surface

Intel will disclose a new series of ultra-power-efficient chips aimed at tablets and convertibles at the Intel Developer Forum next week.

The Intel 4th Generation Core chips, codenamed "Haswell," will come close to cutting the power consumption in half compared with the most power-efficient mainstream 3rd Generation Core "Ivy Bridge" chips today.

Ivy Bridge chips used today in the skinniest, lightest laptops like the MacBook Air and Hewlett-Packard's Envy Spectre XT are rated at 17 watts.

The new chips, due in the second half of 2013, will be rated initially at 10 watts -- that … Read more

Windows RT is not bowling over PC makers. What's not clear is whether this is just the usual startup snafus of a new platform or something more serious.

RT is new. It's the first mainstream Windows operating system to run on chips from companies like Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments. So, it's more vulnerable to glitches and gotchas and vendor skepticism.

That said, Hewlett-Packard does not appear to be showing any enthusiasm for the platform (yet), based on what I'm hearing from sources as well as empirical evidence (no HP Windows RT devices).

And Asian sources … Read more

Windows 8 is about to unleash a tsunami of strange devices upon us all. Call them tablets, ultraportables, hybrids, convertibles, tiny touch-based mobile computers...they're everywhere, and they're multiplying.

HP has them. Samsung does, too. So does Dell, and Lenovo, and Toshiba, and Asus, and Sony. Everyone has them. That's because Windows 8 promises a better environment for touch in mobile computing, and the promise is too tempting not to experiment. Or, alternatively, all these companies need a product out there to plant a flag into this strange soil -- a territory that Microsoft's already visiting via the Surface.

The big problem I see with them is that for every device that emerges, the landscape gets ever-more-cloudy. … Read more

Asus will peg pricing of some upcoming Windows 8 devices to Apple's new iPad, according to a report citing comments from President Jerry Shen.

The company will "use the price of Apple's new iPad as a reference" when pricing Windows 8 and Windows RT devices, Shen said during the company's second-quarter earnings conference call, according to a report in Digitimes.

The report did not specify what "reference" means exactly, i.e., whether, for example, an Asus Windows RT tablet would be priced to compete directly with the upcoming iPad or whether it would … Read more

Samsung will take the wraps off its new Windows 8 hybrid tablet at the IFA 2012 trade show in Berlin.

The company's Facebook page displays a photo of the new tablet with the tagline "Ready to be smart" and the phrase "IFA 2012, Berlin." Samsung is also telling its Facebook followers "Don't worry, it's just around the corner..."

IFA 2012 officially gets off the ground this Friday and runs until September 5. But the press will get a head start with events scheduled this Wednesday and Thursday. Samsung's press event … Read more

Care to venture a guess on what Samsung's next, cool hybrid-looking thing is?

If that description sounds vague, just watch the video below: it's more of an exercise in abstract expression than concrete design cues.

That said, it does show brushed metal, round edges, and hint at (near the end) a hybrid device possibly suggestive of the Samsung Series 5 Hybrid PC, first shown in June at Computex.

And this would fit nicely with one of the biggest design trends for Windows 8 devices. That is, newfangled laptops the convert readily to tablets or more tablet-like devices that … Read more

Microsoft seems to be taking to the streets to promote its upcoming Surface tablet.

Eagle-eyed residents of New York City have discovered new street artwork gracing the walls of certain buildings, as reported by The Verge. The colorful art depicts the word Surface in a tablet-shaped rectangle with a keyboard below.

A Facebook user named Surface Evangelist posted one photo of the artwork appearing on an unnamed street, while a Twitter user named Amanda uploaded another photo of a billboard-sized Surface ad on a building near East 2nd Street.

CNET contacted Microsoft, but the company said it's not commenting … Read more

One of the cornerstones of upcoming Windows 8 tablets will be Microsoft Office, but will that be a deal-maker for buyers?

Any Intel-based Windows 8 Pro tablet -- like the one coming from Hewlett-Packard -- will be able to run the regular version of Office, just as it runs today on any Intel-based PC.

And, in April, Microsoft preannounced that tablets running the RT version of Windows 8 will come with Office.

While there is speculation that Microsoft will initially ship a "preview" version of Office 2013 RT (upgradeable soon thereafter) and that the RT version will lack … Read more

Microsoft conceived Windows RT and Surface to compete with the iPad.

And IDC's Bob O'Donnell believes that will dictate pricing. For both Microsoft-branded Surface RT and other Windows RT products from companies like Asus and Dell.

The 32GB iPad (currently $599) has a big bull's eye on its back, O'Donnell told me yesterday. For both Surface and RT devices from Microsoft partners. And throw Windows 8 Pro devices based on Intel's power-efficient system-on-a-chip, aka Atom, into that mix too, said O'Donnell.

Remember, RT tablets use power-frugal ARM chips and come with a version of … Read more