Tag Archives: windows rt
Switched On: The Yoga Tablet does kickstands with a twist
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
If one takes a narrow view of the tablet market, the largest PC makers have fared especially poorly as a group. At the launch of the iPad, HP, Dell, Acer and Lenovo had little experience with the Android ecosystem, which itself was not optimized for tablets. And Windows, their go-to operating system, was still not available in a version that would show off bold, finger-friendly tiles and yield long battery life in a slim form factor. Even now as these companies have experimented with all kinds of hinges and accessories on Windows, their Android efforts can be hard to differentiate as with HP's Slate 7 and Dell's recent 7- and 8-inch slates.
Into this spiritless landscape, Lenovo has dropped the Yoga Tablet, available in 8- and 10-inch sizes. Unlike its namesake Windows laptop, which reveals no obvious signs of its differentiation at first glance, the Yoga Tablet has a silver, cylindrical side that is reminiscent of extended laptop batteries. Indeed, it contains the battery here as well as making for a grip that is at first unfamiliar, but which allows the rest of the tablet to be very thin.
Ashton Kutcher is the New Lenovo Product Engineer
Ashton Kutcher is a fine actor. But did you know that he is currently also working in tandem with Lenovo. As a high tech firm par excellence, Lenovo loves to hire famous people for its projects....
Microsoft’s Surface 2: New tablet, same problems
What's the definition of insanity? Trying the same thing several times and expecting a different outcome. While we wouldn't suggest that Microsoft's finest minds are in need of urgent medical care, it does seem as if the company's executives have failed to heed the lessons doled out this summer. After all, it was only a few months ago that Microsoft had to admit that very few Surface RT tablets had been sold, and booked a $900 million loss on inventory that remains rotting in warehouses.
At today's launch of Microsoft's second Windows RT-running slate, Surface chief Panos Panay opened his remarks by saying that the "Surface 2 is not subtle, but is a revamp. It is not the simple changes that everybody wants, but it's the changes people need." Unfortunately, the changes that he then went on to describe involved making the device thinner, faster and giving it a full-HD display -- criticisms that few had leveled at the first generation of the hardware. No, the problems that every critic had were the limitations of the Surface's operating system: Windows RT. Not that you'd know it from today's event. In fact, Microsoft went out of its way to downplay the fact that the Surface 2 runs RT, mentioning the ambitious Windows-on-ARM project only three times in an hour. But why was the star of the show reduced to such a bit-part role?
Microsoft Surface 2 & Surface Pro 2 Tablets Have Windows 8.1, Improved CPU, Battery, Screen & Kickstand
Microsoft was late to enter the tablet wars and paid for it dearly. But the company isn’t giving up just yet. Today it unveiled Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2, the updated versions of its Surface – formerly known as Surface RT – and Surface Pro tablets. The most significant change hardware-wise are their new and more power efficient CPUs that lead to a significant increase in battery life. On the software side, the tablets will come with their respective variants of Windows 8.1 when they launch on October 22.
Microsoft hopes to improve the reputation of its cheaper tablet by boosting its battery and display. Surface 2 has a 12-hour battery life – thanks in part to its 1.7GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 4 CPU – and a 10.6″ 1080p display. In comparison, its predecessor only has an 8-hour battery life, a Tegra 3 CPU and a 1366 x 768 display. Watch Microsoft’s video to find out the other improvements to the Surface 2:
Sadly, Surface 2 still has its Achilles’ heel: it will only run Windows 8.1 RT, not the full version of the operating system. That means, among other things, that you won’t be able to run desktop programs on it. You’ll have to rely on what’s offered on the Windows Store for apps. If you want a more complete device, you’ll have to go for the more expensive Surface Pro 2.
Surface Pro 2 gets the 1.6GHz Haswell Core i5 CPU with an integrated Intel HD Graphics 4400 GPU. That helps give it a significant boost in battery life: 7 to 8 hours compared to only 4 to 5 hours in the original Surface Pro. Surface Pro 2 also has more storage and RAM configurations. There’s one with 4GB RAM that can have either 64GB or 128GB storage, and there’s one with 8GB RAM that can have either 256GB or 512GB of storage. The stylus featured in the video above will be included on all configurations of the Surface Pro 2.
The price for the Surface 2 will start at $449 (USD), while Surface Pro 2 starts at $899. You can pre-order both tablets from Microsoft starting tomorrow, but as I said they won’t ship until October 22. You should check out the Surface website or Wired’s coverage for more on the tablets.
I’m not sure why Microsoft is still selling the gimped Surface 2. Worse, they’re going to keep selling the first-generation Surface RT at $349. If it were up to me I’d cut down on the cost and confusion and just focus all my efforts on the Surface Pro 2. Because that is a very capable device. It’s a hell of an expensive tablet until you realize it’s also a decently priced laptop.
Microsoft Sees RT Future in Windows Phone; Divides in Five New Business Segments
An important meeting took place at Microsoft headquarters in which the top financial analysts sat down in order to assess the strong suits and chinks in the armor of Bill Gates’ epic organization....
Microsoft sees future for ARM-based tablets, but maybe not Windows RT
The rest of the industry may have turned its back on Windows RT, but it looks as if Microsoft isn't prepared to ditch the Windows-on-ARM dream just yet. During an analyst call, Terry Myerson, Microsoft's recently crowned software chief, seemed to describe RT as a first attempt, which will be followed up by further devices in the future:
"Windows RT was our first ARM tablet(sic). And as phones extend into tablets, expect us to see many more ARM tablets, Windows ARM tablets in the future."
Myerson's choice of words, and in particular his reference to phones that "extend into tablets," suggests that Microsoft could be looking to bridge the divide between its smartphone and tablet divisions, and perhaps give Windows Phone a much more prominent role than the much-maligned Windows RT. Indeed, using Windows Phone as a tablet OS, or merging WP and RT, would help Microsoft to unify its various platforms and apps -- something it has talked about in the past and that is actually a key focus of Myserson's work:
"... we really should have one silicon interface for all of our devices. We should have one set of developer APIs on all of our devices. And all of the apps we bring to end users should be available on all of our devices."
So, who knows, perhaps Windows Phone and RT have a common future? In which case, the idea of Nokia taking charge of this unified drive -- building phones and tablets on the same platform -- would make a lot of sense.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Microsoft
Via: Neowin
Source: Microsoft
Lenovo exec: there’s no longer a need for Windows RT
We're at Lenovo's 2013 press conference, and during the Q&A session, the company's executives offered a hint as to their lack of plans for Windows RT devices. When quizzed on Microsoft's moribund operating system, Australian marketing chief Nick Reynolds said that Intel's Haswell has eliminated the choice between long battery life and good performance. Since, consequently, users can run full-fat Windows 8 and get a full day of use from a single charge, there's not much call for a low-power version. To us, at least, it seems like it's not too far away from them saying that we won't see a follow-up to last year's RT-running Yoga 11, but we'll check with our Magic 8 ball just to be sure.
Foursquare for Windows 8 App is Now Available in Windows Store
Foursquare has already announced at Microsoft's Build developer conference at the end of June, that it is going to launch its first ever app for large-screen devices. Foursquare for Windows 8 now...
Nokia Sirius is the Name of 10.1-inch Windows RT Tablet
We have already told you earlier in this month that Nokia is working on its new 10.1-inch Windows RT tablet that will be launched in September. The Verge reports today that this new 10.1-inch Windows...