surface

Who is making ARM-based Windows tablets?

Perhaps it goes without saying, but we Microsoft watchers still know very little about the plans of Microsoft hardware partners around Windows 8.

Sure, for a couple of years there have been demos of early hardware (mostly x86-based) running Windows 8. At the recent Computex show, there were even a few details shared by Asus and Toshiba about Windows-on-ARM tablets they're planning, which will run Microsoft's Windows RT operating system.

(Windows RT, formerly known as Windows on ARM, or WOA, is a version of Windows optimized for ARM chips from Nvidia, Texas Instruments, and Qualcomm that's largely similar, though not identical to, Windows 8.)… Read more

HP won't offer an ARM-based Windows 8 tablet this year

Hewlett-Packard has chosen not to ARM itself as it preps for the debut later this year of tablets running Microsoft Windows 8.

The big Silicon Valley computer maker confirmed that its first Win 8 tablets will use Intel's x86 architecture, not the ARM-based chips that will run a variant of Windows 8 known formally as Windows RT. HP's first tablet will be aimed at business users, a company representative told CNET.

Windows 8 is the first full-fledged Microsoft operating system designed to run on both Intel and ARM processors. Earlier this month, Microsoft unveiled two self-built Windows 8 tablets dubbed "Surface" … Read more

Microsoft to feel Surface heat from PC makers

Microsoft's Surface tablet has got PC makers hopping mad. So, they're going to do something about it.

"[PC makers] are pissed off and they are looking for strategies now to not only counter the iPad but counter Surface," said a source at a large company that's part of the ecosystem -- the component suppliers and device manufacturers -- that does business with PC makers.

Separately, Roger Kay, principal analyst at EndPoint Technologies, told CNET last week that there was no shortage of "teeth gnashing" among PC executives and managers in response to the … Read more

Google tablet set to limbo in at low $199 entry point

Google will launch a $199 tablet this week at its developers conference co-branded with Asus, Bloomberg is reporting.

This follows a series of reports that have been trickling out for months about a 7-inch Nexus tablet being developed with Asus. The tablet is slated to debut at the Google I/O conference that starts Wednesday.

The one feature garnering the most attention is price. At $199, the Google tablet is $200 less than Apple's $399 iPad 2.

Previous reports have claimed the Nexus device will sport the Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" operating system, a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 … Read more

New mobile-focused Windows could last 20-30 years -- Gartner

Microsoft's new programming model WinRT -- showcased by the new Windows 8 -- is designed to keep Microsoft relevant in the increasingly mobile world, analysts from research firm Gartner said in a statement today.

"Windows 8 is the start of Microsoft's effort to respond to market demands and competitors, as it provides a common interface and programming API (application programing interface) set from phones to servers," Michael Silver, vice president and analyst at Gartner, said in a press release.

Gartner's analysts, who recently released a report on the changes to Windows, said enterprises will take … Read more

Microsoft tablet and iPad to duke it out at large companies

Windows 8 Pro tablets have a shot at slowing iPad adoption at large companies, said Deutsche Bank -- though an analyst tempered the assessment with reservations.

Microsoft's Surface tablet running Windows 8 Pro can "leverage" the large existing base of Windows customers, giving it a better chance at checking the "penetration" of Apple's iPad at large business accounts, Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore wrote in a research note on Monday.

We see the x86-based Pro as a corporate [laptop] replacement. This offering has more potential because the OS is backward compatible, has more robust … Read more

Microsoft unveiled Surface after seeing partners' designs, says analyst

How many ways can Microsoft tick off its partners in the wake of the Surface tablet announcement? Well, here's another.

At issue is Microsoft's access to PC makers' designs, said Patrick Moorhead, president of Moor Insights & Strategy and formerly an executive at Advanced Micro Devices.

"Microsoft looked at what the [PC makers] were doing, seeing if it could meet their Windows 8 needs and then took action based on that," he said in a phone interview, citing conversations with -- and the sentiment of -- senior level executives at top-tier PC makers.

Moorhead continued. "… Read more

As Microsoft retools, Ballmer has chance to rewrite his CEO legacy

A year ago, the influential hedge fund manager David Einhorn was calling for Steve Ballmer's head.

It was time to give someone else a chance, Einhorn, the president of Greenlight Capital, told an investor conference. "His [Ballmer's] continued presence is the biggest overhang on Microsoft's stock."

Microsoft had long been milking its installed base and enterprise business for profits -- Windows still accounts for more than 90 percent of the desktop market -- while rivals swept into tech's hot growth areas. The stock was going nowhere, at the time trading just above $24 per … Read more

Surface: A desperate move to catch Apple, says report

Was Microsoft's Surface tablet an act of desperation? Yes, says a report in the New York Times.

Microsoft and the PC hardware industry were failing miserably at taking on Apple's iPad, forcing Redmond's hand, according to the report.

How critical was the situation becoming? Some assertions from the article:

Apple's control of key materials: Materials like high-quality aluminum were purchased in such large quantities that Apple virtually cornered the market. Because PC makers were not responding to threats like this, Microsoft feared PC players were falling further and further behind Apple. Shortcomings of the Microsoft-Intel business … Read more

What makes the Microsoft Surface tablet different? (poll)

Despite Microsoft's best efforts on Monday to demonstrate why Surface is different, it's a crowded market out there.

All of the first-tier players like Samsung, Amazon, Sony, Lenovo, Acer, Asus, and Motorola (not to mention a Google-branded device that is expected) have already saturated the Android tablet market.

And then there's the iPad, which is simply shorthand for tablet in a lot of consumers' minds and commands most of the market. And has a two-year head start, to boot.

So, it's a tall order for Microsoft and Windows 8.

That said, the rollout of the 10.… Read more