Microsoft Surface Tablet: 10 Coolest Features

informationweek ^ | 06/22/2012 | Jeff Bertolucci

[SmokingJoe]

-------snip-------

Built-In Kickstand:

Microsoft believes a stand should be an integral part of a tablet's design. (Take that, iPad!) The Surface's built-in kickstand is made of the same sturdy VaporMg material--more on this later--that encases the slate. "The hinge design is like that of the finest luxury car," said Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky, sounding a bit like a car salesman. The stand does look ideal for landscape-mode viewing. But how well will it work in portrait mode?

Skinny Genes:

You've gotta be thin to compete with the iPad. The Surface for Windows RT is 9.3 millimeters thick--or "thin," as the marketing folks are fond of saying. That's 0.1 millimeters thinner than the new iPad, not that you'll notice the difference. The Surface's edges are beveled back at 22 degrees, making the slate appear even slimmer than its specs might suggest. Surface is the first PC with a full magnesium case, making it light yet rigid, Redmond says.

Cover + Keyboard: The Surface's coolest feature isn't its 10.6-inch display or ultra-thin design, but rather the clever Touch Cover that's both a screen protector and a multi-touch keyboard. Just 3 millimeters thick--the Surface with Touch Cover attached measures a still-svelte 12 millimeters--the cover has a magnetic connector that secures it to the tablet.

The keyboard doubles as a track pad with left and right buttons, and has special keys for Windows 8's Metro interface. "On average, typing is twice as efficient as typing on glass," said Sinofsky. True? We'll have to wait a bit longer to find out.

[ctdonath2]

the next 3-6 months until Surface actually surfaces

iPad 3 launched 3/7/12.
Surface announced 6/18/12 ... over 3 months later.
Surface is expected to launch 3-6 months after announcement ... 1/2 to 3/4 year after iPad 3.
iPad 4, presuming Apple's growing-typical annual cycle, will launch March 2013.

Now consider that the primary selling point for the still-vaporware Surface is not memory, speed, capacity, resolution, or even it's much-vaunted cover/keyboard. On specs alone, Surface is either behind the curve (to wit: iPad 3) or only marginally ahead of it. Assuming delays, it will arrive just 3 months before iPad 4, and at a price which many assume will give buyers pause (if not prevention) to purchase. Assuming one-year product cycles for both, that leaves Surface behind - perhaps way behind - iPad 4 for 9 months. Is the sole selling point of Surface - the ability to run Windows (and for half the variations a stunted version thereof) - going to be enough?

[roadcat]

people want a computer in the tablet format.

And some people can have that, when Microsoft releases the Surface in the distant future. Nothing wrong with that, and competition is good. The more offerings out there, the better for the different tastes and needs of the buyers. So I have no argument with you on that.

However, I refute your notion that the vast majority of iPad users buy a keyboard. I know a lot of people that own iPads, and only a few of many own external keyboards. Most people I know are content with the built-in touchscreen keypad. I remember when the first iPad came out, all the blogs were saying nobody would buy them, partly because of the lack of a keyboard. Turns out that a lot of people wanted a portable device because it didn't have a keyboard. Sales numbers blew through the roof, proving the bloggers very wrong. Now those same bloggers are looking for an iPad killer. Can't they just leave it alone and accept that people want a touchscreen portable device without a keyboard?

[ctdonath2]

Agreed: smart move.

The iOS product line is intended to wrench customers away from the entrenched “it’s gotta have USB, keyboard, rotating media, pointing cursor, active virus removal, user-facing file system, replaceable X Y & Z, etc.” mindset. iPad moved away from that, and in a very successful manner. I bought iPad 3G just 30 minutes after release, have used it heavily since), and can tell you it works very well _without_ all those “standard features” which so many hyperventilate over the absence of.

No keyboard? Smart. Not a shortcoming. Typing on glass isn’t nearly as bad as you might think, and adds ZERO volume/weight/cost/complexity/breakage to provide.

Indeed, touting such items on a tablet is a big step backwards. Point of a tablet is extreme portability; if you need those things (I’m not saying you never do), they’ll work much better on the desktop machine you now don’t have to compromise into a notebook.

[ctdonath2]

And now...Google's adoptive tablet, the Nexus 7 just announced!

A lively year for tablets, which seem bent on catching up to where the iPad was.

[Swordmaker]

We don't even know what the cost of the Surface is, let alone what will be an accessory available at added unknown cost.

Since Microsoft displayed two different style keyboards and multiple colors of the simpler one without key travel or touch pad, I can almost guarantee that the keyboards will be sold separately as an optional accessory.

[Swordmaker]

given the vast majority of ipad users buy a keyboard, it seems apple lost that keyboard theory.

Uh, not by a long shot, longtermmemmory... no where near. Very few keyboards have been sold for iPads. Very few. What made you think that?

[longtermmemmory]

in the work environment every ipad has a case with a keyboard. Those that don’t a using it for entertainment while at work. (games, facebook, etc. so they don’t get caught by the IT police)

perhaps those who are not business minded are not buying the keyboards.

either way it looks like the MS tablet is too expensive to be relavent.

[Swordmaker]

in the work environment every ipad has a case with a keyboard. Those that don’t a using it for entertainment while at work. (games, facebook, etc. so they don’t get caught by the IT police)

I have not seen that at all... We have four iPads in my office, not one has a keyboard and the keyboard would be superfluous, making their purpose absurd. In the other offices where they have been brought in, the same case holds. iPads are NOT bought as desk top or laptop replacements. Never, in my experience has that been the case. Very few keyboard cases have been sold and a lot of those cases have been sold to remainder firms for sale at a discount because they did not sell in quantities the makers thought they would.

Like statistics, your "facts" seem to be made up on the spur of the moment, as you need them.

[dayglored]

> Is the sole selling point of Surface - the ability to run Windows (and for half the variations a stunted version thereof) - going to be enough?

Oh, for sure, it'll be enough to sell ONE GENERATION. There are tons of people salivating all over themselves (and apparently spewing other bodily fluids as well) at the thought of a REAL MICROSOFT TABLET WITH WINDOWS. Hell, I find it an attractive thought myself, given the amount of time I spend with Windows every day.

But I believe the Moment of Truth is not the opening day of the first generation Surface. It's whether Windows on a tablet actually works, and makes people happy and productive. In other words, how well will the SECOND generation Surface do?

Microsoft is even admitting they're not so sure about that prospect, since they're implying strongly that they'll leave the second generation to their OEMs. They're hedging their bet.

[SmokingJoe]

See my previous post. I never said they invented it, I said they pioneered their use

Chortle!
Pioneered its use huh? Getting mealy mouthed and playing with words now aren't we? Is your name Bill Clinton by any chance?
Bottom line: Apple pioneered nothing! Others did it before Apple did. You may want to look up the meaning of “pioneer”. LOL!
They did NOT invent it. Period!
Ergo, Microsoft did NOT steal the idea of detachable keyboards from Apple like you claimed in your previous post.
Here, have a look at this patent, that was filed in 2001, and granted as long ago as 2003, long before the iPhone and the iPad even came out.:
http://www.patentgenius.com/patent/6519142.html

“Who popularized their use? Why, Apple, of course. Same with the GUI, mouse, etc.”

That's like saying Toyota invented the immobile because they sell more cars than anyone else.

“This notion that they didn't first invent it is a smokescreen for hiding the fact that they popularized it”

You are a scream!
The notion that by selling more of a product that includes technology that other people invented/pioneered and Apple “borrowed’, Apple is somehow the ones that pioneered that technology, is ludicrous.
Only a crazy Applebot like you will come up with such an idiotic, laughable statement, and

[SmokingJoe]

A very nice tablet with good specs. Its going to give the Amazon Kindle Fire a lot of fight, and probably beat it if sold right.

[SmokingJoe]

A very nice tablet with good specs. Its going to give the Amazon Kindle Fire a lot of fight, and probably beat it if sold right.

[SmokingJoe]

long before other companies like Microsoft that blindly jumped in and copied Apple's trailblazing efforts

You mean like how Apple copied others trailblazing efforts? (Look up the meaning of trailblazing while you are about it will ya?)

http://www.patentgenius.com/patent/6519142.html

Bottom Line: Apple trail-blazed nothing. Detachable covers for electrnic devices had been patented long before Apple's, so its impossible for any one to follow Apple's “trailblazing efforts, since they were in fact not the trailblazers.

[SmokingJoe]

Since Microsoft displayed two different style keyboards and multiple colors of the simpler one without key travel or touch pad, I can almost guarantee that the keyboards will be sold separately as an optional accessory

Wistful Applebot thinking anyone?
Microsoft themselves have released the specs for the surface Tablets, and the cover/keyboard is listed in the specs for both tablets. Ergo, it ships with the tablet:

Windows RT
OS: Windows RT
Weight: 676 g
Thickness: 9.3 mm
Display: 10.6” ClearType HD Display
Battery: 31.5 W-h
Ports: microSD, USB 2.0, Micro HD Video, 2×2 MIMO antennae
Features: Office Home & Student 2013 RT, Touch Cover, Type Cover, VaporMg Case & Stand
Possible configurations: 32 GB, 64 GB

Windows 8 Pro
OS: Windows 8 Pro
Weight: 903 g
Thickness: 13.5 mm
Display: 10.6” ClearType Full HD Display
Battery: 42 W-h
Ports: microSDXC, USB 3.0, Mini DisplayPort Video, 2×2 MIMO antennae
Features: Touch Cover, Type Cover, Pen with Palm Block, VaporMg Case & Stand
Possible configurations: 64 GB, 128 GB
http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2012/06/19/here-are-the-specs-of-microsofts-surface-tablets/

https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en/us/about.aspx

[SmokingJoe]

I call it a smart move

Naaaah.
I call it a "shortcoming"(just like you did when talking about the Surface on the self same feature).... and yet another way for Apple to rip off their hapless Applebot sheep, who are only too eager to get screwed by Apple.

[SmokingJoe]

We don't even know what the cost of the Surface is, let alone what will be an accessory available at added unknown cost

Umm..not quite. I know what is going to be included in the Surface tablet, given that Microsoft themselves have already released the specs, and the innovative cover/keyboard is listed as part of the surface tablet for both(NOT as extras like the iPad).
http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2012/06/19/here-are-the-specs-of-microsofts-surface-tablets/
https://www.microsoft.com/surface/en/us/about.aspx

” Not very smart of you to throw this out as a rebuttal. “

Umm..yes it was.,

“Microsoft will probably ream users when it comes to the price of this vaporware product, whenever it gets rolled out”

Ummm..reaming users is an Apple specialty. They sell some of the most overpriced electronics products on the planet(Main reason why Androids are handily outselling the iPhones worldwide).

“Common practice, in order to give the most flexibility to the buyer so the buyer can buy the accessories that they wish to have. Dozens of different covers are available from non-Apple suppliers”

There will be plenty of Windows 8 tablet accessories (including keyboards, with the launch of Windows 8, just like there is always plenty of accessories that are launched with every release of Windows.

[SmokingJoe]

As I said, I have more experience than you

That's what YOU think.
Saying it over and over again, doesn't necessarily make it so. You are making that claim based on your childlike Applebot rantings that you have exhibited so far in these to Microsoft Surface tablet threads? If you are as old as you claim to be, then all I can say is you never outgrew your childishness and immaturity.

“You can't have blinders on and simply blindly follow one company. “

That's exactly what you have been doing as a fanatic Aplebot, that is running scared of the Surface tablet and is determined to rain on Microsoft's parade in any way they can, and keeps throwing straw-man's arguments that just don't make any sense.

[Swordmaker]

Here, have a look at this patent, that was filed in 2001, and granted as long ago as 2003, long before the iPhone and the iPad even came out.:

Uh, Joe? That patented device cover is in no way similar to the patented cover Apple invented for the iPad... it has no rare-earth magnetic hinges, no rare-earth magnetic closures, no method to turn the device on when opened, no folding stand, etc. It works with ELASTIC RUBBER BANDS and an inserted hinge into a slot in the device. Just because there was a previous device cover does not mean that Apple's cover was not a unique invention. No previous electronic device used such a cover that was attached, kept the cover on or closed, or was turned on in such a way as the cover invented BY APPLE. For this to work required matching devices built in to the iPad. So, you are again wrong.

[roadcat]

It works with ELASTIC RUBBER BANDS and an inserted hinge into a slot in the device.

Ha-ha, bwahh-ha-ha, I'm rolling around the floor laughing my head off about silly Joe! What a tool! He thinks Microsoft is innovative, and cites a cover that works via elastic rubber bands! I'm glad Apple isn't so stupid, as they use rare-earth magnets!

RUBBER BANDS!

Maybe Joe can apply to Microsoft for a job, I'm sure they will add this feature just for him.

Incidentally, I love how flipping the cover down on my iPad instantly shuts the screen off, and lifting it turns it on again. He said that cover is just a piece of plastic. No, my cover is leather, and full of features - highly innovative! Still laughing at this idiot Joe!

[roadcat]

Pioneered its use huh? Getting mealy mouthed and playing with words now aren't we? Is your name Bill Clinton by any chance?

Apple did indeed pioneer the use of a magnetic cover on a touchscreen tablet. How many touchscreen tablets were sold before the iPad came out? How many touchscreen tablets had a thin magnetically attached cover that when flipped open, would activate the screen? And when closed, would magnetically seal and deactivate the screen? And when folded, would also act as a stand?

(Sound of crickets.)

You're the one playing with words. When I said pioneered, you say I said invented. You're much like Bill Clinton, as you say you never had intimate relations with the Surface tablet yet the nasty stains of your lies all over your posts.