Microsoft’s Corporate VP for Windows Julie Larson-Green was at WIRED’s Business Conference today, and she was put on the spot when asked by interviewer and WIRED Senior Editor Michael V. Copeland about the apparently sluggish start for Windows RT. RT’s failure is a consumer education problem, according to Larson-Green, since it’s very different from what’s come… → Read More
I love the idea of the Surface: compelling hardware, striking form factor, and, in the case of the Pro, smart compromises to offer a good value. But the products fail to live up to their promise. They have first generation bugs. But maybe a low-priced Surface with a smaller screen could finally help bring the Surface promise to life. It just better run Windows Phone 8 and not Windows RT. → Read More
A handsome man pulls out a Microsoft Surface Pro from his bag. He’s wearing a well-cut suit (he’s at work.) He’s a hipster, but a serious one. While putting the Surface Pro on the table, two attractive women stop their conversation to look at this unknown and remarkable computer. Or is it a tablet? Either way, they’re ready to dance. → Read More
I come bearing glad tidings. After decades of OEM malaise, a constant parroting of the speeds and feeds mantra, and an aesthetic that was formulated in the back room of a dingy Staples office supply store, the PC is really back.
In short, the Surface Pro is so good that it could drive Windows 8 adoption with enough force to make people reconsider Microsoft’s odd new OS. Microsoft bet the farm… → Read More
When it comes to designing new hardware, most companies are pretty quiet about the design process. Microsoft, with its Surface tablets, is taking a far more open approach than many other companies. Just a few days ahead of the launch of the Intel-powered Surface Pro, I got a chance to sit down with Ralf Groene, Microsoft’s Director of Industrial Design, earlier this week to talk about the history… → Read More
The outcry is deafening. “The Surface Pro is priced too high!” “I’ll just get a MacBook Air!” “Microsoft is the next RIM!” “I LOVE APPLES!”
Ignore the noise and look at the situation. The Surface Pro is priced just right. For its size and form, the Surface Pro is a powerhouse computing platform and priced to sell. It might not outsell the MacBook Air but that’s okay. → Read More
It’s about damn time. Microsoft announced the Surface product family on June 18th. After eight months of waiting, Microsoft announced that on February 9, the fully-capable, Windows 8-packing, Intel-powered, actually-really-novel Surface 8 Pro will finally hit stores in the U.S. and Canada. The Surface Pro is the big daddy in the Surface family. Unlike the $499 Surface with Windows RT, the… → Read More
The Playsurface, a spin-off project from Templeman Automation that aims to provide a low-cost alternative to interactive touch table devices like Microsoft’s PixelSense (formerly known as the surface), was at CES showing off their functioning units in action, which the company will be shipping out to 40 or so Kickstarter backers this month. The Playsurface made headlines when it launched on… → Read More
Well that didn’t take long. Here’s Mac OS running (well, it’s emulated) on a Microsoft Surface. Blasphemy? Awesome? Hard to say. Now that a jailbreak tool for Microsoft’s Windows Surface RT is out in the wild, allowing users to install unsigned ARM desktop applications on these otherwise oddball devices, hackers are having a field day figuring out what apps they can get to work. The latest and… → Read More
The Gillmor Gang — Doc Searls, Robert Scoble, Dan Farber, John Taschek, and Steve Gillmor — celebrated another undisclosed term of imprisonment in the siloed world of Twitter. Sure, we talked about lots of stuff. Microsoft losing its huge bet on Windows 8 and Surface. Netflix and Spotify carving up the media that used to be called TV and radio. How the Internet is too big to fail or be taken… → Read More
A relatively reliable MSFT tipster @MS_nerd recently tweeted that Redmond will release three new and distinct generations of the Surface tablet sometime in 2013.
Ballmer recently said on a shareholders’ call that the company would never again let hardware or anything else stand as a barrier to innovation, admitting that Microsoft was late to the game (especially with the tablet). → Read More
The Surface Pro launches in January, just after the holiday rush. It’s a pricey bauble at $899 plus an extra hundred for the Touch Cover. But everyone is excited. This is the model most of the Surface sympathizers are waiting for. It has the full Windows 8 experience, a capable Intel chipset, and an ecosystem two decades in the making. But here’s the problem: come January the Surface Pro could… → Read More
Oprah hasn’t been shy about her love for the MS Surface. In early November, she claimed that it was one of her favorite things. This morning, she tweeted that she has bought 12 for Christmas gifts. She sent that using Twitter for iPad. → Read More
The Gillmor Gang — Robert Scoble, John Taschek, Kevin Marks, Keith Teare, and Steve Gillmor — served up the Sinofsky firing as the main course of a dissection of the Microsoft playbook or lack of it. Who knew that it would be Steve Ballmer to announce just how screwed Microsoft is. Windows 8 solves the wrong problem, while Android keeps several steps ahead with its Nexus platform. And the iPad… → Read More
Popular gadget repair site iFixit has taken the Microsoft Surface apart to see what makes it tick, and discovered a tablet/PC that scores higher on repairability than Apple’s iPad and its Retina MacBook Pro computers. The Surface ended up with a repairability score of 4 out of a possible 10, compared to just 2 out of 10 for the iPad, 2 out of 10 for the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro. → Read More
Apple CEO Tim Cook said in the earnings call this past week that 80% of the Fortune 500 companies use iPhones and iPads. To make his point, Cook said companies such as Canon are outfitting its entire field sales teams with iPads. → Read More
The Gillmor Gang — John Borthwick, Robert Scoble, Keith Teare, John Taschek, and Steve Gillmor — counted their pennies as Apple, Microsoft, and Google weighed in to the Tablet Sweepstakes with new entries. Apple’s iPad Mini captured two of the Gang’s wallet, while none seemed ready for the Surface or other Windows 8 entries. Google seems challenged to wrangle the carriers and Microsoft may be… → Read More
Driving through Times Square is a tricky proposition even on normal nights, but for a few moments tonight it was basically impossible to cruise down 7th Avenue. That’s because Microsoft officially kicked off sales for its new Windows RT-powered Surface tablet, and briefly closed the street to ensure none of the curious onlookers were hit by errant cabs. → Read More
Today at Microsoft’s surprise Surface press conference, Steven Sinofsky, President of the Windows and Windows Live Division, reiterated what’s behind Surface. In particular, when it comes to the device, he said that “everything Microsoft has done is coming together.” → Read More
With all the hullaballoo surrounding the new iPad Mini, it’s worth remembering that some actual Windows-flavored competition is ready to roll. We learned last week that Microsoft spent quite some time in a self-described Willy Wonka type studio, carefully crafting the clicky, compact Windows 8 tablet. And one of its most special, and most important, features is the Touch Cover, which doubles as a… → Read More
Now that Microsoft has officially announced pricing and availability for its long-awaited Surface tablet (albeit a little early), the time has come to get people worked up about it. Of course, commercials and brief tours of the studio that spawned the device can only offer so much insight — now Surface GM Panos Panay and the rest of the team have taken to Reddit and implored users to ask them… → Read More
Microsoft today detailed pricing for its Surface tablets, at least those running the scaled down RT version of its upcoming Windows 8 operating system designed for use on low-power processors. The Surface starts at $499 for an entry-level 32GB version without the Touch Cover with integrated touch-sensitive keyboard, while one with the cover runs $599. At the top of the line, a 64GB version with… → Read More
Compare the Microsoft Surface to the iPad: They are both thin slate devices with black bezels. Likewise, the Samsung Galaxy Tab is also a thin slate device with a black bezel. But Apple is only suing Samsung.
It was revealed today in the Apple/Samsung court case that Microsoft is licensing several unnamed Apple design patents for the Surface. This deal reportedly stems from Microsoft and… → Read More
If this rumor is true – and it certainly sounds true – then HP and other OEMs are about to pull the plug on their own Windows on ARM RT (WART) devices thanks to Microsoft essentially beating them to market with potentially superior hardware. SemiAccurate writes: → Read More
Microsoft just took the wraps off the all new Microsoft Surface. Even though the name is familiar this is an entirely new product. Simply put, the Surface is a Windows 8 tablet. But it seems so much more. In fact, perhaps I’m still a little drunk on Microsoft Kool-Aid, but the Surface seems like the next generation of mobile computing. While Surface might not kill the iPad, it might revive… → Read More
At the bottom of the page for Microsoft’s new tablet Surface, there is an odd little note: “Looking for the Samsung SUR40 with Microsoft Pixelsense? Visit www.pixelsense.com“. Huh?
It looks like Microsoft’s new Surface tablet is not the first Surface to surface at the company. Before it, there was a large LCD panel, made with Samsung, which could be mounted as a table, or on a wall, that… → Read More
The Surface has been around since 2007, but the new and improved SUR40 is a much more usable device. Microsoft and Samsung were showing off the new touch-capable table in NYC today, and I was lucky enough to get up close and personal with it.
The specs in and of themselves are impressive: 40-inch 50-point multitouch screen with a 1080×1920 resolution, AMD processors, 1GB of memory dedicated… → Read More
If you’re wondering why we didn’t stop by to test out the Samsung SUR40 touch-table, AKA the Surface 2.0, during CES, there’s a good reason: we did that last year. The device, while impressive, isn’t exactly new. But as it has little in the way of competition — the Surface is the nonpareil of touch tables — they probably didn’t feel they needed to get it out in any kind of… → Read More
Fond as we are of Microsoft’s touchscreen Surface table and all of the kooky things people have made it do, its replacement has come one step closer to seeing the light of day. Samsung and Microsoft have just announced that the next-generation Surface table, the SUR40, is now available for preorder in over 23 countries. → Read More
Despite being the only TechCrunch writer in Seattle, I don’t get out to Microsoft nearly as much as one might expect. The fact is it’s on the other side of a big lake and getting there usually involves a lot of traffic. But when I get an invite like I did recently, to join a sort of unofficial Surface developers’ club for a meeting, it’s hard to say no. The promise of free pizza had nothing to do… → Read More
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