Unlike most products we’ve seen this year, Microsoft’s Surface announcement was a bonafide surprise. In a market where tablets were merely playing catch up to Apple’s iPad, the Redmond company deviated from the norm while promising a Brave New World. Several months later and the future is finally here. The Surface with Windows RT is Microsoft’s shift in focus as it pledges to Windows 8...
I had to stop from my regular news reporting this morning to get this out there. Windows 8 is fine. The water is warm and you should feel free to dive right in. I've been running the consumer preview for several months and I haven't had any major issues that are bothersome. Here's why I needed to write this. There were several reports this morning suggesting that Skype for Windows 8...
Microsoft has this morning introduced Xbox Music, a new music streaming service that will be available for free (with ads) on Windows 8 and Windows RT computers and tablets. Xbox Music will also be available on Xbox 360 and other tablets, PCs, and phones — without advertising — with an Xbox Music Pass subscription priced at $9.99 per month. Xbox Music is the “first all-in-one music...
In just over three weeks from now, Windows 8 will launch to the public, and thus will begin the court of public opinion. Until then, there are plenty of reviews to digest (including our very own), and one of the newest is from Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft who, like Bill Gates, is no longer directly involved with the Redmond company. Still, it’s interesting to read what he has to...
AT&T has two Windows 8 tabs tabs lined up for the holiday season that will give fans anticipating the new OS a good companion device to Nokia’s Lumia 920. The Asus Vivo Tab RT and Samsung ATIV Smart PC, just like the 920, will be exclusive to AT&T, making the carrier a pretty attractive Windows destination in the next few months. We’ve already heard plenty about ASUS’s offering...
Only time and sales figures will ultimately determine if Windows 8 is a success or not, and in the meantime, all we can do on the consumer side is speculate. Microsoft, however, is in a position to do more. The Redmond software giant could, for example, come up with a Plan B in case Windows 8 and its radically redesigned interface doesn’t catch on with consumers. Interestingly, it doesn...
This editorial wasn't my idea. I was speaking with our mobile editor Brandon Russell this morning and he mentioned how exciting this fall and winter will be for technology. The summer was slow: we had a few exciting announcements, such as the Nexus 7, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and Google now (all of which rock, by the way), but now we're just beginning to hit the cusp of an entire shift in...
ASUS on Wednesday announced a pair of tablets designed to combine its renowned hardware with Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 experience. If ASUS can manage to replicate the beautiful slates it put out running Android, I’d be comfortable in saying these will be ones to watch out for in the coming months. Surface should be shaking in its boots. First up is the ASUS Vivo Tab, a...
The Sony VAIO Tap 20 will let you enjoy Windows 8 in multiple angles and in all-in-one convenience. With the touchscreen interface in Windows 8, there are going to be a host of new computing scenarios, and the VAIO Tap 20 seems to take a lot of those into consideration. One of the biggest concerns we’ve heard from consumers is how tiresome it may get to use a touchscreen when arranged...
Sony has taken the wraps off of the VAIO Duo 11, a Windows 8-powered tablet hybrid, at IFA 2012. Windows 8 tablets are about to be showing up everywhere, especially ones that will have keyboards along for the haul. The Sony VAIO Duo 11 hasn’t had a price or launch date announced yet, but its looking like a pretty good addition to the VAIO line up. Options will allow you to trick out...