10" tablet, it would definitely be Asus Transformer and it could be a WLAN version then because you need to use it as any laptop on the go. Price for such is 449€ and 3G models for 549€ and up depending storage size.
and 2.5 it lets you use your old applications
You absolutely cannot use your old applications on the Windows RT ARM-based device.
I went to eat some animal crackers and the box said, "Do not eat if seal is broken." I opened the box and sure enough..
And yet no one was under the presumption that the iPhone would run OS X software.
That is certainly not true. I personally new two people who asked me how to put their OS X apps on their iPhone when it came out, who trotted out the "but it runs OS X" when I explained that they couldn't.
Honestly, I'm not going to say that this was a big deal, I think my anecdote was probably unusual. However, mac users aren't mac users because of legacy application support. Windows users' only reason for not switching to something else is legacy application support. Who was the last person you talked to that said they liked Windows?
Neither the Surface nor Windows 8 appear to be catching fire.>
Just wait! I hear Sony's making the batteries!
They have a USB port. They will run a piece of software I want to run that will not run on IOS or Android, although it also has a version for OS-X.
Assuming you're talking about MS Office, reports have it that there will be Android and iOS tablet versions within a few months (no doubt after the Surface goes on sale.)
(Trust me, I'm an AC!)
Not the word you are looking for, I suspect.
Still not it. You are probably trying to say "in good faith" in Latin ("bona fide").
Really? You think?
There goes that opportunity down the drain. I know of waaaaay too many people who buy the cheapest tablet with remotely non-bad reviews regardless of anything else. Those people are now not considering the Surface due to its luxury level pricing. Is MS stupid or something? You break into a market at dirt cheap prices, get widespread because of it, then release version 2 at a higher price once people actually respect it. You can't just start it out at "respect it" prices when nobody respects it yet!
I'm going to zune out ant get one!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGvHNNOLnCk