tech

Microsoft unveils upgraded Surface tablets

17 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© 2013 AFP

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

17 Comments
Login to comment

It's a nice piece of kit, but it's still too expensive. Microsoft is getting destroyed on price, and doesn't have the "cool" factor to argue for the higher price point. The lack of users means developers won't write the applications, th elack of applications means that people won't buy the device. Microsoft can only rely on people needing legacy applications to want their platform, and those people likely have a computer already.

The tablet boat has sailed...

5 ( +6 / -1 )

I haven't used Windows for ages, but I respect what MS did for the popularization of computers. That said, I can't understand how they price Surface Pro2 at $899. You just have to look at it, you don't need to open and initialize it to realise it is nor worth that price.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

microsoft is just embarrasing themselves by releasing these tablets. for both form and function, the ipads blow them away. and people are accustomed to typing directly onto the screen, so the external keypad is essentially obsolete. there's just no "cool" left in microsoft, and that's a big deal when all these tablets bascially serve the same function.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

can I put Ubuntu on it yet?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Bad news: Apple will certainly have its next iPad out by the time sales start. If they make an iPhone 5S level iPad I will get that, durr.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Microsoft lost $1 BILLION on the Surface. Ponder that for just a moment...

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Yawn!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

can I put Ubuntu on it yet?

Yes, you can put Linux on the Surface Pro - it is a PC, so it'll run PC software/games in addition to tablet apps.

The external keypad is not necessary, as it has built-in touchscreen keypad.

The price is still a bit high. If they could eat the markup or even sell it at a loss and price it similar to entry Intel Haswell-chip laptops, then people would consider it as an alternative to laptops because it is a PC. Right now, people looking for a PC would rather get the laptop that's priced lower than the Surface Pro. And for the price of the Surface Pro tablet, you could get a convertible laptop that's both a laptop and a tablet in one. So they should compete with the regular laptops, not the convertibles.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Might as well go for the Samsung Series Slate, a full i7 laptop with penable input. That'll be my next upgrade ;)

0 ( +0 / -0 )

You see those footsteps in front of you that you are following? that's Apple.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

The mid-level 32-gigabyte Wi-Fi iPad Mini (42,800 yen=$430) is in fact cheaper than the basic Surface 2. It's also lighter and a helluva lot sexier. The low-end, 16-GB iPad 4 is only $50 more than the Surface 2. Microsoft is still too stuck on itself to realize it can't compete in the tablet market.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Why does Microsoft keep trying to produce hardware?

I mean their mice are OK. Their keyboards are far too complicated and, well, weird. And anything more complex than that is a long string of hurt, Tablets, Zune, Kin, some watch thingy that everyone's forgotten about, XBox (MS bled millions of dollars to develop this), that thing that was also called "Surface" that was a cross between a HUGE iPad and a bathtub. They also discounted their last lot of Surface's and tried to sell them off cheap, but no one was buying.

To be honest, MS has lost it.

But in saying that, I wonder whether they ever really had it.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

"You see those footsteps in front of you that you are following? that's Apple."

I guess you don't remember the XP tablets. It was a long time ago.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

these morons at mikro$oft have it way wrong. the price is too high. they came much too late to the tablet party. the same with smartphones, they buy noukkia (sounds like copycatting guugle and motorlola), but too late. who buys a wyndoz smartphone with less than 1% of the apps available if you buy from the other two major biggies apel and androyd? anyway, windoz' major income these days is the percent they get from each and every single androyd fone sold, so rather than compete, they should advertise the goodness of all things guugle-androyd.

surely windoz' hardware is good quality, but it's irrelevant.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

JeffLee,

I guess you don't remember the XP tablets. It was a long time ago.

I guess you don't remember the Newton. Apple put it out way before MS's tablets.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

"I guess you don't remember the Newton."

The Newton was failure. Several of its key functions didn't work. A friend tossed his in the litter bin, literally, in frustration. Xp tablets were used by trading floor staffers and engineers in the field.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

JeffLee,

You obviously never used a Newton.

It certainly was not a failure. I used mine for years.

Before Steven Jobs returned, Apple was in a financial mess. They couldn't afford to continue development so it was discontinued. Members of the Newton development team went on to start Palm which was a big seller at the time.

Compared to the iPhone, iPod and iPad of today, of course the Newton was old fashioned. Development started on the Newton in 1987, nearly a quarter of a century ago. XP tablets didn't come out until much later in 2001.

I would level the criticism that you made of the Newton at XP tablets. Sometimes when you hit a button with the stylus it would work, sometimes it wouldn't. Reading the menus was a real pain with those tiny bit mapped letters.

It was huge, heavy, very expensive, the handwriting recognition didn't work half the time and it was a full pc on a tablet. That's about as stupid an idea as mounting a Rolls Royce car engine on a scooter.

Like anything microsoftian, it was designed by a committee. And that showed.

And the proof of the pudding was that no one bought it.

Horrible things.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites