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News Microsoft announces Surface Windows tablets

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Gareth Halfacree, 19 Jun 2012.

  1. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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  2. Harlequin

    Harlequin Modder

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    awesome - the question is , what will Apple make of this new ` clone` - it looks awefully like an ipad ;)
     
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  3. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    This looks very tasty - I hope it's affordable.

    As for Apple, I agree that they will raise at least one eyebrow at this, but how else are tablets supposed to look in reality?
     
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  4. desertstalker

    desertstalker What's a Dremel?

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    Its a box with a screen on the front, how else do you design a tablet?
     
  5. Guinevere

    Guinevere Mega Mom

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    Other than 'being a tablet' I'd say it doesn't look like an iPad. 16x9, horizontal by default. Kickstand. Flat non alu back.

    Quite like the idea of the keyboard covers, they're accepting that people want to type on a tablet while at the same time Apple won't even release a rich text editing component for iOS!
     
  6. faugusztin

    faugusztin I *am* the guy with two left hands

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    Nothing. In case they would try to throw a punch towards Microsoft, the next thing they would notice would be a bulldozer (not from AMD) running through them.

    Plus not sure about it, but wasn't part of $150m bailout from MS helping Apple at the end of '90s a cross-licencing agreement ?
     
  7. Snips

    Snips I can do dat, giz a job

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    Noice!

    Can't wait to pick one of these bad boys up. At last, a proper tablet!
     
  8. steveo_mcg

    steveo_mcg What's a Dremel?

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    Isn't Apple a larger (richer) company than MS these days? It would be fun to watch these two go at it.

    I agree though there isn't much to differentiate the design in tablets. I suppose the exact position, shape and function of any buttons which is what they tried to get Samsung on last year.
     
  9. Snips

    Snips I can do dat, giz a job

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    They won't be going at it.
     
  10. Optimaximal

    Optimaximal What's a Dremel?

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    Most of Apple's tablet litigation was the veiled holy war against Android - they only really went after the Samsung tabs with broad community designs when they could very easily have taken on the Playbook, TouchPad (had it ever had a chance) or even the Kindles & Nooks, but didn't.

    They won't worry too much about Microsoft since they're *slightly* different demographics (although there is cross over).
     
  11. Bauul

    Bauul Sir Bongaminge

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    I'm actually quite impressed with this. Combining a magnetic clip on case with a slim-line keyboard is clever thinking, it might actually be nearly as useful as a proper laptop in this way.

    Judging by the fact it's the first tablet I might actually consider buying, I'd say MS are onto a winner.
     
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  12. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    Finally, a Microsoft tablet that works.

    Looks like they had to do it the Apple way:

    1. Create a really good GUI for small screen, low power touch devices;
    2. Create an ecosystem to back it up;
    3. Scale up to larger mobile devices.

    Got there in the end. I fell good about this; I can see Metro only getting better while iOS 6 shows stagnation. Glad that Microsoft acknowledges that the OS and hardware need to be finely balanced to the demands and constraints of mobile devices.
     
  13. Harlequin

    Harlequin Modder

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    interesting that they are going nvidia..... will this push AMD faster towards ARM?
     
  14. runadumb

    runadumb What's a Dremel?

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    I will join the This-is-the-first-tablet-I-would-buy brigade for the X86 version but really, am I going to buy one (or something similar) or buy a cheap last gen <13 laptop that's "good enough"?

    99% of my use cases for a tablet/laptop are
    Using it on the sofa
    Using it in bed
    For everything else I have my bitchin desktop PC or my phone. I would guess many people already allured by current tablets are in a similar boat. I guess it just comes down to what you personally feel is the option with the most value.

    Up to this point I wouldn't even consider an Ipad or Android tablet over a netbook
     
  15. Jehla

    Jehla Minimodder

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    File system, USB port and being able to run two apps side by side. As long as it feels nice to use this may be my upgrade from the original iPad.
     
  16. Paradigm Shifter

    Paradigm Shifter de nihilo nihil fit

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    What's held me back from buying an Android tablet are silly limitations on what you can and can't do. OK, for some of them people have come up with clever workarounds, but usually the workarounds have issues.

    If a Win 8 tablet is a) reasonably priced and b) a decent OS which doesn't artificially restrict what you can do... it'll be on my 'to buy' list. Possibly.

    It sounds like Microsoft may have got it right - now, can they gather the mindshare necessary for it to become a success in a market already close to saturation? I doubt the fashionistas and Apple enthusiasts will even contemplate switching from an iPad, and I'm sure a fair number of people will have similar feelings about Android. Microsoft may find themselves caught in the middle between two well established heavyweights in the tablet market. Still, being in that situation is arguably better than just abandoning the tablet market silently and handing the win to a competitor without ever having tried...
     
  17. oasked

    oasked Stuck in (better) mud

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    Looks pretty good to me - I just hope that this finally offers some proper competition to Apple's dominance in this sector. The vast majority of previous attempts were pretty poor and far too expensive!
     
  18. TMhat

    TMhat frupsie bumsies

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    It's a shame they didn't detail the pricing and battery life of either product. Could be a win if they manage to price it competitively, hopefully their hardware partners don't force it up.
     
  19. IvanIvanovich

    IvanIvanovich будет глотать вашу душу.

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    I hope it fails, very very very hard. I want MS to stay far away from the hardware side. I really don't want to see them try to become a 'solution' company like apple. Before you know it there are no more real computer, just information appliances that are black box that you can't change in any way.
     
  20. FuzzyOne

    FuzzyOne

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    I want the i5 Pro version, I'm not even fussed about the price.

    This is perfect, I hope to god it does dual displays.
     

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