News June 18, 2012

Microsoft Announces Surface Tablet In Both Standard and Pro Attire

Image courtesy of Microsoft

It’s been some time since Microsoft came out with a decent piece of hardware. Short of the Xbox and Kinect I think the hardware team has been sinking to the lower end of the giant’s revenue stream. Well, after seeing highlights from today’s live event, I think that is about to change. Today Microsoft announced the Surface tablet. The tablet is 100% designed and built by Microsoft’s team. Meaning this is not just a partner’s tablet combined with a Windows OS, it’s the total package. And it looks, from first glance, like they learned from everyone else’s mistakes and did this one right. I have not been too excited by a tablet in a long time, but something that looks this nice and carries a full-featured desktop OS….I may be rethinking my laptop and tablet options.

Image courtesy of Microsoft

The surface tablet may not seem like to big of a deal to most but, for those like me looking for a super portable device with a full running OS, it may be the answer we’re looking for. Microsoft boasted that every single square millimeter was thought out during the creation of this tablet. From the materials used to every square inch of space in the 9.3mm thick tablet, this was carefully planned and integrated. The tablet has a full magnesium case and a gorilla glass screen. This potentially lets customers avoid having to buy cases and screen protectors to keep the bumps and scrapes to a minimum. Probably though, the one thing that stood out above all the other features, is the 3mm magnetic cover. Similar to their Apple counterpart, it is an extremely thin magentic glass cover, but this one is a complete touch sensitive keyboard and multi touch trackpad. I ‘m not a fan of these types of covers but this is simply a must-have.

Known Specs:

10.6″ Gorilla glass covered display
9.3mm thick and 1.5lbs, 13.5mm Pro version
Intel Mobile CPU (less power-hungry than current i5) or ARM mobile based CPU
Magnesium casing w/ built-in kickstand, perimeter vented so you never cover it up
Full size USB 2.0 port. USB 3.0 for Pro, Display Port
32GB or 64GB built-in memory, 64GB or 128GB for Pro Version
Micro SD, Micro SDXC for Pro
Battery 31.5 W-h, 42 W-h for Pro
Front / Rear Cameras
MIMO wireless antennae

Gear Diary Microsoft Announces Surface Tablet In Both Standard and Pro Attire photo

Image courtesy of Microsoft

The next feature to set it apart from the rapidly growing tablet market is that it is running a full version Windows 8 (Pro version) or Windows 8 RT. This is huge for enterprise as well as those looking to completely rid themselves from carrying a laptop, or multiple devices. One version of the tablet runs the RT OS version which carries an ARM based CPU similar to all mobile phones and competitor tablets, and one version will have a full Intel chipset to run the full Windows 8 desktop OS. I absolutely love that Microsoft is providing this option. After MS received a good deal of backlash about offering multiple versions of 8, this makes it easy for some to decide which option works best for them. And since there is also a displayport interface to bump video up to a larger display, it means the tablet can truly be a laptop or desktop replacement. No dock will be required.

Accessories:

3mm thick keyboard cover, full touch sensitive with multi touch touchpad
Tactile keyboard cover (clicking button)
Pen for input

We don’t have much as far as pricing or availability is concerned but what the did say was that it was going to be competitive in today’s market. In my opinion the world has been waiting for quite a while to get their hands on a good Windows based tablet, many so far have tried and if you look at the Samsung that Dan owned for about 5 minutes after CES you can see why. We have yet to hear about too much about battery life, price, or availability but I’m sure they will be pushing that out as soon as possible to keep people from possibly buying a competitor tablet until the release. With some amazing accessories and pretty stunning style, I think Microsoft may actually have something to get excited about here.

Image courtesy of Microsoft

What I am excited about:

Design, pretty heavy duty for a small device
Display, love pen input on top of Gorilla glass
Microsoft OS, I’ve been dying for an enterprise friendly tablet that’s under 10mm thick
Attention to detail, it seems like they did not miss too much with this

Live feed via The Verge

Tags: Microsoft Windows 8, Ultra Portable Tablets

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About Francis Scardino

View all posts by Francis Scardino

I have been a tech fanatic and gadget guru ever since I can remember. I started building computers at a young age and have been doing so ever since. Im a big fan of all things mobile but spend most of my time with Android when it comes to phones and Tablets. I like to spend my free time at the gun range, in the garage, or playing games.

cgavula

I think there is a lot to be excited about here, but a few possible “gotchas” and questions that are still unanswered. I still maintain that the RT separation isn’t being made very clear – especially by using a generic name like they did and that people are going to be confused about their Win32/64 apps not running on the RT device. I wish MS had called it something more indicative of that separation.

Pricing is going to be huge. If the RT is priced like an iPad it won’t succeed. If the Surface is prices like an MB Air it won’t succeed. We will see where they actually land.

RT apparently will NOT have an HD display – a bit of a disadvantage against current tablets.

Question – no discussion yet about 3G/4G services (if any). No discussion about RAM. No discussion about battery life. All speak to the expectations of the devices and all may have an impact on their potential success.

Not clear how many Metro apps will be available and how soon. No confirmation that RT will run current WinPhone 7x apps (but I suspect it will) but how well remains to be seen.

More questions coming up all the time. I think MS was a little too vague on too many things (and participants were not able to type on any of the new keyboards – hmmm). I wish the details were more solid.

All said I am glad to see MS getting into the business and owning the solution. I am excited to see how this pans out and if reality meets the hype. If so, they could have something great on their hands!
- Francis Scardino
  
  RT will be hit or miss with adoption. But do know that MS is dumping a whole lot of money into it. RT will NOT run x86/x64 apps but WILL run all Metro apps. Same as desktop. Full desktop experience and Full Office is integrated in RT (included) as well as explorer, Internet Explorer, Start Button,Defender, Task Manager, and most common Windows navigation. There is clearly a separation between them but are built on a similar core as the older CE stuff. Hoping things clear up more before launch.
  *Both the Standard and RT versions of the Surface are indeed 16:9 HD displays
  - http://www.geardiary.com/ Michael Anderson
    
    Hopefully MS will pour some cash into getting apps developed by 3rd parties. I mean, unlike the sorry state of Windows Phone. If by the holiday people are seriously wondering ‘I don’t know if I can …’ with these things, RT is good as dead.
    - cgavula
      
      I think they will. I don’t think the Windows Phone apps are in a terrible shape, they are ahead of iPhone and Android at the same point in their life cycle, but the catalog doesn’t have enough breadth yet. I think that will come, but MS and Nokia are working hard to subsidize that – such is the price of late entry into the game. ANd I do think MS has indicated a commitment to building up Metro apps going forward.
  - http://www.geardiary.com/ Michael Anderson
    
    Oh … and we know ‘HD’ is NOT always ‘HD’ … and this is one case
    - Francis Scardino
      
      well, 720 horizontal lines progressive scan would technically be HD. But then again HSPA is 4G. So go figure. As long as it’s 720P they can classify HD.
  - cgavula
    
    They are both 16:9 but not the same resolution apparently. RT is listed as HD (but apparently 720p, not 1080), and Pro is listed as FULL HD. RT will apparently be at a lower rez than the current iPad. That makes it a bit harder sell.
  - cgavula
    
    Oh – and the new RT (and upcoming Win Phone 8) are supposed to run on a WinRT core, not Windows CE (current Windows phones run on a Win CE core).
    - Francis Scardino
      
      I meant that it is like what the old CE was (or so how I decrypt it)
http://www.geardiary.com/ Michael Anderson

So let me get this straight – from version 1.0 we get built-in fragmentation that will have people with RT devices lacking apps that work on their machine and those with the so-called ‘Pro’ machine with a dearth of devices that work RIGHT on their machine? That – along with the confusion Chris mentions – tells me that while the hardware might be well thought out, the overall plan remains half-baked.

Personally this reminds me of the first Xoom – a great sounding bit of hardware destined to die in the details.

As for the Smart-clone cover, I think the keyboard will be crap, though I hope I am wrong. Why? I have used things of that type on industrial equipment and consumer devices – including a recent review of the worst mobile keyboard case ever – and they have ALL been mediocre at best. I am typink this on my iPad with Bluetooth keyboard … and I would put money that there is simply NO WAY a 3mm pressboard will even REMOTELY approach that.

I am glad that MS has taken this step – it seems like a great idea and approach, and I applaud what they are doing in general … but it just isn’t clear that they present a compelling use case.
- cgavula
  
  Both models will run Metro apps – kind of like what is on the Windows Phone today (but will likely improve once Win8 and tablets are out). Only the Pro will run traditional Win32/64 apps.
- Francis Scardino
  
  true, confusing but I don’t believe half baked. Windows is the only ecosystem that is attempting a hybrid of desktop and mobile. Apple and iOS are not alike, and Android and “name that flavor” of Linux are pretty far apart as well. Having full version Office is actually a pretty big deal IMO. I agree there is a “well what’s the point” argument there but Microsoft is hoping for heavy cross platform integration into cloud/virtual apps just like on the desktops. I know others like Apple have cloud sync and stuff, but this is a more native approach.
Francis Scardino

No pricing or time frame really annoyed me as well.
- cgavula
  
  Yeah – I worry about the specs not stated (or not clearly stated) and the pricing. That could be great or awful depending on where they land. I’m hoping for great.
TMEhrlich

I think the design looks good but the lack of pricing and ship time kills the buzz. Apple always has the price announcement and it is available now and people go rushing off to get one. We saw it last week during WWDC. While this thing looks pretty slick, the excitement will be gone when the price and ship dates are finally announced. You have to strike while the iron is hot! I would love to check one out though.
gorkon

Looks nice but they need to fix the crash they experienced. Obviously why there isn’t pricing just yet….

http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2012/06/surface_tablet_microsoft_angeles_hollywood_crash.php
http://www.geardiary.com Bryan Eley

Is the logo on the kickstand official MS branding? That’s interesting, at least to me, because while it’s very possible I’m reading too much into it, such a logo change for the Windows icon could suggest some big image makeover in the wings for MS. Yes, that’s a stretch, but then in my line of work clients don’t make logo changes lightly.
The “Nokia colored” keyboards are interesting, though like Mike I’m not sure how useful/durable the keyboard cover will be. Users want precision in keyboards for accurate typing, not a thin squishy rubberized keypad sheet wobbling over thin plastic keys (Mike, I know what you mean about your keyboard…my HP Touchpad keyboard has similar ergonomics to the Apple version and is a joy to use). I hope I’m wrong though.

I really don’t know how the public is going to receive the RT versus “full” version. I believe Chris was absolutely correct when he posted about the perception problems between RT & the 32/64 OS versions. I think many in the tech field take their familiarity with technology for granted and tend to overlook the fact that many consumers don’t put so many ergs into understanding such tech nuances, so it will be imperative for Microsoft to put some significant effort into clarifying the distinction. If MS wants this to succeed, they’re going to have to really engage consumers and offer tangible reasons why buyers should adopt. I think it’s far too common for companies to produce a product and expect consumers to do most of the legwork educating themselves. To compete with Apple, MS will really, really need to up the “cool factor” in tandem with enterprise expectations.
- gorkon
  
  This logo is all over Windows 8. It is the new branding.
  
  As for the perceptions between RT and regular versions, Chris nailed it.
  
  Personally, after using Windows 8 beta for a while and testing the server version (which ALSO has this abomination of an interface called Metro), I think they need to:
  
  1. Put Metro ONLY on tablet mode devices, specifically RT variants.
  2. Keep a modified version of the existing interface on Intel based products. Include Metro, but only as a screen saver. Give the option of the old Windows 7 interface.
  
  With the current iteration, it seems that Microsoft is sacrificing the enterprise to become more like Apple and that just feels like a mistake.
Francis Scardino

I’ll gladly play the Devil’s advocate here. Of course we all have opinion’s of MS which are all probably legitimately backed up by past experience, but I think the public is too quick to cut them short here.

1. No one has ever done the RT type ecosystem. RT is all Metro, but full desktop runs Metro as well. So both can share Metro which may be really cool. No other mobile or desktop can say that.

2. I am thinking that MS is heavily into Enterprise mode with the whole announcement. The public has screamed Windows Tablet forever and has yet to really get something good. This could be the answer to something at least worthwhile if not intriguing. Why run mobile OS at all if I can have my full work desktop in front of me at <2lbs and 11mm thick? If the Pro does not fit you, then go with RT. It's at least another choice…especially if you are not a fan Android or iOS.

3. I know the keyboard is a stretch but I at least like the innovation. I have not seen any others like this on the consumer market so we'll be sure to see some 3rd party versions in no time. MS needed some new innovation and with the keyboard options and super fancy chassis I think they did it.

4. Let Metro have some time to grow. MS has nothing in the tablet market right now. I remember when Mr. Jobs laughed at the amount of apps on the Android store. We even had a few discussions about it here. Look where they are now compared to then. Microsoft has nothing else to go with so I am happy they are at least trying. If they manage to make the next phone version work with Metro, then that will be 3 platforms that can use the same apps. Only time will tell that though.
http://twitter.com/dougom Douglas Moran

Heavier than an iPad, but lighter than a MacBook Air; that seems kind of weird to me. And it looks awfully thick, from the pictures. What will cause someone to buy this over an iPad, a product that has been out and refined twice? Just the capability to run Windows, and not even “real” Windows, but some cut-down version? What’s the differentiator other than that? They going to try to undersell the iPad? And as another poster elsewhere pointed out, how much backlash is this going to create from other hardware makers who were trying to put out their own Windows RT tablet? I don’t know any of the answers; I’m just asking questions.

As for me, I see no compelling reason to switch. I’ve made the jump to iOS and MacOS, and I will only be hauled back to the Windows world kicking and screaming. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to see the competition, though; I absolutely do. Monopolies give me the hives.
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Microsoft Announces Surface Tablet In Both Standard and Pro Attire

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