Windows 8, Intel Atom SoC Will Be iPad Killer

Informationweek ^ | June 04, 2012 | George Ou

[SmokingJoe]

When Intel announced its Windows 8 Tablet check list running on a soon-to-be-released Intel Atom Z2760 dual-core System on Chip (SoC), the reaction was mild enthusiasm with a healthy dose of skepticism. Intel said that Intel Windows 8 tablets would come with 10- or 11-inch screens, measure less than 9 mm thick, weigh less than 1.5 lbs, and offer more than nine hours of battery. The typical reaction was disbelief because no Intel notebook or netbook has ever come close to being as thin and light as an iPad with the battery life of an iPad.

Conventional wisdom among tech pundits held that Intel can't match tablets running ARM architecture processors because Intel had never delivered anything close to such a product. Intel-based Microsoft Tablet PCs were too heavy at over three pounds, too expensive with prices between $1,000 and $3,000, too short on battery life, and too inconvenient with an OS that had to be shut down or suspended. With Intel and Microsoft having a miserable 11-year track record in the tablet computing space and the fact that not much was known about the mystery Intel Atom Z2760 "Clover Trail" processor, all the skepticism was warranted.

Now that we can actually see hands-on product videos of the Acer Iconia W510 ($400 to $800 range) transformable tablet with 18 hours battery life in docked mode, it's clear that Intel was not bluffing. PC World reports that the Iconia uses an Intel SoC. That makes sense given the fact that there is no way a full-size notebook chip can even fit into a 9-mm-thin detachable chassis that also has to accommodate an LCD panel and achieve phenomenal battery life.

[SmokingJoe]

“Google TV was supposed to be the Apple TV killer. (verdict's still out, wait until next week)”
........
I think I've made my point. Apple is still #1 in all of those categories”

Ahem..Microsoft's XBOX 360 easily smokes the perpetually slacking Apple TV in any department you care to compare them, including sales, performance, ability to play AAA games, TV programs/movies available etc, and domination of living rooms..
And in case you forgot, Android smarphones vastly outsell the iPhone worldwide.

[kevkrom]

I have heard that the only way to get apps for an ipad is from the apple store. Is there a way for a company to develop their on apps and install them on only their equipment without putting them in the store.

I'm not sure of the exact process, myself, but I'm 99.99% positive there's a way to do enterprise deployment of internal apps without having to go through the App Store to do it.

[Principled]

Thanks for sharing your experience -

[SmokingJoe]

I have read [no experience myself] that Win 8 sucks big time.

Yeah?
Read..and weep.
PC World:
"Windows 8 Preview Beats Windows 7 in Most Performance Tests
A desktop running Windows 8 Consumer Preview started up faster and generally ran faster than the same desktop running Windows 7.
By Nate Ralph, PCWorld Mar 23, 2012 9:00 am

Windows 8‘s Metro interface may be controversial, but it looks like few PC users will complain about the new operating system’s performance. The PCWorld Labs put the Consumer Preview of Windows 8 through a battery of tests and found it generally faster—sometimes a lot faster—than Windows 7.

Our test system running Windows 8 Consumer Preview started up faster, ran through our WorldBench 7 benchmark faster, and showed superior performance when browsing the Web, compared with the same system running Windows 7. In only one major test, our office productivity measure, did Windows 8 lag behind Windows 7 performance.

Obviously, these results are far from definitive, since they’re based on a preview rather than on the final version of the new operating system. But once Windows 8 is finally released, it is entirely possible that the performance will improve, since we had to use drivers that weren’t yet tweaked for Windows 8."
http://www.pcworld.com/article/252383/windows_8_preview_beats_windows_7_in_most_performance_tests.html

[Rio]

Both ipad and iphone should have an infrared LED in them to expand their use as tv remote controls.

[Swordmaker]

I have heard that the only way to get apps for an ipad is from the apple store. Is there a way for a company to develop their on apps and install them on only their equipment without putting them in the store.

Yes, Apple has a means of companies developing in house proprietary apps available only to employees and/or customers/clients of that company and makes it easy to install them on the appropriate iPads or iPhones.

Apps STILL must be vetted by Apple before being allowed to be installed, unless the company chooses to jailbreak their company owned iPads or iPhones. If they choose to go that route, they lose all support from Apple.

[Durus]

•Ultrabooks were supposed to be the Macbook Air killer. •All-In-One PCs were supposed to be the iMac killer. What categories would those be? Does Apple lead in either the laptop or desktop market?

Maybe I've been following tech for too long but I remember Bill Gates loaning Apple money because they were going broke, I remember the first apple tablet that was a miserable failure, I remember the best music playing software in the business slowing getting usurped by inferior products. I remember superior hardware being eclipsed by inferior hardware. The most important thing to remember through all this is that just because a company is in the lead at the moment, and just because they have the best technology, does not mean they will have either next month.

[kevkrom]

Both ipad and iphone should have an infrared LED in them to expand their use as tv remote controls.

That's not the way Apple "thinks" in developing products. IR is today's technology, but by the time they would get the redesign of that added into a production model, newer sets (and set-top boxes) will be on the home LAN and controlled by commands sent over the network, not (just) IR.

[Jumper]

The “Economy” will “be the only thing” that can kill Apple.... Maybe a two punch 10 count is in order but Apple will always be a $300 plus stock (down from 1/2 grand)....

[ejonesie22]

I have Windows 8 Consumer Preview on my Villiv s5 and my Kohjinshu SX3 both touch screens. Its not bad. I still like My IPad for that function though.

Now if Asus or someone came to the table with a Win 8 like the Transformer Prime WITH a Wiacom digitizer for writing and drawing that would be something that could hit the IPad...

[SmokingJoe]

John Dvorak has a problem with Windows 8?
That is relevant how? He's been having problems with plenty of stuff over over 15 years that I have been reading his columns. He's hardly ever right on anything. He likes the attention though.

[Drill Thrawl]

Well, it certainly looks cool. But does it do anything productive?

In my experience for entertainment and social apps, the i* and Android based products win hands down but to do any serious work I still need my Wintel computers.

[SmokingJoe]

Well, it certainly looks cool. But does it do anything productive?
In my experience for entertainment and social apps, the i* and Android based products win hands down but to do any serious work I still need my Wintel computers

It is a Wintel computer(as well as a tablet). Watch the video again.

[dennisw]

http://wallpapersinbox.blogspot.com/2011/09/windows-8-wallpapers.html

Just installed some cool Windows 8 wallpaper. I’ll keep Win 7 though

[Poser]

It’s about the price. If the new pads are at least $200 less than iPad, people will buy them. They won’t kill the iPad, just as Android phones haven’t killed the iPhone.

Apple competes in the premium price market. They have owned that market for quite a while. Just as Windows computers are about half the price of Mac computers, the Windows pads will probably be considerably cheaper than the iPads. If the Windows pads cost as much as iPads, they won’t sell.

The “commodity” computer/pad/phone market is a huge one that Apple doesn’t address. Unfortunately for Microsoft, they aren’t the only operating system for that market and Android got there first. I predict a slow but steady sales growth curve for the new Windows tablets with a price point slightly above Android tablets and significantly below Apple tablets.

[starlifter]

Let me say, without any equivocation, that Windows 8 may or may not be spectacularly successful, that it may be a spectacular failure, or it may be something in between.

You can take that to the bank.

[killermosquito]

And garage door opener.

[Principled]

No reason to weep Joe! ONe can find anything on line saying almost anything. CNET summarizes:

There's a long, narrow road ahead for Windows 8, and the Release Preview hasn't gone as far down the path as we were hoping. Here:http://reviews.cnet.com/windows-8-review/

Or this, As you can probably tell, I hate Windows 8 a lot. For the average, somewhat proficient user, Windows 8 hides all the things that makes Windows 7 so useful. Windows 8 seems to be designed specifically for tablets, for which it will be a great OS. However, for those of us who want to use computers to make documents, presentations, spreadsheets and graphic editing, Windows 8 will annoy us to no end. Here:http://www.godandscience.org/general/windows_8_review.html if you care.

So I'm thankful to those FReepers who have actually used it and describe it here. As you can see, you can post a review saying anything.

[SmokingJoe]

Unfortunately for Microsoft, they aren’t the only operating system for that market and Android got there first. I predict a slow but steady sales growth curve for the new Windows tablets with a price point slightly above Android tablets and significantly below Apple tablets.

Windows 8 tablets/hybrids won't take too long to outsell Android tablets, mostly because Windows 8 hybrids will run the over 6 million Windows 7 programs from the get go in Desktop mode. Android tablets don't really have much of a market share right now. Outselling the iPad is another matter altogether. That is going to take quite a while.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

-—Watch this video of the Acer Iconia W510 Windows 8 tablet-—

This is a perfect solution for on-the-go business people —covering presentations and productivity. Looks great too. Tablet AND laptop for the price of a laptop. Nice.

At first glance, this looks like a Kraken.