Microsoft Surface Tablet

Microsoft introduced a
tablet named SURFACE
that runs a variation of
Windows 8, a version of
Microsoft’s flagship
operating system that
is
due out in the fall. The
‘Surface Tablet’ was
unveiled during a news
conference by Microsoft
at Milk Studios in Los
Angeles, California.
Microsoft has
introduced a challenger
to the iPad. Here’s a
report by
Nick Wingfield (Los
Angeles, June 19).
In its most strategically
significant push yet into
the hardware
business, Microsoft on
Monday (June 18, 2012)
unveiled a tablet
computer
called "Surface" that is
intended to challenge
Apple’s iPad. At a press
event here, the
company showed off a
tablet that is about the
same
weight and thickness
as an iPad, with a 10.6
inch screen. The device
has
a built-in "kick-stand"
that allows it to be
propped up for
watching
movies, and a thin
detachable cover that
will serve double duty
as a
keyboard.
The Surface tablet runs
a variation of Windows
8, a version of
Microsoft’s flagship
operating system that
is due out of the fall.
Steven A. Ballmer,
Microsoft’s chief
executive, said the
product was
part of a longstanding
tradition at Microsoft to
create hardware, like
computer mice, that
show off innovations in
its software.
"We want to give
Windows 8 its own
companion hardware
innovations,"
Ballmer said. Microsoft
executives, however,
were largely mum on
how
Surface would affect
the company’s
relationships with PC
makers, the
hardware companies
that are the vehicles
for sales of Windows
software.
Analysts said it wasn’t
clear that Microsoft
could depend on PC
companies to build
something as
compelling as the iPad.
"This was
clearly a referendum on
Microsoft’s partners,"
said Michael Gartenberg,
an analyst at Gartner, a
technology research
firm.
Microsoft’s decision to
create its own tablet
was an
acknowledgment that
the company needed to
depart from its regular
way of doing business
to
get a grip on a threat to
its dominance in
computing.
While it has made a
few hardware products
over the years, including
the
Xbox video game
console, Zune music
player and computer
keyboards,
Microsoft is still
thought of largely as a
software company.
In the computer
business, it has for
decades left the work
of creating
machines that run
Windows to Hewlett-
Packard, Dell and
others. But the
response to Apple’s
iPad has considerably
raised consumer’s
expectations
of how well hardware
and software work
together. That has put
pressure
on Microsoft to create a
tighter marriage of
hardware and software
if it
is to compete seriously
with Apple’s products.
Microsoft said one
version of the Surface
Tablet would come
with 32 GB
or 64 GB of storage and
feature a type of chip
called ARM that is
commonly used in
mobile devices. Steven
Sinofsky, the president
of
Microsoft’s Windows
division said the price
would be comparable to
that
of other tablets that
use ARM chips.
He said a professional
version of the tablet
would come with an
Intel
processor, which is
standard in more
conventional PCs and
would be
similar in price to
Ultrabooks, thin laptops
that often start at $
1,000.
With the detachable
keyboard for "Surface",
known as "Touch
Cover",
Microsoft seemed to be
positioning its tablet as
a more
business-friendly
alternative to the iPad,
one that is better
suited to
productivity tasks that
require faster typing.
The keyboard has
touch-sensing keys
that become inactive
when cover is closed.
The
keyboard could make
Surface more
competitive with
Apple’s thin MacBook
Air and more traditional
Windows laptops. It will
come in a variety of
bright colors, adding a
whimsical touch to the
dark, hard-edged
appearence of Surface.
One thing that will
most likely limit sales
of the tablet is
Microsoft’s
initial plan to sell it only
in the company’s own
retail stores, along
with its Web store.
– (c) 2012 The New
York Times
Nevertheless, Rabinsxp
would be updating
about Surface Tablet in
Nepal
later when it would be
avilable in Nepali
markets. You can
subscribe
RabinsXp.com and get
updated about
Microsoft’s Surface
Touch Screen PC
in Nepal.