Microsoft has created a $43 billion business, a potential Apple-and-OEM-esque company-within-a-company, that could be used to take up the slack if some of its computer-making partners falter.
While Windows 10 tech will help enterprises embrace Windows tablets, will it help Microsoft gain much more share of the mobile mind shift in smartphones or consumer tablets?
One of Microsoft’s announcements last week was the overhaul of its digital whiteboard formerly called PPI — now rebranded as Surface Hub...
Microsoft has some interesting hardware in the pipeline for later this year--if the rumor mill is churning out accurate reports--such as a 3D touch-enabled Windows Phone and the fabled Surface Mini.
If Microsoft indeed intends to release a shrunk-down Surface Mini this month, as an invite for a "small" Surface event suggests, merely downsizing the tablet's design to fit an 8-inch frame ain't going to cut it. Sure, the Surface Pro 2 and Surface 2 are beautiful pieces of kit, but they're made for big-screen productivity--the Surface Pro is essentially an Ultrabook without a keyboard. That experience won't translate well to a smaller form factor, better suited for content consumption than content creation.
Microsoft could have impressed the world with the update to its entry-level Surface tablet, but instead it released the Surface 2. The new tablet's price tag might be $50 less than the original, introductory cost of the Surface RT, but no price reduction can mitigate the Surface 2's fundamental problems--most of which stem from Microsoft's operating system and apps ecosystem.
If Microsoft does release the so-called Surface Mini, a new report says that you'll have to wait a while.
Microsoft caved to market pressure and sagging demand this week by slashing the price of the Surface RT tablet by 30 per cent. The Surface RT is better-equipped for business than rival tablets, and at $US350 ( $US470 once you add a Touch or Type keyboard cover, which it requires to be truly functional) it straddles the line between tablet and PC, and could help business customers rein in IT costs.
Windows 8 hasn’t just arrived - it has arrived in full force, with an armada of ancillary products. Microsoft’s deployment of the new Windows platform across desktops, laptops, tablets, hybrids, and smartphones constitutes a major push to make Windows 8 your defining computing experience regardless of your hardware persuasion. Depending on your point of view, this can be a good thing or a very, very bad thing.
