5 reasons why Microsoft Surface will struggle
What? You're looking for iPhone 5 stories, since it launches today. I want to break with the pack, and write about something else. Shocking, isn't it? Windows tablets is worthy topic.
While you can expect many different Windows 8 or RT tablets next month, Microsoft's own Surface is the trailblazer. I've got some concerns, which apply to other tabs running the new OS -- five big barriers I think Surface will face at launch.
Windows 8 tablets are the right post-PC response
Microsoft is taking a considerable risk with the Windows 8 ecosystem and major push into the post-PC era. There is no room for error and to get it right all the parts must work in perfect harmony. Windows 8 faces stiff competition and must dismount all preconceptions it's a weak tablet operating system.
Microsoft enters the market fully prepared to take its opponents head-on. Instead of copying adversaries, the company takes the more mature approach of offering a different user experience. Every competitor should fear Windows 8 tablets, and I've got five reasons why.
Has Microsoft lost the tablet war before it begins?
Asus' Windows 8 tablet roadmap leaked a few days ago, revealing the company's intention to launch three tablets powered by Microsoft's soon to be released Windows 8 operating system. Bloggers and journalists have used the roadmap to argue that the pricing is too high to compete effectively against Apple iPads and Android tablets. Taken aside that the pricing may not be final, it seems like they are right, if you only compare price and nothing else.
Asus' entry model, the Vivo Tab RT, for instance, lists with a starting price of $599. That's $100 more than Apple's cheapest new iPad model, and $300 more than Google's Nexus 7 tablet. But can you really make that comparison?
Existential crisis: A tablet with a keyboard dock is just a PC, right?
Post-PC is a lifestyle I do not strive toward and I have very good reasons for that. Yet after buying my Galaxy Nexus, I started toying with the idea that maybe a tablet is not such a bad idea after all. I will not concede to the concept of a tablet being suited for all tasks, yet I can accept it for what it is -- a toy. I have not self-medicated, nor did I happen to change overnight, but there is a logic to my madness.
I am the type of person that gets easily bored by using the same thing over and over again, be it software or hardware, and it would only be a logical step to assume that a new device could put an end to my unconscious --or most likely conscious-- quest to find the perfect anti-boredom device. My needs are rather specific, and I struggle to find the reason why I would rationally want to make the switch to an all-purpose tablet, and there isn't one.
Steve Ballmer hints at Microsoft Surface costing $300-$800
Rumors of a $199 Microsoft Surface RT tablet popped up on the Web a month ago, feeding the idea of a cheap and even subsidized Microsoft tablet that would take the pricing war to any device from the Google Nexus 7 to Apple's new iPad. In an interview for The Seattle Times, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer mentioned a new price range for the the company's Windows 8 device, putting the previous rumors of a $199 Microsoft tablet to rest.
Even though Microsoft did not announce the pricing, when asked about Surface, Steve Ballmer said that it would go for "probably $300 to about $700 or $800," giving a rough estimate of what potential buyers should expect to pay for the much discussed tablet. The previous rumors might be dust in the wind after the latest "estimate," but at the same time it calls for speculation justified by the $500 difference which isn't unsubstantial to say the least.
Price will determine Windows RT's success or failure
Windows 8, or more precisely Windows RT, marks a re-entry into the tablet market. Since Spring 2010, the Redmond, Wash.-based company watched Apple become the dominant segment player with iPad. In October, Windows-based tablets will push into a category Microsoft pioneered a decade ago but ceded to an upstart. Price will mean everything.
Two years ago, Windows didn't support low-cost but efficient ARM hardware, which put Microsoft and its hardware partners at a disadvantage price-wise. Since, Microsoft worked diligently to change this in Windows 8, and early development snapshots, previews and information showed touch support and other features usually only found in tablet devices. The changes come at the cost of Windows' traditional user base, which criticizes Microsoft for integrating features that desktop users did not feel comfortable with. All versions of Windows 8 come with improved touch and tablet features, but devices running Windows RT will compete head to head with Apple and Google in the tablet market. That is, if the price is right.
Kindle Fire HD burns Microsoft more than Apple
Following Amazon's Kindle Fire HD announcement, a reader reminded me of a prediction I made at the start of the year: "If Apple gives up its position of industry leadership in 2012 the only company capable of assuming that role is Amazon.com". I stand by those words -- Amazon is really bringing the fight to Apple -- but the most important part is "if Apple gives up its position", which it clearly hasn’t, at least not yet. The real loser here, in fact, is not Apple but Microsoft.
I could be wrong about this but I don’t recall any pundits (me included) predicting that Amazon would introduce a larger format tablet, yet that’s exactly what they did. The larger Kindle Fire HD with its built-in content and app ecosystem (and that killer 4G data package!) is a viable iPad competitor at a terrific price and puts real pressure on the Cupertino, Calif.-based company. Will Apple match the price? I don’t think so. That’s not the game they want to play. But the game is on, nevertheless, and users can only benefit from competition.
Despite Surface and Windows RT, Windows 8 Slate PCs get boost from Samsung
At IFA in Berlin, Germany yesterday, Samsung officially took the wraps off of its new Windows-powered slate PCs, the Series 5 and Series 7, which, like Samsung's Android tablets, incorporate a lot of modifications directly from the South Korean consumer electronics leader.
The Samsung Series 7 Slate is configured with an Intel Core i5 processor and 4 GB of RAM, with a 128GB SSD and has a suggested retail price of $1,199.
Why not just wait for Windows 8?
Microsoft is starting to make good on its Windows 8 Pro upgrade offer -- $14.99 for new PCs running the current version purchased between June 2 and January 31. Today, registration opened, for redemption when Windows 8 ships on October 26. PCs running Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate qualify for the upgrade, for which registration must be completed by February 28.
While the program arguably is a benefit to Windows 7 PC buyers, Microsoft also double-dips licensing revenue. For back-to-schoolers who can't afford or don't want Macs (or Chromebook, not to be forgotten), Windows 7 is the only real choice. In another universe -- perhaps far removed from this one -- Microsoft shipped Windows 8 in time for these shoppers. But not here. (Perhaps in yet another far-flung reality Microsoft shipped, keeping with Mayan prophesies, Windows 2012 EOW -- End of World -- edition.)
Microsoft Surface could easily upset iPad in K-12 education
Microsoft needs to harness and capitalize on some of the pent up anticipation that is surrounding roughly the next 5 months of its product lineup. Let's face it: the holiday season is going to be a blissful one, with Windows 8 coming out in late October for consumers and the Surface rumored to be out on the same day.
Optimism for Windows 8 grows, dulling early worries about its future. A recent poll run by BetaNews found that 45-percent of respondents are set to get Windows 8 as soon as it's released. And a forward-thinking interview with the CEO of Laplink, Thomas Koll, firmly solidifies his belief that Windows 8 is far from the next-of-kin to Windows Vista.
How much would you pay for Microsoft Surface?
End of summer typically means slower news cycle and with it more ridiculous rumors and positively pathetic punditry than ever. For example, the Apple Fanclub of bloggers and journalists squirms and squeals like a pack of hogs rolling in fresh mud -- they can't get enough of the Samsung trial under way in Northern California. Then there is Microsoft and the mini-revolt over the Surface tablet. Acer whines, Toshiba gives up Windows RT plans and everybody who is no one guesses just how low Microsoft will sell its tablet.
The problem is one of conflicting objectives. Apple's iPad sells faster than bacon cheeseburgers (let's keep to the pig metaphor shall we) during the County Fair. Total shipments topped 85 million in July -- in about 27 months. Today, IHS iSuppli put Apple's second quarter tablet market share at 69.6 percent globally -- that's up 44.1 percent, or 11.5 points, sequentially. Yeah, from 58.1 percent in Q1. (Pop those eyes back your head now.) Meanwhile, Windows starts essentially from zero. Microsoft can't close distance on iPad fast enough, and sure-fire, proven way is offering a compelling alternative for much less.
Toshiba bows out of Windows RT, Microsoft works damage control
Toshiba is the third Microsoft OEM to pass on Windows RT, saying Tuesday that it has cancelled all plans for devices based on the platform for the foreseeable future. The announcement follows the very public comments of Acer CEO JT Wang, whose comments on Surface suggest his company isn't interested either, and a similar move by HP back in June.
"Toshiba has decided not to introduce Windows RT models due to delayed components that would make a timely launch impossible. For the time being, Toshiba will focus on bringing Windows 8 products to market", a company spokesperson tells BetaNews.
Microsoft's new Office Web Apps: More mobile, but not mobile enough
For just about three years, we've had Microsoft's browser-based suite of free Office tools alongside the desktop Office software. In that time, we've composed and edited loads of Word documents, created Powerpoint presentations, and manipulated Excel spreadsheets. But when these types of Web apps debuted, there were three great islands: the standalone desktop software, the Web-based service, and the mobile application. Each was meant to be used in a different context, and each was equipped with different capabilities to suit those contexts.
For Microsoft in 2010, the PC was still the reigning king, so the Office Web apps were meant to get Office documents off the hard drive and out where they could be easily shared and passed between PCs.
BYOD apocalypse deniers suffer from post-PC depression
It’s a form of denial. In my recent post on the Office team dissing Windows 8, I noted how the lack of full touch support in Office 2013 undermines Microsoft’s efforts to break into the Post-PC space. And while I expected some push back from the Redmond choir, I was surprised at how many readers seem to be having a hard time accepting the reality of the Post-PC phenomenon.
Simply put, the PC as a technology driver is dead. Yet some people -- most notably, IT professionals who fear the coming BYOD apocalypse -- are determined to prop-up the corpse, slap some lipstick on those rotting lips and pretend that it’s still 2009.
Windows 8 launches October 26
Steven Sinofosky, president of the Windows & Windows Live division, announced the date during a Microsoft sales meeting this afternoon. Windows 8 follows other October launches -- its predecessor (Oct. 22, 2009) and XP (Oct. 25, 2001). Vista should have been as well, but Microsoft couldn't ship soon enough, unbelievably missing Christmas 2006.
Microsoft plans to release gold code the first week of August and make Windows 8 immediately available to volume-license subscribers. Everyone else will wait for Windows 8.
Recent Headlines
Most Commented Stories
Betanews Is Growing Alongside You
Only a fool still uses Windows 7
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.