Microsoft Surface… Surfaces?

Greg Leave a comment

[sc:windows-category ]Well the wait is over (kind of) and we now know more about Microsoft’s Surface tablet.

Rumors of a $299 price point have turned out to be incorrect but I don’t think that’s a bad thing.  Surface is a premium tablet, not a low-end one.  It’s designed to show what a Windows 8 tablet can be and as such can have a $499 starting point.  In fact this still comes in under an iPad in reality as it has twice the storage for the same cost.

Something I think is still missing are some more accessories, no charging stand, no funky covers that aren’t keyboards, no cases, etc.  They may be coming closer to launch but it would have been nice to see pre-orders for something else then the video cables and an extra charger 😉

Pre-orders opened last week and I’ve put mine in, I’ll be looking forward to the October 26th deliver!

Now all I have to hope is that, unlike with the TouchPad, Microsoft doesn’t discontinue the Surface within 4 weeks and cut the price to $99 😉

Windows Phone Artist Info

Greg Leave a comment

[sc:mobile-category ]Way back in July of 2011 when I talked about Windows Phone 7 as an MP3 player, I mentioned that the artist information pages from the Zune player hadn’t made the transition to WP7, which it turns out was only a half truth.

In reality this information did exist for US users just not for anyone outside of the US.  Apparently Microsoft has finally gotten around to enabling it for more regions as last week the end-user license agreement was updated for the Marketplace and after that the artist Bio’s now appear.

Of course the artist pictures that the Zune had still haven’t shown up, but I guess getting licensing for the photos was harder than the bio’s 😉

 

Microsoft Surface

Greg Leave a comment

[sc:hardware-category ]Two interesting items came out last week about Microsoft’s Surface line.

First off, the holiday Microsoft stores will be opening on Oct 26th, just in time for the Windows 8 launch and presumably the Surface RT tables to go on sale.  This makes my life a little bit easier as I won’t have the drive to the US or wait until the new Microsoft store opens in my area.

The second interesting thing that came up was the rumor (which seems to be confirmed by multiple sources now) that Microsoft will be building their own phone sometime in the new year.

First off I’m not waiting for an MS phone, I’ve pretty much decided now that I’ll be picking up a Lumia 920 as soon as I can as my primary phone.  While it is a bit larger/heavier than I would like, the inductive charging has won me over.

So why is MS making its own phone?

I think the answer is simple.  Microsoft has finally realized that depending upon partners to make designs that will compete with the top end phones isn’t working.  As great as the Nokia and HTC phones look, they seem like mid range phones really instead of high-end ones.  Now some might say the 920 is top of the line, which is true for the feature set, but it really is a big and heavy phone in comparison to the Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S III.  Samsung Ativ S is a slim/light phone but with a huge display and no LTE.  Likewise it just seems too much like a re-purposed Android device.

So the obvious answer is for Microsoft to make their own phone.  A phone that will be comparable to the specs of the iPhone and GSIII while adding a design flare that clearly differentiates it from anything else out there.  MS has done it with the Surface tablets and the phone seems like a logical extension.

Microsoft could once again sell it primarily in their physical stores and not trample all over their partners while having a showcase phone to use in its advertising and marketing campaigns.

Time will tell for sure but here’s a though… The PC industry is pretty conservative in its design too, could a Surface PC and laptop push PC makers to compete not just in the mass market but for a designer market as well?

 

What will be my first Windows Phone 8 device?

Greg Leave a comment

[sc:mobile-category ]So Bell has said they will be releasing two Windows 8 Phones and that one of them will not be the Nokia 920 (presumably Rogers will get the 920), which leaves Bell with either the Samsung, HTC or the Nokia 820.

First, let’s be clear, they all look to be great phones, but in the end it leaves me in a quandary.  The 920 seems to be the phone I want, but I’ll have to pick up an unlocked version at full price (not a big issue).  However that means I have a huge credit with Bell as I’m due for an upgrade.

Then there’s Nokia.  Why did you have to make the 920 so good, yet clearly lack 2 important items?  The replaceable case of the 820 and the Micro SD card slot?

32g is probably lots of storage but it just irks me that you know they’re going to release a 950 or something that adds the Micro SD slot.

Likewise I don’t intend on swapping cases every other day or anything, but I have to admit I REALLY like the matte finish of the 800/900, and being able to swap out the shinny default for a nice matte black would be a really nice thing.

So let’s for a moment assume Bell not going to go with any Nokia WP8 phones (if history is any indicator, Rogers will get the 820 and Telus the 820).  That leaves the Samsung and HTC devices for me to choose.

I’ve had both a Samsung and HTC phone before and both have been quite good.  I have to admit I don’t think I like the Samsung’s physical Windows button, but I image I would get use to it.  In fact thinking about it some more it’s not the physical button I dislike, but the mix of capacitive and physical that irks me.

The HTC devices seem like the natural choice as I have the HD7 now, however I’ve always been disappointed in the camera on the HTC phones.  I hear they are much better now and by no means am I a photographer, but still, when I do use it I want it to work well.

And speaking of HTC, what’s with the 8X not having a micro SD slot either?  Is there some conspiracy that the high-end WP8 devices shouldn’t include micro SD?  Both the 8X and 8S look to be well designed phones but the S is too low-end and the X not high-end enough.  Rogers has announced they will be carrying the 8X, both an 8g and 16g model.  The 8g will be exclusive to Rogers, which practically screams that Bell or Telus will have the 16g version as well.

I’m leaning towards a two-pronged approach, get an “official” phone from bell, probably the Samsung phone.  Then when Nokia releases the second generation WP8 phones, get an unlocked one and move the HTC to my development/hacking phone and the Nokia to my primary phone.  I keep waffling though as I REALLY want the wireless charging…

Nokia has just put me in a position where I can’t buy the 920 without feeling some level of regret as it doesn’t have the Micro SD slot.  Likewise I can’t buy the 820 because I’ll always be thinking of the better display and camera on the 920.

Sigh… Beat. Head. Against. Wall.

 

 

Game Conosole Form Factors

Greg

[sc:hardware-category ]Sony recently announced their latest redesign of the PS3 but my pet peeve with games consoles is their form factor.

First off, it’s a game console.  It’s designed to work in your home entertainment center but it’s form factor makes that problematic.  Curved surfaces look cool, but makes it so you have to dedicate an entire shelf to them.  Most other home entertainment electronics conform to a standard size and shape (some manufactures’ don’t of course but there are lots of options in things like DVD players and if you don’t like the size/shape of one you simply buy one that you do).

Game consoles don’t have any choice, they are ALL at odd angles and designs.  Many people have 2 or 3 of the major consoles, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to stack them all on to of each other, looking nice and clean?

No suck luck.

Perhaps I should start a kickstarter to build replacement cases for the PS3…