Surface

Eating your own, Microsoft style

Eat your own, or somebody else will. That's the new mantra in the device world.

Here's what Apple said this week on that topic.

In terms of cannibalization and how we think about this, I see cannibalization as a huge opportunity for us. One, our base philosophy is to never fear cannibalization. If we do, somebody else will just cannibalize it and so we never fear it. --Tim Cook.

This was said in response to an analyst's question during the company's first-quarter earnings conference call. Earlier in the call, Apple, in its prepared remarks, said that … Read more

Microsoft Surface Pro: The movie

Microsoft is heralding the Surface Pro tablet's February 9 arrival with a teaser about its PCness.

"Sleek, light, and durable meets powerful PC," is how Microsoft begins the video. The latter part of that ad copy is probably the most relevant for prospective buyers.

That's alluding of course to Windows 8 Pro running on a real PC processor -- Intel's Ivy Bridge: That combination should allow Surface Pro to run applications more like a laptop than a tablet.

And as it would in regard to any respectable PC, Microsoft points out that the Surface Pro … Read more

Surface RT tablet to get update glitch fix -- in February

Microsoft is working on a fix for Windows RT users hit by application-updating problems that seemingly were introduced by the latest set of updates Microsoft pushed out for the operating system earlier this month.

As The Next Web noted late last week, some Surface RT users have not been able to access the Windows Store or Windows Update since applying the latest set of Patch Tuesday fixes, rolled out on January 8. A firmware update for Surface RT devices was also part of the batch of updates delivered at that time.

A Microsoft spokesperson said the company expects to have … Read more

Microsoft Surface tablet hit by update glitch, say some owners

Microsoft's Surface RT tablet may have caught a bug from a recent firmware update.

Since January 10, several Surface users have chimed in on Microsoft's Community forums, complaining that Windows Update is not responding.

The initial message in the thread sums up the problem in a nutshell:

After applying the patches this Tuesday my Surface RT will not connect to Windows Update. It gets stuck on the progress circle after selecting Windows Update from PC Settings and the circle eventually stops. I can confirm this behavior on 2 of our 3 Surfaces but have not checked the 3rd … Read more

Only 1M Surface tablets sold last quarter -- analyst

Microsoft's Surface tablet may not have rung in much holiday cheer last quarter, at least according to one analyst.

Microsoft sold just 1 million Surface RT tablets in the fourth quarter, projects UBS analyst Brent Thill, down from a prior forecast of 2 million. In an investors note out today, the analyst cited two reasons for his dour projection in a single sentence:

"Surface RT is a consumer device with [fourth-quarter] sales suffering from the difficult iPad compare and narrow distribution."

Early last month, IHS iSuppli analyst Rhoda Alexander told CNET that she expected Surface sales of 1.3 million … Read more

Uh-oh, Windows RT, Samsung's got second thoughts

LAS VEGAS--Microsoft launched Windows RT with grand ambitions only a few months ago, but CNET has learned the operating system is facing yet another setback.

This time it's Samsung having second thoughts about the computer software that runs on cellphone chips.

Mike Abary, the Samsung senior vice president who oversees the company's PC and tablet businesses in the U.S., told CNET today at the Consumer Electronics Show that the Korean electronics giant won't be launching its Qualcomm-powered Windows RT device in the U.S. It's unclear what the company's plans are for the non-U.… Read more

Maybe Microsoft should have shown up to CES 2013

LAS VEGAS--It's getting more popular for companies to bail on the Consumer Electronics Show, but at least one should reconsider: Microsoft.

When the Las Vegas gadget conference kicks off this week, it will be missing the longtime CES presenter that declared 2012 to be its last hurrah at the show.

Microsoft doesn't really need CES to get attention for its products, but the company should have stuck it out one more year. Sure, the show is big and noisy and expensive, but Microsoft is trying to turn itself into a major computer hardware vendor with its Surface tablet. … Read more

How Microsoft became a control freak with tablet makers

Microsoft wasn't taking chances.

The company was about to introduce one of its biggest operating system releases, and it needed its hardware partners to develop products that could genuinely rival the iPad and Android tablets.

Microsoft took control of partners working with the new Windows RT software that ran on low-power chips normally used for cell phones. It held regular meetings with the small group of companies in its development program and dictated to a large extent what the devices looked like. Details were everything. Microsoft even told one company to move the location of its Windows home key, … Read more

Microsoft: Five things to look for in 2013

To most tech watchers, Microsoft is a giant software maker.

But that's not how Microsoft sees itself anymore. For the past several months, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has repeated as often as he possibly can that the tech behemoth is now a devices and services company. He was a plain as he could be in the annual letter he wrote to shareholders in October.

"This is a significant shift, both in what we do and how we see ourselves -- as a devices and services company." Ballmer wrote. "It impacts how we run the company, … Read more