This morning we're getting prepped for a week that's going to be full to the brim with no less than the latest and the greatest in Google development news, as Google I/O 2012 starts on Wednesday! Look for a spattering of news bits surrounding the events starting with no less than a leak of the tablet we'll likely see popping up for all - Nexus style. Meanwhile Microsoft will be going big with Microsoft Connected Car plans for the near future with Kinect, Windows Phone 8, and the cloud.
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- Lenovo ThinkPad Helix unboxing and first impressions
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series developer platform hands-on
- Huawei Ascend P6 hands-on (Just don’t ask about Beauty Shot)
- SlashGear 101: PRISM, FISA, and the modern NSA
- Mad Catz Project M.O.J.O. hands-on
- iOS 7 and the rebirth of iPhone
- NVIDIA SHIELD as mini game console: hands-on with Nyko PlayPad Pro
‘Microsoft Surface’ Stories
SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: June 25, 2012
Surface spawned over timid OEMs tip ex-Microsofties
Fears of Windows tablet manufacturer apathy spurred Microsoft's Surface development, despite insistence that the slates are intended to support not compete with OEM efforts, according the latest batch of rumors. Observations of the extent to which Apple will go to secure the materials necessary to develop distinctive and unique products - and concerns that its own Windows OEMs were playing device strategy too safely - prompted Microsoft taking Surface into its own hands, a former executive told the NYT, burned too by the ill-fated HP Slate 500 project.
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Surface Detail: Microsoft’s Tablets Are Too Big To Fail
Inevitable branch-out or needless dilution; mounting desperation or a prelude to a Nokia takeover. Surface struck chords with the Windows faithful and rang warning bells among skeptics, with the analysis as deep as Microsoft’s launch details were shallow. Yet one thing’s clear even at this early stage. No matter whether block-wrapping queues mark Surface’s in-store arrival, or if sales of the tablet make Zune look like a blockbuster, Microsoft will be crowing its legacy.
Microsoft Surface reportedly WiFi only
Yesterday rumored pricing emerged for Microsoft’s new Surface tablets, with the ARM-based Windows RT variant reportedly aiming for $599, while the Intel-based Windows 8 Pro version would cost around $799. Bloomberg reports that the first versions of the tablets will only feature WiFi connectivity, with no immediate plans for 3G/4G options.
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Surface vs iPad comparisons inevitable, but foolish in the end
Let’s have a bit of a chat on why the Microsoft Surface tablets revealed this past week have no place being compared to the iPad. Pundits will be required to speak up on how Microsoft has very possibly created this Surface device to compete with the dominant device in the so-called tablet market, but there’s one glaring mistake that you’ll see made over and over again: the assumption that the Surface can utilize the iTunes app store.
Microsoft Surface price puzzle polarizes pundits
Microsoft's pricing mystery around the new Surface has become the slates' biggest point of contention, with analysts and rumor-mongers weighing in on how many dollars stand in the way of success. Having announced the pair of tablets on Monday with relatively sparse hardware details, Microsoft played it coy with both price and availability for the Windows RT-based Surface and Windows 8-based Surface Pro. However, there are already suggestions that the pair could be priced out of contention.
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Clandestine Microsoft Surface launch leaves PC partners puzzled
Microsoft's Surface heads-up to PC partners was at most a three day warning, OEM insiders claim, with Windows head Steven Sinofsky outlining sketchy details in a series of short calls last Friday. The Windows RT and Windows 8 tablets came as almost a complete surprise to hardware partners in the US and Taiwan, Reuters' sources at the firms have insisted, with Sinofsky's calls failing to confirm either then name or the specifications of the slates. However, at least one high-profile PC manufacturer has suggested that Microsoft's plans for the Surface brand are short-lived.
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A case against Microsoft Surface tablets’ future success
The consumer public is about to forget about the Microsoft Surface faster than it realized what it was looking at, and Microsoft knows it. What’s been presented this week is an impressive collection of features for a piece of hardware that developers would love to play with, but without a unified view with details in the background, Microsoft has no chance at chomping away at the still-dominant iPad’s market share. The Microsoft Surface tablet is not made to compete with the iPad, or so they might say, but it’ll be considered a tablet as long as it’s marketed without its keyboard – and rightly so.
SlashGear 101: What is Microsoft Surface?
Where before this week there were a variety of Microsoft Surface devices, each of them made on a large table-sized scale, now we’ve got that brand dedicated to tablets. The Samsung device known as SUR40 has now had its operating system re-branded “Microsoft Pixelsense” where just yesterday it had the shorter iteration of said name. Microsoft has now taken the “Surface” brand and has given it to their new tablet lineup – have a peek at what it all means for you!
SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: June 19, 2012
This morning we're still riding the wave out after the impact of last night's Microsoft event. That event brought on not one, but two new tablets manufactured and set to be distributed by Microsoft, with the big news being that no 3rd party manufacturer would be handling the business. It's become apparent rather quickly that this is Microsoft's great iPad attack and that the kraken has been released, so to speak. Dive right in to our Microsoft Surface Tablet event wrap-up or head down the rabbit hole through our Microsoft Surface portal.
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Microsoft: Surface tablets perfect for Skype
Microsoft may only have launched its Surface tablets a matter of hours ago, but the company is already making the connections with the rest of its ecosystem, including Skype. The VoIP service Microsoft acquired in recent months gets a specific name-check on the Surface site, with the promise of two LifeCam webcams along with dual microphones that are "tuned for Skype" as the company mounts a direct challenge to Apple's FaceTime.
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Microsoft Surface: The great iPad attack is on
The Kraken awakes. Microsoft’s Surface tablets turned out to be a surprisingly direct attack on the iPad, rather than the segment-tweaking workarounds that had been predicted: not a gaming-focused Xbox slate, or a pared-back multimedia and ebook device, but an all-out assault on the market that, in the past few years, Apple has made its own. With two variants of Surface, however, Microsoft has hedged its bets a little. Is the stylus still relevant, has the finger taken over, or is the keyboard simply refusing to be dislodged?
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