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Surface Pricing Announced - $499 USD

microsoft.com

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Re: Surface Pricing Announced - $499 USD

#21

Post by ShabbyDoo »

lukeschlather wrote: post #16
ShabbyDoo wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't mind this so much presuming it can do Bluetooth tethering with my phone [vs WiFi due to power usage issues]. If I'm the device's user, I'll likely have my phone with me, so having a redundant radio in the device doesn't add value. And, if I let someone else use the device while I'm not around, the likelihood is that there will be an available WiFi source. I'd like it-just-works connectivity between my phone a…

The thing about it-just-works connectivity is that it will generally halve battery life on a smartphone. You basically have to keep the radios constantly on and scanning for known connections.

I know little about Bluetooth 4 except that it's supposed to be low power. Could it be used to "scan" for interested/allowed devices and then "step-up" to a higher power, higher bandwidth connection?

Re: Surface Pricing Announced - $499 USD

#23

Post by grecy »

nirvana wrote: post #3

I applaud Microsoft for doing something new-- the new windows UI is very original. Further, they have managed to meet Apple in terms of pricing for a comparable iPad, something others have struggled with. But the big take-away innovation here, and the center of their marketing campaign, is that it has a keyboard cover. This seems to be about 5 years out of sync. 5 years ago, everyone expected the iPhone to fail becau…

> they have managed to meet Apple in terms of pricing for a comparable iPad

No 3G / LTE.

Re: Surface Pricing Announced - $499 USD

#25

Post by ShabbyDoo »

davidacoder wrote: post #13
ShabbyDoo wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't mind this so much presuming it can do Bluetooth tethering with my phone [vs WiFi due to power usage issues]. If I'm the device's user, I'll likely have my phone with me, so having a redundant radio in the device doesn't add value. And, if I let someone else use the device while I'm not around, the likelihood is that there will be an available WiFi source. I'd like it-just-works connectivity between my phone a…

I can get tethering to work, my mom: never. My parents both got iPads and a device that isn't just online all the time could never ever work for them. iPad really set the bar on that one.

Yeah. Tethering still is too mysterious. If it's not working, which device is at fault? For awhile (pre-ICS), my Droid RAZR had a bug where it required a reboot before the hotspot would work. Of course, it failed silently and claimed to be making itself available!

Re: Surface Pricing Announced - $499 USD

#26

Post by engtech »

nirvana wrote: post #3

I applaud Microsoft for doing something new-- the new windows UI is very original. Further, they have managed to meet Apple in terms of pricing for a comparable iPad, something others have struggled with. But the big take-away innovation here, and the center of their marketing campaign, is that it has a keyboard cover. This seems to be about 5 years out of sync. 5 years ago, everyone expected the iPhone to fail becau…

The ipad software keyboard is hard to use for any length of time because you have to switch between several virtual layouts to hit every key.

It slows you down if you're writing code instead of English words.

Having punctuation characters hidden away probably reduces the overall complexity of people's passwords as well. I strongly suspect that people switch to alphanumeric-only passwords for anything they would enter into an ipad/iphone keyboard.

Re: Surface Pricing Announced - $499 USD

#27

Post by xutopia »

nirvana wrote: post #3

I applaud Microsoft for doing something new-- the new windows UI is very original. Further, they have managed to meet Apple in terms of pricing for a comparable iPad, something others have struggled with. But the big take-away innovation here, and the center of their marketing campaign, is that it has a keyboard cover. This seems to be about 5 years out of sync. 5 years ago, everyone expected the iPhone to fail becau…

As a bilingual the autocorrect is the bane of my existence. I depend on it but I find myself constantly changing the language... I wished that iOS could switch languages contextually for me.

Re: Surface Pricing Announced - $499 USD

#28

Post by pixie_ »

There are going to be x86 Windows 8 tablets coming out that run all your windows programs ever. A lot of people are going to be pissed and confused about 2 different versions of windows with entirely different sets of compatibility. Also x86 tables will probably cheaper, just like netbooks, just to pour some salt in your wounds you got buying an expensive device that runs no programs.

Re: Surface Pricing Announced - $499 USD

#29

Post by neovive »

nirvana wrote: post #3

I applaud Microsoft for doing something new-- the new windows UI is very original. Further, they have managed to meet Apple in terms of pricing for a comparable iPad, something others have struggled with. But the big take-away innovation here, and the center of their marketing campaign, is that it has a keyboard cover. This seems to be about 5 years out of sync. 5 years ago, everyone expected the iPhone to fail becau…

I see this being a strong competitor in the ultra-portable notebook market. It hits a sweet spot for those looking for the portability of tablet with the flexibility of a real latptop/ultrabook. Having a real keyboard and the ability to run and install applications such as Office is a big benefit for many people.

It probably won't click with casual content consumers (web/email), but for people that create and write content, it does seem to provide advantages over a typical tablet without being a full laptop. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Re: Surface Pricing Announced - $499 USD

#30

Post by engtech »

cryptoz wrote: post #12
jtoeman wrote: post #9

I think this is the nail on the already-likely-dead coffin of MS Surface. What's the market they are going after??? "tablet market"? nope - already dominated by iPad "enterprise"? nope - 1) not a market, 2) already dominated by iPad "budget"? nope - priced on par with iPad seriously, how are they going to push this thing? they don't have a channel like Apple nor Amazon, so they need to rely on all their other paths.…

> they should've called this "XPad" Can't. Apple owns all Pads. http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/13/steve-jobs-apple-owns-pad-tra...

Microsoft could buy Always and re-purpose the Maxi-pad brand.
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