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."

Comments

Paper

[jones_supa]

The aspect ratio of 4:3 is quite close to A-type paper sizes, so it's nice for PDFs.

Great!

[Farmer Pete]

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.

Re:Great!

[AuMatar]

Because the market for this is vanishingly small, in fact its almost 0. Almost everyone has a phone. So why would they want a device that runs the same software and has the same capabilities, but doesn't have cellular data, sms, or voice? The only reason to make them is to cater to the market of people who

1)don't want a cell phone
2)want a pocket sized computer
3)don't want a data plan
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
5)yet are willing to pay enough to buy a device that will have higher up front costs, due to lack of a subisdized model

I'd be shocked if the total market for the product was in the millions in the industrial world. Your niche isn't worth the cost of marketing to, just suck it up and buy an unlocked phone without a data plan.

Its an whorish market share grab

[tuppe666]

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.

...and this really is vista again, Windows is not a lightweight OS which which was awful on the machines at the time [shudder i915], Windows 7 fixed a lot of things...but the big difference is was the hardware is ready.

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.

Re:Saw the Surface at MediaMarkt yesterday

[DogDude]

Your whole description of people getting excited over a gadget is really creepy. It's bordering on unhealthy, as far as I'm concerned.