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Microsoft Mulling Smaller Windows 8 Tablets
Nerval's Lobster writes "Microsoft might want a piece of the mini-tablet market. The company has lowered the minimum screen resolution for Windows 8 tablets, from 1,366 x 768 pixels to 1024 x 768 pixels. "This doesn't imply that we're encouraging partners to regularly use a lower screen resolution," it wrote in an accompanying newsletter. "We understand that partners exploring designs for certain markets could find greater design flexibility helpful." As pointed out by ZDNet's Ed Bott—cited by other publications as the journalist who first noticed the altered guidelines—that lowered resolution "would allow manufacturers to introduce devices that are in line with the resolutions of the iPad Mini (1024 x 768) and the Kindle Fire and Google Nexus 7 (both 1280 x 800)." Whatever the contours of the smaller-tablet market, it's certainly popular enough to tantalize any potential competitor. But if Microsoft plunges in, it will face the same challenges that confronted it in the larger-tablet arena: lots of solid competitors, and not a whole lot of time to make a winning impression. There are also not-inconsiderable hardware challenges to overcome, including processor selection and engineering for optimal battery life."
there's very little excuse not to have tablets running at 1200 x 800.
The aspect ratio of 4:3 is quite close to A-type paper sizes, so it's nice for PDFs.
Finally, I can get a smaller Microsoft tablet. I did think that Microsoft's tablet idea was complete garbage, and I had no intention of buying one ever. Now that they might have a smaller one, I have done a complete flip flop. I think these new smaller tablets could be the best thing ever! I mean, the fact that they still have the application ecosystem problems and that Windows really is a crappy tablet OS no matter what size may still be true. But if I could just get it a little smaller, I'd be SOOO happy!!!!!!!!
Seriously, Microsoft should just give up. Stop wasting money. If you want to make money, create a tablet to go after the XBOX crowd, since that's the only thing you can do that's remotely right.
Obviously the reason behind poor Metro adoption is the screen resolution and overall dimensions of the tablet. How could those Microsoft engineers have missed that one?
Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
A smaller turd is still a turd.
Windows on low end computers suck. Windows 8 would have the same market share as Windows Phone (nearly zero) if it wasn't for their Windows and MS Office monopoly. The currently available products of Microsoft I have respect for are Windows 7, Visual Studio, and MS Office. Windows 8 is horrible. Windows Phone is halfway decent. It would have been competitive in 2008.
Microsoft is going to ruin its brand even further by allowing Windows to run on crapboxes.
wife: I don't Like Windows8!
Well how about a 1024x768 tablet.
wife: That's got Windows 8 in it!
Husband: Well it's not as much Windows 8 as a surface...
Does anyone care about this? Does anyone buy a windblows tablet? If so why? Fealty to Redmond? The other vendor's products are so much better. So they are pondering making a smaller screen. If it were 1/4 mm by 1/8 mm, I still wouldn't care. It would still be overpriced, underpowered, and the apps would still suck like a hoover.
I'd be upset if you "got my goatse" too.
This is about putting windows on cheaper hardware, as windows is failing to sell at the high end. So if you are expecting a plethora of screen sizes and dimensions...its unlikely, as thinks with those dimensions are not cheap components. It will end up a failure like the ipad mini [expensive due to microsoft tax, and with low resolution screens, last years cpu]...with less popularity.
I suspect most people will benefit from a more video friendly/properly formatted ebook/Game friendly screen, not forgetting that you lose Windows one trick...split screen windows [although you lose that on the small screens anyway]...hell even its one usage seems stupid as you will also lose resolution!?...its why you see so few options in that form factor.
The only reason I can see you mentioning it is to troll for Apple...and right now they need all the help they can get.
But seriously, Windows 8 Pro will already work on lower resolution screens (ala netbooks). It requires a registry change (set display1_downscalingsupported to "1", reboot, set screen resolution high enough to run metro apps). I think all this means is that a future patch will have this parameter enabled by default.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
This is about caving to suppliers who can't [won't and don't] sell current windows hardware, against the army of good value Android tablets out there.
Its going to be a bloodbath, Android failed to gain traction in the then iPad market [for two years no less], with its parity devices [expensive high end]...and dirt cheap unbranded [or weak branded] underspecced hardware, and Microsoft seem to want to go down the same path.
Android has finally upsurped iOS post Nexus 7, by producing well specced good value tablets, consumers are buying them in droves...showing they are not stupid. Microsoft is going to fail selling cheap tablets against Androids.
The big problem is as always Windows Tax [more noticeable on cheaper hardware], Which unfortunately is going make Windows tablets look overpriced right now. Microsoft need to rethink their business model, but right now they need to be less greedy.
Saw the Surface at a large store yesterday. It was on the corner of a display stand. It was the smallest display area, of to the side of the "real" tablet area. Nobody was around it. Just a lonely little tablet for 500 euro's.
What Microsoft just never got because they are the bottom feeder is that people want something a bit special when they shell over cash. It is the reason why Starbuck can charge 2x as much for bad coffee as other stores AND have a longer line for it. Because when you go to Starbucks you don't buy coffee, you buy an experience. An experience of being served slightly better then at 99% of stores.
Apple has this experience. Microsoft doesn't. By definition it doesn't. People get hard/wet opening an Apple box. Nobody has to change their pants after a MS unboxing. Well, maybe accountants.
When you show off your device to others, you got have something to show off with. The first tablet, the high-rez tablet, the most cores, oled. SOMETHING. MS has NOTHING. Except a lame image and a high pricepoint. People didn't buy iPads because they were expensive bling, they paid a high price FOR the bling. It is a subtle different, it is the difference between a 1000 dollar mobile phone with specced out specs AND a 10.000 gold plated phone with mediocre specs.
Basically the Surface is the Zune all over again. Not because the Zune was objectively that bad but because it launched 2 years late with specs that belonged to 4 year old hardware. Not bad... but not good... and then there is that MS logo... it makes the people that hear "dude you got a dell" go "dude you got a ms".
There are just some companies that can't do sexy. Some companies go through the frontdoor of life and some companies are lucky to be allowed through the servant entrance, after dark.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
No stop! You're killing me, stop! Windows 8 "lower screen resolution" to 1024 x 768 pixels. That'll get 'em. Ha ha ha ha ha. My sides! It hurts!
Also, you can pop in a pay as you go, talk only SIM card and get real cheap service.
Are you sure the carrier won't detect your device's IMEI as a "smartphone" and slam you onto a smartphone plan? Some U.S. GSM carriers have been reported to do that.
4) are too cheap to just buy an unlocked phone without data, which includes the idea of just buying a used phone and not buying a data plan
Or 4a) live in an area where carriers won't activate a non-data plan on a phone capable of a data plan
I'd be shocked if the total market for the product was in the millions in the industrial world.
Be shocked ten times over. Apple has sold tens of millions of iPod touch units. What's so great about iOS that makes it so much better than any other operating system for this use case?
MS XEROX APPLE
MS is like Apple from Bizarro-planet. Everything round is even squared. How appropriate.
"I think we copied everything down to the wooden tables and bar at the back. Now, when does the money come flying into our wallets?"
...I definitely agree that, Microsoft is chasing those early heady tablet days, when people bought into Apples shiny new toy...even with its hardware and lock-in with proprietary solutions, with locked down closed hardware, and they are Failing right now, Its stupid.
I will agree in the context of this article that Microsoft is following Apple in producing hardware in the same dimensions as the Android 7" tablet market...but they do so for very different reasons, Apple is trying to stave of competition[Read great value Android 7"] with its floundering market share...while Microsoft is trying to get some kind of market traction at all.
It's a moot point. The tablet fad will be over shortly
I'm not sure your post-Tablet market prediction is close to same. The don't doubt that the PC is still very relevant. In fact I'm personally disgusted in the whole industry rather trying to tabletify the whole PC industry...rather than reinvent a better PC, and include touch-screen functionality where it is relevant.
That's funny. I have lots and lots of boxes that run Windows XP just fine, but Ubuntu doesn't even install on. What do you put on low end computers? DOS?
Not funny at all. In 2007 pre Vista, a well configured bit-rot free Microsoft XP could run like a dream on contemporary hardware, and required less memory [that a heavyweight Desktop like Gnome], and greater hardware support [it had been around for like forever]
Its not 2007 anymore, the dominant OS is set to be Android this year, and on low end computer. I tend to put a Ubuntu on [I'm lazy] which word like a dream on anything. Its hardware support is better than anything.
The verb "Mull" was popular back in the day of strict headline size rules for newspapers. Today with the internet there is no need for it. It's awkward and ugly and ONLY used in headlines for a reason.
Please stop using it.
Too bad Microsoft didn't support the lower resolutions in the first place. An older HP laptop I had tested with a native 1280x800 screen never left 1024x768 when I first installed Win 8. It ran stable, but without proper video drivers it wasn't worth even the discount. I would have even tolerated Metro, replacing Win 7 starter on my netbook but its resolution of 1024x600 was also not supported.
The HP did well with Gnome/Ubuntu instead.
In my circle of friends, no one had purchased Windows 8 during the discount offer. Either the older equipment or the screen resolutions were not supported. It's a little late now.
You don't give him nearly enough credit. This is actually part of his fiendishly clever plot to prove that Slashdot stores posts in BLOB and not TEXT columns.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
by 2015 EVERYTHING will have a touch screen.
I love touchscreen, and most people are very happy with using a touch screen. I would *love* a 27" touch screen monitor, hell little Android windows running all over it. It would be great...just most of us are against sacrificing the current wimp experience + keyboard and mouse, for whole touched experience [including hardware that doesn't support it] , but Microsoft have done it for a mobile market grab.
As for using Apple as a barometer for the future of technology. I think you need to look elsewhere, its kind of depressing seeing that Video http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-02/20/bill-gates-mobile-phones where Bill wasn't his usual diplomatic self, and let his pride slip in. Most here had an mp3/tablet/smartphone/portable handheld computer before Apple had invented the market...hell want a smart TV, buy an AndroidTV dongle for $40
"Apple has this experience. Microsoft doesn't. By definition it doesn't. People get hard/wet opening an Apple box. Nobody has to change their pants after a MS unboxing. Well, maybe accountants."
No they don't. In fact Android and a whole host of Manufactures, which don't sell bullshit [Chinese hardware with insane mark-ups], but decent products at good value, its why they took the market so quickly away from Apple after pissing away for two years trying to be Apple [or the reverse sell garbage hardware].
Seriously I'm tired of the *top gear* style hyperbole. The iPad was successful because it was *great* hardware, and for a new market *not expensive*. Its only in a maturing market with a plethora of [real] competition its looking mispriced.
Apple can't sell *magic* anymore; Jobs could [with great hardware to back him up], but those day are gone. They are just another electronics company. Apple is going to become as irrelevant on tablets as they are with phones.
Microsoft will not be able to pull it off.
Already Microsoft's attempts at using ARM isn't working out. Microsoft depends too heavily on its Wintel x86. They are simply too afraid to put too much behind a whole new architecture. Apple did it and it's working for them. Google did it... did it better, actually, because they use something "similar" to Java and so whatever processor is used in whatever device, code for Android will work. But they, like Apple, started from nothing.
Why can't or won't Microsoft do the same?
Microsoft has historically depended on hardware to catch up with the software. This has been fine with PCs until recently. There just hasn't been significant improvements in PC power. In fact, like tablets and phones, mobile PCs need to use less power to remain attractive and viable. Microsoft knows how to use more power, but has problems using less. It doesn't know how to be small.
So this is a huge failing for its embedded and its mobile devices market and certainly harms itself mobile computer market.
Micrsoft has billions to throw away. Why it doesn't focus on building something new and awesome, I have no idea. It can keep doing the Wintel thing and also make cool, light-weight, low power things too. WHY DOESN"T it? I just can't figure it out. Microsoft phones are failing. The RT tablet? Isn't that already dead in favor of their Wintel tablet line? And isn't the Wintel line also a bit of a failure in that it can't support the battery life in a way which compares to Apple and Android devices?
I just want to know why Microsoft, with it's enormous resources, can't just come out and compete with the rest of them?
Lower resolution would disable Snap, a feature that allows Windows 8 users to view two apps next to one another.
People only need to do one thing at a time. The iPad, with its silly single tasking interface, proves that.
As for #4- you said you didn't want a cell phone. You wanted a wifi only device.
Maybe I wasn't clear. Currently I carry an Audiovox 8610 dumbphone and an Archos 43 (4" Android 2.2 tablet), and I pay $7 per month to Virgin Mobile USA for "payLo" service on the phone because I don't use a lot of minutes. Any call much longer than "pick me up at the bus stop" can wait until I come home to the land line. If I were to consolidate these into one device, I'd have to upgrade to "Beyond Talk" service, which starts at $35 per month.
Why can't or won't Microsoft do the same?
Its kind or weird seeing the insanely priced x86 but impractical, but more useful netbooks posing as tablets, compared with its more reasonable price ARM and more practical tablet posing as a netbook, and unsurprisingly fail, but its the world Microsoft build. Microsoft has locked itself into a market it can't escape from. Its still selling on the windows branding an Office machine...with xbox branding (its damaged Windows Gaming brand beyond repair).
Its delicious irony that Microsoft is losing relevance in its own Monopolist market [and failing to break into new profitable markets], due to its own incredible dominance due to its own abuses...right now it doesn't have the binary ecosystem to compete with Android/Apple. Its Office products are not working either....and forget web browsing, because they are all designed to work with only Microsoft OS on X86
Hilariously they have gone for a locking their [not your] hardware down...and are dictating specs to its badly treated manufactures [while creating a competing 1st party product; Stealing the profits]...clearly they have forgotten how they succeeded last time, and why a Disk Based OS became the dominant computing platform.
I'm personally looking forward to Android becoming the dominant OS this year...I think I will eat cake.
sadasffas09asfiklamsf sa[a ^LDFGLDFG!@!@
Sorry, internet dropped out there for a minute -- paid for by Zune profits.
I really do not understand the obsession of those that want to keep using that old POS OS?
Because a lots of hardware didn't work with Vista+, I have scanners, wifi cards...and whole computers that will never run Windows 7, but overall windows 7 is a beefy OS it requires lots of ram/processor/*average* graphics card...XP not as much it could cope with as little as 256mb something Linux with Gnome struggled with.
In context of this article its one of the reasons why Microsoft is in this mess. The fact that Microsoft threw the netbook market...now called the surface market under the bus, for a few dollars more, because Windows 7 struggled on atom+intel graphics hardware, and then completely destroyed it with windows 7 crippled edition on crippled hardware.
a touch screen results in gorilla arm
No..it doesn't I'm sorry. In reference to your post, personally I think it is a massive failure on behalf of Apple to not reinvent the PC, at the expense of recreating the massive profits for its floundering iPhone profits. If it did I suspect touch screen would be part of the equation, unfortunately for that kind of innovation we have to look toward Google Chome and its Pixel laptop.
In reference to the actual Gorilla Arm...seriously. If I had to type on my screen all day maybe, but I would love the ability to scroll large share graphs, manipulate maps...things where direct touch helps, and no I don't want it to come with sacrifice of a touch dominated interface. I want touch where its appropriate (winks)
Buy an Apple TV dongle for $99
I'm not locked into the Apple ecosystem so it simply Does not work! I would have to use something that supports open standards. I actually went for a rasberry pi running XBMC. FYI a Apple TV in my country is $150, for its crippled experience.
Either way though I was referring to the mythical AppleTV that would save Apple from its insane share price drop from of $705 to $440, as its current offering look incredibly weak.
People only need to do one thing at a time. The iPad, with its silly single tasking interface, proves that.
(takes deep breath) Jobs said a lot of things, most if not all may to manipulate a market into believing that the shortcoming of of Apples products were design decisions, and the world had to bend to its will. Its why flash has been replaced without a real replacement, because it ran badly with an iphone, its why Apple were so late to market with a small tablet, its why your holding it wrong.
Apple products didn't multi task...and do to so some extent now. Its a feature users want, and viewing too applications (although not exclusive to Microsoft; Samsung tablets do it too) its a great feature.
You need to look at the current crop of Android tablets...they are so ahead of Apple its not funny.
Stop making Windows 8 tablets of any size.
I'll go with Android or even, God forbid, iOS before I'd ever consider Win8.
The headline says, "Microsoft Mulling Smaller Windows 8 Tablets," but the truthful headline would be, "Many people are speculating that Microsoft is considering smaller Win 8 tablet." The headline as its written has no credibility, because nobody involved with the story has a clue what Microsoft's plans are.
I'm sure this has already all been said, but just to pile on...I seriously doubt size is Microsoft's primary problem busting into the tablet space.
Seems like they should focus on fixing, by all reviews and accounts I've read, lack of apps. Or perhaps more succinctly, according to many reviews and comments, the inability to run Windows desktop apps.
However I must admit I am perplexed. My iPad doesn't run OS X apps and yet the iPad is well loved. Lusted after even. Why do we all scream for the ability to run desktop apps?
Simply opening the Win RT space to all windows desktop apps seems like it would only frustrate consumers with apps that weren't designed for the tablet form factor and don't meet their needs on a tablet. Pointing at ARM as the root problem is a technical excuse for something everyone thinks they want but can't have.
I don't give a crap my iPad is using an A6X processor and my Mac is using a i5. Why should I care if my Win RT tablet is using ARM and my desktop PC isn't?
I think it's more correct to say the iPad has a significant number of the *right* apps to make it attractive. By "right" I mean serves use cases for the tablet form factor.
Everyone also seems to focus on the pure quantity of apps available as a measure of success for a platform and why I want to invest in the platform. I suppose pure numbers are great because you are statistically more likely to get a hit on the *right* app. But I don't want to spend my time browsing millions of apps to find the right 0.01% I'd actually use. This is my #1 frustration with the Apple store.
Obviously MS is working hard to get the "big hits" from other tablets onto theirs. These are table stakes.
If I were Microsoft I'd also start working hard to understand the core things people do with tablets and look at the most popular desktop apps in their space to identify target applications to push for ports. Ideally unique applications the other tablets don't have yet. Their advantage is the desktop market. They need to bridge their desktop users into tablets with the applications their customers identify with. Office is a great start, but obviously still not enough.
They also need to leverage their small app space as an advantage - it's easier to ID and promote the *right* apps when you don't have millions of crappy apps to wade through.
That at least gets MS into the game. If they want to get ahead they need to identify and successfully execute on a disruptive technology. The space is becoming too saturated at this point to compete at status quo
Performance is not an issue
The iPad was launched April 3, 2010 to *nobodies* surprise...nearly a year after Windows 7 which was launched on October 22, 2009.
The iPad had a 1 GHz Apple A4 "system on a chip", has 16 GB, 32 GB, or 64 GB of flash memory, 9.7-inch (1024x768, 132 ppi)...will Windows 7 run on this hardware.
How about this http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/08/acer-iconia-b1-a71-hands-on/ Acer iconia dual-core 1.2GHz Mediatek processor 512MB of RAM, 8GB of built-in storage, a 7-inch 1,024 x 600 display launched this year. Will Windows Vista7/8 run on this...how about Windows RT.
Please when you put not sluggish or bloated, you have to face the facts, its going against Android and iOS, and they can run on these specifications, anything higher is gravy. In context of this article Microsoft dropping screen sizes is not enough.
You mean rape in the bum experience because you're stupid enough to pay double for something you could get atr Tim Horton two doors over?
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
The days of people wanted matching technology at home to that at work are gone, and with it Microsofts big advantage has gone. The first reason is the consumer market is simply bigger...its why Apple got to be so much bigger than Microsoft in such a short time. Managers(now everyone) have been bringing their shiny ipads into work wanting then to be connected to the computing network to drive presentations rather than use the 586 running XP on their desk...the 17" screen not really selling it to them anymore...and why not, I notice you can use Android to drive an Impress presentation.
Your arguing in this tiny non-microsoft, hostile, abusive monopolistic, market, protected by technical staff unable to adapt to a changing world, is going to preserve Microsoft; I cannot see it. If you could give those same managers a Surface, and they would be happy with them. I would agree than Microsoft may be able to slow the Market change in that segment of the market. Except the surface is not very good [crippled for the tablet consumer market:)]...and is a poor business machine...now things would have been different if Microsoft had played to its strengths on the desktop, rather than selling out its customers for the more lucrative consumer tablet market.
metro full screen apps are better on smaller screens And they just had to copy and fail at it when putting a tablet UI on the desktop.
Ok, so tablets are all going back to 4:3 aspect ratio. Now, can I please get it back on my laptop as well? Or even better, 16:10.
Last I checked nothing after Android 2.4 runs on 512 megs including my Galaxy S1. So try again.
The Acer B series (launched February) which came with 512mb of memory came with 4.1.2 The one I mention perhaps you should check your facts before posting and wasting my time.
Although personally I prefer this example from HP who produced this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_Slate_500 a Window 7 tablet and today do this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_Slate_7 an Android tablet. :)
Notice how these are tradition Windows OEM vendors.
Irrelevancy? Microsoft first. In fact, it is happening right now.
You should reread my post. I think its pretty good. Microsoft are going nowhere, they still have an [abusive] monopoly on the Desktop, in fact with Apples Neglect, and Linux small [albeit growing] market share if anything its larger...its just the pie of connected electronic devices got a lot larger. Its got years of Mismanagement to drive users to alternative platforms...whether they be a good fit or not. In real terms its still signing 10 year government contract [those people should go to jail], and I believe had their most profitable year on record. This is Ballmers letter to shareholders http://www.microsoft.com/investor/reports/ar12/shareholder-letter/index.html That is a lot of money. That is after Windows 8 Surface...and missing out on revolutions like Mobile, and the internet.
My point about Apple being irrelevant is it was about the iPhone which is their most profitable product...and they had great sales numbers [computers and ipods awful] with a massive profit margin. In fact their best ever. They have an incredible amount of cash on hand, and that cash flow is not going to come to stop any time soon, it has lots of fans frothing at the mouth, and the Media behind it...but its done so at the cost of market share. Its happened even faster in the tablet market. Personally I think Apple after throwing away its own Computer market (down 25% this quarter year on year). I do not see that in the future. I used to think an iPhone mini would change Apples future, not the rumours are everywhere. I can't help think they are too late. The reality is I think they have become just another electronics company, and Apple is not showing it can succeed at that.
Wait, so part of the reason so many Windows tablets have been this stupid 16:9 widescreen format is because Microsoft has been requiring them to be? And now they're finally allowing manufacturers to use the screen format that has proven to be a huge hit for Apple? 16:9 is good for watching movies, and damn little else. (Viewing two apps side by side on a little tablet? I don't think so.) 9:16 is worthless. Leave it to Microsoft to not only encourage this bad design choice, but to enforce it.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
It would be a small screen strapped to your wrist and it will run a mini metro style of win8RT...