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Apple Wishful Thinking Ping!
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Posted on 12/14/2010 1:54:53 PM PST by dayglored
Report says Redmond will finally get around to shipping devices that can compete with Apple's slate and Android-based devices.
Microsoft plans to introduce a range of new tablets powered by its Windows 7 operating system at January's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, according to a published report.
The software maker, which is under pressure to produce a slate that can go head-to-head with Apple's iPad and devices powered by Google's Android OS, will unveil slates manufactured by OEM partners Dell and Samsung, according The New York Times.
The Times, citing unnamed sources, said the Samsung devices would be "similar in size and shape" to the iPad, but not as thin and equipped with a slide-out keyboard. The newspaper did not offer details on the Dell device.
Microsoft's credibility in the tablet market has come into question, as the company has failed to deliver on previous promises to deliver a full range of slates. CEO Steve Ballmer took the stage at CES 2010 almost a year ago to demonstrate a Windows-powered HP slate.
"We're talking about something that's almost as portable as a phone and that's as powerful as a PC running Windows 7," said Ballmer. But the device failed to materialize in stores.
(Excerpt) Read more at informationweek.com ...
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I’m pretty tired of these trash-talk press releases from Redmond.
I didn't know that... but sadly, it wouldn't surprise me.
It’s completely doable, just not very elegant.
Not if you pop it into a stand, then ‘attach’ a Bluetooth keyboard. >>>>>>>>
On Fast Money (CNBC) all 5 participants have iPads propped up like that. Apple is getting millions in free advertising
And let me add my voice to yours...
This thread is not about bashing Microsoft/Windows fans. We welcome them to the discussion of products, technical issues, marketing strategies, etc. Anti-Microsoft thread trolls should be ignored.
On the other hand, making fun of Microsoft's many failed attempts to "kill" Apple products is fair game here. :-)
If there are any MS employees on the thread, please don't take it personally, it ain't meant that way.
Keyboards are great optional peripherial devices via bluetooth or USB. Personally I don’t want one on the train, but useful when docked and doing bunches of emails or other documents.
To be fair, nearly -all- Marketing departments love to spew that kind of crap. They seem to think that's how to generate enthusiasm for their product.
Years ago I worked for an outfit whose Marketing Dept. actually named one of our products the "VK" for "V____ Killer", where V____ was our chief competitor. (It didn't kill them, they died all on their own without our help.)
I developed a severe allergy to anything called an "XYZ Killer", regardless of what XYZ was.
I saw a video of a funeral parade MS did for iPhone when they launched their Windows 7 phone. It was pathetic and idiotic. Nobody kills anybody dead in that market these days.
so a person has to carry their padd and a keyboard? and a stand?"
Exactly the opposite - so a person doesn't have to carry them when not needed.
"or a padd with it all built in."
Yep, I'm sure I'd appreciate the extra weight and bulk when I'm reading in bed...not. Not to mention the durability issues.
"and we have not even found out if this will have sd slots, usb slots, and a camera."
I do hope the competition will be sufficient to get Apple to open up the iPad a bit, the ports and expansion are a bit weak.
And there are those that thought the Droids were gong to be the iPhone killer... those are killin' it so much that Verizon will probably get their own iPhone by New Years. :)
Yeah, I saw that too, and there was at least one FR thread about it.
When you consider the pressure the engineers must have been under to develop the WinPho7, it's not surprising that they would, a) want to celebrate, and b) be so totally whipped that they'd do something silly.
But hey, I love a parade, even a silly one. :)
I'm only surprised that Microsoft didn't spend $100M on it. That's their usual style...
I'm in agreement. I love my iPad, using it for browsing FR anywhere anytime is a breeze. But I wish it had a USB port. I've got the camera adapter so I can port files, but lots of non-camera USB devices aren't seen. Would be nice to connect a TV-USB stick to tune in TV broadcasts as I do with my MacBook. Or many other USB devices. Apple needs to unlock that expansion port.
You could start one.
I suspect they've made up for it by now.
I think the on screen keyboard is perfect for the 9” iPad as it is. I can type almost as quickly as I can on my MacBook Pro. Steve strongly suggests there will not be a smaller version ... who knows?
This week I spoke with two of the largest institutional brokerage firms who said they are making institutional equity trading platforms for the iPad in the next few months. Nice since my firm just bought iPads for a couple of departments.
This was unthinkable just a short time ago.
... and competition is good in any market.
The iPad with NO competition would be bad for the iPad anyway.
> You could start one.
That's quite true, and I've considered it seriously, a couple of times. Three problems keep me from doing so.
1. I'm not on FR every day; an MS/Win ping list would need daily attention.
2. I use Windows every day, and I like Win7 a lot, but I'm not a Microsoft fan, and while maintaining a ping list doesn't require fandom per se, I'd get smeared as a Windows fanboy, and I don't need that. My computing credentials go back to 1970, and I've used every version of Windows since 2.0, but I'm hardly an MS/Win booster. I hate having to explain... which is why I wrote this disclaimer on my profile page.
3. Sadly, it would draw even more trolling and unfortunate comments than the Apple threads do. A lot of people hate Microsoft, more than hate Apple. I conferred with a couple of the Windows fans on FR about why such a ping list doesn't exist, and the consensus was that it would be way more stress than it was worth.
Since I'm on high-BP medication already, I don't need that.
But of course, if someone else does start one up, I'll be on it. :-)
That's a really good point. Apple's products are most often visionary in nature, and push the envelope. But they are the product of a few people's imaginations, and no matter how good they are, there is always room for improvement.
That's one reason why I always try to wait for Rev 2 of any Apple product. (and Rev 3 of any Microsoft product)
well put, although the “spend gobs of money on badly engineered products for no other reason than to put the market leader out of business” is part of the MS mission statement. ;’)
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