Microsoft Surface Tablet announced

Status
Not open for further replies.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6016/microsoft-surface-we-go-hands-on


The Type Cover has a traditional keyboard, albeit one with particularly shallow feel, along with physically clicking mouse buttons. The Touch Cover is very interesting - it has a pressure sensitive membrane keyboard with felt keys and mouse buttons housed in a cover that's totally 3mm thick. (The Type Cover is ~5.5mm thick). I wasn't able to get a feel for how typing actually feels on it, so I can't comment on responsiveness or accuracy, but our friend Ben Reed at Microsoft Hardware swears he can top 50 words per minute on it any given day. I'm inclined to believe him, but I can't comment firsthand until I can actually play with a working unit.

50 words per minute sounds pretty good to me
 
Oh really? Please tell me how a consumer can download an application from the WP7 marketplace and run it on the Windows Phone 7 emulator on Windows.
We'll likely get info on Wednesday.

While not guaranteed, it is quite possible WP7 will run on WinRT (and therefore Windows RT and Windows 8).




I agree that putting MS name behind this will make this unit more aware in public than others. But the Pro's target isn't the public. That's the RT.
I wouldn't go that far.

It's like arguing ultrabooks aren't intended for the public, which Surface Pro essentially is. It's basically a hybrid ultrabook and is going to be priced competitively with them. We've already seen similar hybrids recently ... are none of those meant for consumers?




This thread is moving fast and there isn't enough info in the op but the main reason I was staying away from iPad's is the app interface. It's nice for iphones and ipods but I really wanted more of a normal OS "desktop" interface. This is very intriguing to me but the two different versions of this RT and Win8 have me confused and I still wonder how much I can do on either. What i'm looking for out of a tablet is.

1) Can I run programs like GIMP, Photoshop or similar with a stylus?
2) Does it function like say a Win7 or real Win8 Desktop
3) Okay it has a keyboard, can i use Office type programs finally?
4) Steam will work? Seriously can I play low spec indie games or such like Terraria, Binding of Isaac, Fez,etc or Starcraft?
5) Xbox live integration? Can I play Zune Marketplace videos?
This really isn't the place for this. Check out the Windows 8, etc. threads. But here's a quick summary.

Surface Pro runs Windows 8. It runs anything a desktop computer can plus the new WinRT 'metro' apps.

1) Surface Pro
2) Surface Pro is a Windows 8 computer. Regular Surface (Windows RT) runs only metro apps, and Windows Office (in an special desktop mode)
3) Both support Windows Office
4) Surface Pro
5) Both. All of the services MS offers will be made to work with WinRT, so they'll be available on either.
 
New to the thread, but I was wondering why did they name this tablet as Surface? It confused the hell out of me when I think about the Surface table. Is the table still called Surface or is that abandoned as a product?
they changed the name of the old surface to pixelsense.
 
There is no Amazon book sales app on iOS, all the sales are through the web site.

This is different on Windows 8, btw. Developers are free to integrate with Microsoft's in-app purchase system, giving up 30%, or they can use their own service and bypass Microsoft's cut entirely:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsstore/archive/2011/12/06/announcing-the-new-windows-store.aspx

And that 30% goes to 20% once the app has grossed $25,000 in total revenue from app purchases + in-app purchases (through Microsoft's service)
 
Actually a lot of people shat on the iPad when it was announced.

Almost everyone did. Which brings me to my hypothesis of the Internet, if geeks love it it will flop. Everyone seems to be in love with the Surface, might not be good news.

I have a few complaints:
  • 16:9? I've held 16:9 tablets and they were too tall.
  • 1080p? After seeing the Retina display who will downgrade to this?
  • I have too chose between ARM and Intel? I hate having to make more than I hated my overly sensitive car alarm, and I bet a lot of average day folks hate that too. Whatever choice you make you will be giving up something.
  • No price or launch date info. If it ships by time Windows 8 ships then that's very late.
 
Umm..no, Transformer is a laptop dock, this is a keyboard only, it won't hold down the weight of of the slate on it's own, it dosn't extend the battery life and the keys still look pretty bad (low travel, not enough space between them).
Yeah I realize it doesn't have a battery (I own a Transformer) ... but you bring up a good point. I haven't thought about the weight issue. It'll be interesting to see how that pans out.

Altough my whinings are useless, I've realized there will be only 10 inches option avaible, so it's not for me anyway, as such size doesn't allow for comfortable full-sized KB. I will just wait for 13 inch transformer book or Thinkad hybrid, assuming they KB is improved compared to the 11 inch first Zenbook model I've tried.
understood.

I too am skeptical about what's basically an 11" ultrabook/air. Not sure I can see myself using it for heavy production activities due to keyboard and screen size, which makes the RT more attractive. Then again I rarely do anything particularly productive on my lap anyway ... so one could always hook this up to a KVM for real duties.
 
Almost everyone did. Which brings me to my hypothesis of the Internet, if geeks love it it will flop. Everyone seems to be in love with the Surface, might not be good news.

I have a few complaints:
  • 16:9? I've held 16:9 tablets and they were too tall.
  • 1080p? After seeing the Retina display who will downgrade to this?
  • I have too chose between ARM and Intel? I hate having to make more than I hated my overly sensitive car alarm, and I bet a lot of average day folks hate that too. Whatever choice you make you will be giving up something.
  • No price or launch date info. If it ships by time Windows 8 ships then that's very late.
W8 tablets are meant to be held in landscape, they support both but landscape is what it is designed for.
 
I could be won over, but 16:9 is ick on a tablet. It might not be a deal-breaker on its own, but it's not encouraging.
 
Almost everyone did. Which brings me to my hypothesis of the Internet, if geeks love it it will flop. Everyone seems to be in love with the Surface, might not be good news.

I have a few complaints:
  • 16:9? I've held 16:9 tablets and they were too tall.


  • Good for comics and magazines though!
 
It's kinda funny thinking back to the iPad unveiling, since most of the criticism was:

--What, it's not running OSX?
--What, it's just a really big iPhone?
--I can do way more than the iPad on my $250 netbook! And it runs real Windows!

Now we have an actual tablet running an actual desktop OS, and the reaction seems kinda muted due to the very obvious pricing issues.

The affordable WindowsRT tablet is once again a very big phone, with its own dedicated apps and a walled garden approach to software.
 
I think it's kind of funny.

I was looking at microsoft.com/surface earlier today.

It still showed Microsoft's web site detailing their "Surface" table-top computer.

Google searches for "Microsoft Surface Samsung" will show the old cached description of the page, mentioning the latest 40" Samsung tabletop touch computer.
 
Good for comics and magazines though!

I have a Transformer and comics look pretty damn good in portrait mode as long as there aren't any 2 page spreads. The new iPad blew it away of course...the added resolution made two pages perfectly legible side-by-side in landscape.
 
since we're talking about comics:

is it feasible to comfortably read through an entire comic page in the latest iPad without the need to zoom in and screw around like that? (not counting that panel-to-panel smart view)

I guess just needing to scroll vertically is good enough

can you?
 
since we're talking about comics:

is it feasible to comfortably read through an entire comic page in the latest iPad without the need to zoom in and screw around like that? (not counting that panel-to-panel smart view)

I guess just needing to scroll vertically is good enough

can you?
It used to be a bit squinty but now with the retina display full-page comics look amazing and are perfectly readable.
 
Almost everyone did. Which brings me to my hypothesis of the Internet, if geeks love it it will flop. Everyone seems to be in love with the Surface, might not be good news.

I have a few complaints:

* 16:9? I've held 16:9 tablets and they were too tall.
The UI is designed for landscape. Main reason - dual apps.

* 1080p? After seeing the Retina display who will downgrade to this?
Based on Apple's specification, it's retina. And based on their claims of what retina means, you should not actually notice a difference at expected viewing distances.

iPad's resolution was chosen for app compatibility. Had that not been an issue they would have gone lower if it saved them money ... as long as it still fit into the retina formula.

* I have too chose between ARM and Intel? I hate having to make more than I hated my overly sensitive car alarm, and I bet a lot of average day folks hate that too. Whatever choice you make you will be giving up something.
Then you should stick with Apple. One of my main issues with Apple is the lack of choice, if you see it as a benefit ... go for it.

* No price or launch date info. If it ships by time Windows 8 ships then that's very late.
Later this year is very late?
 
since we're talking about comics:

is it feasible to comfortably read through an entire comic page in the latest iPad without the need to zoom in and screw around like that? (not counting that panel-to-panel smart view)

I guess just needing to scroll vertically is good enough

can you?

I use smartview, having it on one page is too small for me.
 
It used to be a bit squinty but now with the retina display full-page comics look amazing and are perfectly readable.

dang

im totally ending up with one of these in the long run, arent I

Comixology should really get into the hardware biz with a partner or something and release its own cheap, comic-only (or at least comic-reading-based) tablet. The only thing you need is proper screen size and the ability to swipe. Id buy 5.
 
No, terrible! Show me a comic that has pages in that aspect ratio.

I used to think that too, but Marty Chinn convinced me in this thread that comics are closer to 16:9 than 4:3

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=32704533

since we're talking about comics:

is it feasible to comfortably read through an entire comic page in the latest iPad without the need to zoom in and screw around like that? (not counting that panel-to-panel smart view)

I guess just needing to scroll vertically is good enough

can you?

I don't even have a problem reading them on iPad 2 without needing to zoom around. I've read so many comics on my iPad it's crazy.
 
Very impressive. I'll be waiting for a price on the pro. After few arching microsofts tablet presentation from E3 again I'm pretty excited for the possibilities.
 
I could be won over, but 16:9 is ick on a tablet. It might not be a deal-breaker on its own, but it's not encouraging.

Why ? It should help with running 2 apps side by side. For things that need 4:3 to look right I can simply open a twitter feed
 
This actually looks kind of nice. It is like a really smooth hybrid between a "netbook" and a "tablet." Interesting for sure. Likely won't buy it because I just don't see the need for it (personally as my life just doesn't require something like a tablet), but I'd certainly look at something like this over anything else right now if I were in the market because of the complete Windows 8 OS and the keyboard cover combination which is a brilliant idea.

It certainly looks nice and has some unique, but useful features it seems. It is making some big headlines, so good for Microsoft. Hopefully Sony can come out with something soon that can grab the headlines like Microsoft is getting and pushes the envelope with the tablet market. Nice to see Microsoft get in there with hopefully a strong competitive product to the iPad, but the market needs more of it.

Colour me impressed, Microsoft.
 
Can't you still sell whatever you want, so long as it's through your own infrastructure (your servers, your credit card services, etc)? I don't think they're taking 30% off when somebody buys a book with the Amazon app.
I think they do, at least that's how it was few months ago. No matter if you own the infrastructure or not, if you do in-app purchase you need to give Apple a cut. YOu can use content in those apps that you buy through amazon website, but you can't have a link in your app to such website or even mention it's existence. What's more..afair, even if you do offer in-app purchases through Apple you can't price the content lower in your webstore, the in-app version always needs to be the on the cheapest level avaible.
Which is why those companies do not bother with in-app purchases at all, as it makes no economical sense and that's how Apple wanted it.
 
It used to be a bit squinty but now with the retina display full-page comics look amazing and are perfectly readable.

IPAD 1 9.7 1024x768 - 132ppi
Ipad 3 9.7 2048x1536 - 264ppi

Surface pro 10.6 1920x1080 - 207ppi


So it should look much better than the ipad 1/2. I would have perfered a 264ppi or higher screen but its not a big deal and i will upgrade in 2-3 years anyway and i'm sure by then the 264 ppi screens will be considered small.
 
here is a good article (video as well) talking about how Microsoft designed the OS, its all based on you using your thumbs. The article is old though, from early feb. The consumer preview (beta) had not even been released yet.

http://gizmodo.com/5882797/designing-windows-8-or-how-to-redesign-a-religion

so having this tablet in landscape i don't think is a big deal.
So, what do the sales for android and apple tablets look like? How far behind is microsoft in comparison?
google is going to announce a tablet at google i/o in a week or so.
 
You really have been a bit brainwashed ... haven't you?
Why, because I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong? I should get a fucking medal for that in this thread.

Please keep the brainwash/format wars shit out of it. It's tiresome and just obscures whatever point you're trying to make. Most of my posts in here are talking about how exciting the Surface is so obviously I'm a hipster who hates anything without an Apple logo on it.
 
Why, because I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong? I should get a fucking medal for that in this thread.

Please keep the brainwash/format wars shit out of it. It's tiresome and just obscures whatever point you're trying to make. Most of my posts in here are talking about how exciting the Surface is so obviously I'm a hipster who hates anything without an Apple logo on it.

You do look a bit hipster-ish...
 
since we're talking about comics:

is it feasible to comfortably read through an entire comic page in the latest iPad without the need to zoom in and screw around like that? (not counting that panel-to-panel smart view)

I guess just needing to scroll vertically is good enough

can you?
Yes. I read tons of comics on my iPad. Best way to read em. No scrolling or zooming needed.

Anyway as for surface, looks good but worthless without pricing and battery life. Also October+? Ehh.

Google is probably happy they didnt shoot for affordable since that seems to be the nexus tablets thing. I/O should be interesting.
 
This is the first time I've actually been interested in a tablet.

The iPad never got my attention because I already have an iPad nano.
 
I think they do, at least that's how it was few months ago. No matter if you own the infrastructure or not, if you do in-app purchase you need to give Apple a cut. YOu can use content in those apps that you buy through amazon website, but you can't have a link in your app to such website or even mention it's existence. What's more..afair, even if you do offer in-app purchases through Apple you can't price the content lower in your webstore, the in-app version always needs to be the on the cheapest level avaible.

I bought an Xbox 360 using NewEgg's app. I seriously doubt they handed Apple $60 for that. Game consoles have like zero margin on them......they probably would have lost $50 on the sale. Perhaps it's different for physical products as opposed to DLC.
 
I bought an Xbox 360 using NewEgg's app. I seriously doubt they handed Apple $60 for that. Game consoles have like zero margin on them......they probably would have lost $50 on the sale. Perhaps it's different for physical products as opposed to DLC.
That's not an IAP lol...otherwise your bank or brokerage would be paying apple money each time you did a transaction.
 
Yes. I read tons of comics on my iPad. Best way to read em. No scrolling or zooming needed.

Anyway as for surface, looks good but worthless without pricing and battery life. Also October+? Ehh.

Google is probably happy they didnt shoot for affordable since that seems to be the nexus tablets thing. I/O should be interesting.

No an Android tablet and soon a Windows tablet will be the best way to read comics. The best experience is not on an iPad.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom