Microsoft: to make a "major" announcement (Tablet)

Microsoft Manufacturing Tablet to Rival Apple iPad, Says Insider (Exclusive) | The Wrap Media

Any bets in advance about features or how it will actually measure up?

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SteveLord

Review from Techrepublic.

[h=1]Microsoft Surface: iPad knockoff for enterprise? That works[/h]
Microsoft Surface: iPad knockoff for enterprise? That works | TechRepublic

Slowhand

Now, now, all tech-demos can fail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuIhmo_9Gbg

Actually, this video demonstrates an important point, (regardless of the cause of failure.) If Microsoft needs to learn anything from the trailblazer of the tablet-device, Apple, it's how to market their product and learn to roll with the punches in terms of public reactions. I've seen some great presentations from Microsoft on the professional-end, particularly when it comes to launch events for things like Visual Studio. Targeting home-users, that's been pretty abysmal, and what they'll need to do is put together a real, serious marketing strategy in order to really make people feel comfortable taking the plunge on the Surface.

One thing that's probably got to go is the name. "The Surface" sounds a bit clunky, definitely not a name that automatically evokes an image of a tablet in your hand with the Microsoft logo on the screen and a song in your heart. After all, who knows how things would have gone for Apple had they chosen a stupid name for their product-line. . .

Webmaster

Slowhand wrote: »

Now, now, all tech-demos can fail.

Indeed, though it does look pretty bad, it happens: Bill Gates gets the BSOD - YouTube I hope for Microsoft's sake it was a fluke, a couple of more of these "moments" and it really could hurt sales.

Slowhand wrote:

One thing that's probably got to go is the name. "The Surface" sounds a bit clunky...

Yeah, Shakespeare/Juliet didn't count on the internet, there's a lot in a name after all. I think the choice for "Surface" is largely influenced by simply already owning the trademarks for it (from the table-size "tablet"). XTAB, XPAD, Xslate, all "taken" already and they probably wanted to avoid something like this: iPad Trademark In China May Cost Apple Millions

higherho

Sorry to bump a somewhat old thread. I'm curious if its difficult for these companies to add a blu ray player / drive to these devices? I guess it would pose a problem. Only reason why I ask is that I've been wanting a portable blu ray player + tablet combo for a long time. I don't think it will happen so I might as well get a pro and play ripped movies through USB 3.0.

I got my wife an IPAD 2 and I think this tablet is going to blow away the apple line. At least for me because it offers that full PC functionality in a portable form.

Roguetadhg

Space is at a premium with small devices. Of course, you could make it heavier, and larger... but most people want slimmer, thinner devices. Not thicker - even if this means a better battery and more options.

RobertKaucher

Most companies that are producing hardware like this feel that media such as DVDs are just simply on the way out. It is highly unlikely that any tablet will ever be designed to have any sort of disc drive. The way of the future is thinner, faster, and content delivered from the cloud.

Roguetadhg

Everytime I hear "Cloud" I think of college students opening their door and a smoke "Cloud" coming out.

I'm not sure if that's a good thing, or a bad thing.

erpadmin

higherho wrote: »

I got my wife an IPAD 2 and I think this tablet is going to blow away the apple line. At least for me because it offers that full PC functionality in a portable form.

Ultimately, that's what I'm looking for. As long as it has the ability to stream and output 1080p (both of my tablets only have 720p) then I would be quite happy with that, sans Blu-Ray. Heck, I've owned a PS3 for a good while, and I have yet to pop in a Blu-Ray disc in there (we have Netflix.)

I have enough functionality from the one Android tablet I have, but not full. The good news is that iPad users do not have full functionality either. Oh yes, you can get a little BT keyboard and make it a full device, but really, how many consumers are doing that vs. consumers who don't? That setup sounds too clunky even for someone like me that wouldn't mind that too much (though ultimately, I would.) The Surface promises to have all the conveniences of a tablet, but the power of the laptop. If Microsoft can market this thing right, it could give both Apple and Google a run for their money. But as I've said in other threads, they can't ---- that up! The device has to be convenient to use, powerful, and nice enough to give a big middle finger to Apple (much like they did in 1984.) Microsoft has a great shot, and it will be up to them how this plays out.

NightShade1

Well if the PRO really cost 1000 bucks, thats really expensive for a tablet...
I wouldnt pick the RT tablet, i mean, why i would like the windows 8 tablet?
would be for it support for my programs so i could replace my laptop for that if it works fine.... but the RT cannot do that...
Maybe 1000 buck is not that high with the super high salaries in the US tho... but in other countries thats expensive!

Iristheangel

*Thread bump*

Just bought a Surface Pro 4 today. I stopped using my old Surface Pro 1 a long time ago because I wanted something with a better screen and the Surface 3 and 4 came along. I wasn't ready to buy a new laptop quite yet but I've been seeing a lot more of my customers issue them as corporate laptops and been silently enviously until I bit the bullet and bought one today. Since this is to be my "on the go" laptop, I settled for the mid-tier level: Surface Pro 4 with i5, 8GB RAM, and 256 GB HD. Got the dock, bluetooth mouse and Type keyboard for extra comfort.

It's kinda fun to look back at these old threads to see what we all thought was going to happen with the Surface. I thought it was going to take off a lot quicker than it did - truth is that the larger screen of the Surface 3 and MS finally marketing it as something other than a tablet helped adoption. They certainly did raise the price from $1000 which was the cost of the top-end Surface Pro 1 at the time.

jibbajabba

I used to work in a hosting company with a lot of work done in the datacenter. That was before the Surface days. I would have bought one in a heartbeat. The fact that it was Windows meant I could run around and work on servers remotely behind a narrow cabinet , use barcode scanners, console cables and so on. Laptops were a pain even in such a small space, crash carts were annoying and so on. We ended up buying a Lenovo tablet with Stylus but it weighted a ton and nobody really used it. So yea, a Surface back in the day would have been a God sent

tpatt100

Ok so I was at the Apple Store at the mall late last week buying a cover for my iPad, it was a mad house in there.. anyways I stopped by the Microsoft store next floor up, pretty much empty but good since that meant I could mess with everything rather than the crowds.

The new keyboard for the Surface? That is a massive improvement over the previous keyboard cover for the Surface Pro 3, I hated that keyboard cover. The new keyboard there is space between the keys and it just feels so much better for typing than the original cover for the Surface 3. If you have a Surface 3 keyboard cover I think the new one is really worth upgrading to since it is backwards compatible.

olaHalo

Nothing to contribute but I love my Windows Phone.
I dont ever plan on buying a tablet unless its some sort of hybrid laptop

EDIT
dammit didnt realize this was an old Surface thread from 2012