MS announces the Surface Tablet

[Medico]

MS makes a big announcement this evening. The Surface Tablet. Web site is a little barren so far. Expect more over the next few days. Supposedly a full tablet that can run Win 8 Pro.

Two models available, Win RT and Win 8 Pro. See the spec sheet. (PDF Format) Download spec sheet from web site.

Windows 8 Pro (Surface Pro)
903 g
13.5 mm
10.6” ClearType Full HD Display
42 W-h
microSDXC, USB 3.0, Mini DisplayPort Video, 2x2 MIMO antennae
Touch Cover, Type Cover, Pen with Palm Block
VaporMg Case & Stand
64 GB, 128 GB

Windows RT (Surface RT)
676 g
9.3 mm
10.6” ClearType HD Display
31.5 W-h
microSD, USB 2.0, Micro HD Video, 2x2 MIMO antennae
Office Home & Student 2013 RT, Touch Cover, Type Cover
VaporMg Case & Stand
32 GB, 64 GB

[ruirib]

Impressive design, that's what can be said right now. Amazing attention to detail. It really makes me want one - a real PC in a real tablet package.

[Medico]

Magnesium case and Gorilla Glass. 128 Gb HD (Does not specify SSD, but must be) Touch keyboard comes with tablet. I will be interested to see more about this.

[CLiNT]

Here's another view.
For a tablet, MS really needs to have full control over the hardware.
None of this OEM crap from other hardware vendors.

[Medico]

This might very well be a real cost effective tablet that will run Win 8 Pro in both Metro and Classic Desktop, with an included keyboard. A mouse can be added through the USB 3 port (Yes that's right the Win 8 Pro version will have USB 3) Add a powered USB port and you could have even more capability. With Win 8 Pro it will definitely be more powerful than iPad.

However, this device might create problems for other tablet manufacturer's who have to pay licensing fees to MS for the S/W. We'll have to see how this plays out.

[CLiNT]

MS will never be able to compete with Apple, specifically with regards to tablet devices, unless they have 100% control over
the hardware. If they are going to compete they will need to go their own way when it comes to the mobile [tablet] market.

This will be what makes or brakes MS in this market.

[Medico]

Like I said, wait and see. We will not have to wait long in this one. RTM is due, possibly in July. The code will be essentially fixed at that point with just updates from then on. I am very interested in seeing if MS releases an update to Win 8 RP so that we can play with the final code OS.

But back to the subject at hand, the next few months will be interesting. How will the Surface fair in the market place? How will other tablets fair with this added competition. The specs on this tablet look very good. With a 128 Gb SSD and 4 Gb Ram, this could be a very speedy tablet. Something like this might actually convince me to try a tablet, as a second device of course. Until my laptop dies I will keep it.

This is Ed Bott's review.

[Doc Brown]

This is a beautiful machine. Now someone has to convince me why I should buy an iPad over one of these when I can still run run my desktop apps?

[CLiNT]

A laptop and a tablet, to me, are two very different creatures when it comes to mobility.
In order to be truely mobile you have to forget the idea of using a mouse [period].

If MS were to have their own tablet, like Surface appears to be, then they at least stand a chance going up against the iPad, but...

A tablet manufactured by Dell or HP will always be a Dell or HP tablet, and MS will merely be going along for the ride.
Take a page from Apple and have your own mobile device manufactured specifically for your own code, anything less I'm quite certain will suck, and will never eat into iPad's market share.

[Medico]

This might be the tablet to do that. I think MS is missing the mark with their release dates (reported by Ed Bott) This should be a concurrent release for the most impact.

[ruirib]

This is a beautiful machine. Now someone has to convince me why I should buy an iPad over one of these when I can still run run my desktop apps?

I'm with you, there.

[Xircal]

I think that keyboard is hideous. I much prefer the one which can be bought as an add-on to the Asus Eee Pad Transformer

Apart from that, the RT tablet won't run Firefox: Microsoft bans Firefox on ARM-based Windows I wonder what the EU Commission will have to say about that.

[ruirib]

I think that keyboard is hideous. I much prefer the one which can be bought as an add-on to the Asus Eee Pad Transformer

The cover that includes the keyboard is one of the really cool features of this tablet. Anyway, if we are focusing on the aesthetics, I really don't like the pink .

[Medico]

No pink for me as well. Black or charcoal or whatever it is!

[Doc Brown]

A tablet manufactured by Dell or HP will always be a Dell or HP tablet, and MS will merely be going along for the ride.
Take a page from Apple and have your own mobile device manufactured specifically for your own code, anything less I'm quite certain will suck, and will never eat into iPad's market share.

And yet that's the same argument that many made for OSx and the control Apple has over its hardware in that computing space also. It was supposed to be superior because of their control. Yet they've never been able make much more than a dent in desktop sales against MS. Personally I'm not convinced that MS will overtake Apple in the tablet market. But they will make a dent. How big of a dent though is anyone's guess.

The one that opened up the market first will almost always be dominant, unless the new comer can beat them on price and features. I can think of many cases where either senario has happened. Sony dominated portable music for many years even though competitors made far superior devices. Vizio walked into a heavily saturated flat screen TV market dominated by Samsung. They made an inferior, but much cheaper product and today enjoy a very high rate of sales. My point to this is that a lot depends on consumer perception, and a lot depends on how advertisers mold consumer perception.