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Today, Microsoft announced the Developer Preview of Windows 8 at their BUILD conference for developers in Anaheim, CA. Conference attendees were also told they would be receiving tablet devices from Samsung with the Developer Preview pre-loaded, enabling them to get a head start on developing apps using the latest and greatest APIs and sensors.
Here is a rundown of the device's features:
The right side of the device features the power button and sim card. USB, HDMI, headphone port, and volume controls span the left side. The top of the device holds the microSD slot, while the bottom is reserved for the dock port, which provides additional connectivity options. Samsung also included front and rear cameras as well as GPS, accelerometer, and NFC (Near Field Communication) sensors.
After spending a few minutes with the device, we'd have to say that it's everything we want from a Windows tablet. Having a device that is thinner, lighter, or faster will always be desired, but Microsoft and Samsung have hit squarely in the size vs. performance sweet spot.
Bottomline: you're going to want one when they become available.
Comments are closed on this article
mseyf
September 14, 2011 at 6:09am
Rumor has it the battery life is not so good, which I can believe looking at the specs.
Will we have to wait for the ARM version to get good battery life?
tferrill
September 14, 2011 at 7:47am
It depends on how you define good. I would expect battery life to be comparable to a laptop with the same specs. Also keep in mind that this is early hardware and software. Certainly ARM based tablets will be helpd to a higher standard for battery life.
wintercoder
September 14, 2011 at 4:25am
I can think of many vertical market apps to write for such a device. Very nice.
But do us a favor and buy a cell phone with a better camera.
tferrill
September 14, 2011 at 7:45am
The lighting in the arena was terrible, and I only got a few minutes with the tablet. Sorry about the picture quality.
tferrill
September 13, 2011 at 3:42pm
We'll have to see the price points, but you have to consider the extra value of having a full Windows PC in this form factor, particularly if you can run legacy Windows apps. This type of device could be huge for business users and consumers both.
AETAaAS
September 13, 2011 at 3:40pm
Asus can easily move the Transformer at around 400 dollars. Here in the UK, I wasn't able to get my hands on one for months, the retailers sold their shipments out. Even in KL (Malaysia), it was hard finding people who still had them in stock, but the Galaxy Tab 10.1 seemed the more popular Android tablet in Malaysia.
Apple's Jobs used to bang on about the tablet replacing the PC. They were wrong; because of their execution. Windows 8 is how you bring the tablet to some form of parity with the PC. And if that commands a premium price, so be it. But if they can bring a full on desktop environment with tablet optimisation at a price to compete with other tablets, it is very compelling especially with low voltage processors like the Kal El coming.
And who knows if Asus will make a Transformer 8 to bridge that gap between tablets and laptops once again? :D
routine
September 14, 2011 at 8:15am
w/o Apple's iPad there wouldn't be a tablet market.
Microsoft tried and failed miserably about 10 years ago.
DasHellMutt
September 13, 2011 at 3:18pm
It'll never sell because it'll be waaay to expensive. The market has already shown that only apple can sell a $600 tablet in any significant numbers. I'm sure this will have to be much more expensive. The real market for tablets is sub $200. Only the firesale Touchpad has ever been available at that price and it was of course selling at a massive loss. I think the components costs will have to drop dramatically for any tablet to truly sell in volume.
perfectdarkk005
September 13, 2011 at 3:33pm
@DasHellMutt,
I could not agree more with your comment. The majority of folks I talk to are not willing to invest in a tablet when a more powerful laptop can be had for the same price. I have been shopping around and while the novelty is definitely alluring, I simply can't justify the money for something I will not use for anything other than basic entertainment. That said, when specs are a little more comparable to a laptop and when non iOS tablets mature a little bit more, I may re-examine my position.
Cregan89
September 15, 2011 at 1:01pm
@codepath
Why need a trackpad? Just because when you want to use a physical keyboard you usually have the display positioned behind the keyboard, so you have to reach towards the screen which would get tiresome on your arms pretty quick. And also because a touchscreen has a 1-to-1 touch to input sensitivity by design, whereas a trackpad generally has a much higher sensitivity making it a much more accurate input device when working with smaller characters on screen. And finally, because you can't see the display where you're touching it. A touchscreen just isn't very effective for heavy text based manipulation.
And for the keyboard... I agree, the touchscreen keyboard would be fine for many mobile situations. I was thinking more along the lines of a multi-hour business trip on a plane or bus or something. And I still would find it much nicer to be able to hide the keyboard in the device itself, as opposed to having to carry around an external keyboard all the time in case you may need it. But I'm sure many people don't mind an external keyboard and mouse, which makes this tablet perfect!
@PCDoc
That is a pretty nice little tablet! I wish ASUS would simplify their product line, or at least make it easier to browse all of their models somehow. I always come across some very cool products from ASUS but it's so overwhelming to view their product line through their website!
Cregan89
September 13, 2011 at 4:57pm
You two really don't get it. If you plug in a mouse and keyboard, it is a full Windows PC. And a pretty powerful one at that with a Gen2 Core i5. That's the whole point of Windows 8...
You guys are looking at this from the completely wrong direction. There's a lot of people (including me) who have been waiting for a powerful PC which we can use to perform all of our work on, and then be able to take that same PC, hide the keyboard (either by detaching it, sliding it up, or folding it back or something), and then switch to a touch interface and use it as a high powered tablet. This is a developer's prototype after all. The whole purpose of this device is for developers to have one device that they can develop on, and then test and debug on the same device.
Look at these:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/04/asus-eee-pad-slider-and-transformer-are-here-for-those-that-can/
http://www.gizmag.com/samsung-pc7-tablet-with-sliding-keyboard/17581/
http://www.dell.com/ca/p/inspiron-duo/pd
You can have cheap versions like these at around $300 in the near future, or put some serious juice under the hood for the $1000+ price range.That's what I'm waiting for personally. A powerfull combination of hardware, in a light and thin form factor, with a 13"+ high resolution touchscreen, a long lasting battery, and a slide out or flip out keyboard/trackpad. I can pop out the keyboard and use it for software development at work, pop the keyboard back in and debug my touchscreen apps on the same system, then use a stylus to create graphics, pop the keyboard back out and type up some documentation for my software, pop the keyboard back in and copy down notes and technical drawings in my meeting, and then take it on the bus and read some news websites on a portrait aspect ratio, and check my emails using an intuitive touch interface. ONE DEVICE.
This tablet from Samsung is close to that vision, but I want a built in keyboard/trackpad so that I can do my work on the go, and so I don't have to carry around a keyboard and mouse with me all the time.
