surface

How much of a song and dance can Microsoft make about its products these days?

More than can fit on your Zune. (You still have your Zune, right?)

I am grateful to the Verge for locating the first, infinitely anticipated, TV spot for Redmond's new Surface -- which debuts tonight during Monday Night Football.

This ad stands (and dances) proud. For it declares that Surface is less of a product and more of a movement.

Now some movements are good and some can be painful. This is one could be both.

For this movement involves everyone grabbing their Surface … Read more

Microsoft is expected to begin airing the first of its TV ads for Microsoft Surface on October 15, possibly during Monday Night Football and "Dancing with the Stars."

Windows Supersite Editor Paul Thurrott tweeted about the alleged timing of the ads, based on information from unnamed sources, on October 15. Thurrott also tweeted that he's been told that Microsoft is spending $400 million on its Surface ad campaign -- plus whatever it's spending on its Windows 8 ad campaign. Microsoft kicked off its U.S. TV commercials for Windows 8 on October 14 in … Read more

Microsoft is now spreading the word about Surface via Twitter.

The Windows 8 tablet got custody of its own Twitter account this weekend, with only two tweets so far but more than 6,600 followers. Both tweets point to a new promotional video starring Surface, with one tweet focusing on the music behind the ad.

The new tablet is also getting some Facebook love. Its new page on the social network mimics that of the Twitter page, pointing to the same video ad. More than 7,000 fans have given the thumbs up to Surface's new Facebook page.

Microsoft … Read more

Windows RT tablets are coming. Soon. Very soon. What's Windows RT, you ask? Well, it would take a scientist to explain it and we unfortunately don't have one on staff (yet). Thankfully, we do have Seth Rosenblatt, who's all too happy (or as close as he gets to happy) to break it down for you.

For those not looking to have anything broken, I'll give you the gist. Windows RT is essentially the "lite" version of Windows 8. It runs on ARM processors (cheaper and more energy-efficient than its Intel counterparts) and is optimized for Microsoft's Windows 8 Metro interface.

Of the first batch of RT tablets, the most anticipated is undoubtedly the Microsoft Surface. The future of Windows tablets is riding on the success of the Surface, which starts at $499 with a release date of October 26. That's for the basic 32GB version.

For $599, you get a 32GB version with a Touch Cover keyboard, and $699 will net you a Touch Cover and a 64GB-capacity Surface. The Touch Cover itself will retail for $120.

Anyway, here's a list of the first wave of Windows RT tablets. All of which should be on shelves by the end of the year.… Read more

It's lucky the Microsoft Surface RT is small, because Microsoft's coming pop-up stores look like they're going to be very compact.

Microsoft is planning to open 34 holiday pop-up stores in the U.S. and Canada. (The just-added two, announced this week by the company, are a Chicago and Times Square New York.) They are opening on October 26, the day that Windows 8 and Microsoft's Surface RT tablets/PCs are generally available.

I guess I was envisioning temporary full-size Microsoft stores -- like two-dozen-plus permanent brick-and-mortar stores they are operating already -- when I … Read more

An IDC analyst doesn't like what he's seeing so far from PC makers and their pricing for Windows 8 products.

Lenovo and Acer this week began disclosing pricing for tablets and convertibles that range between $499 (Acer) and $1,099 (Lenovo). Bob O'Donnell, program vice president of clients and displays at IDC, doesn't think this kind of traditional PC pricing bodes well for the sales of newfangled hybrid devices.

"The problem is these things are priced way too high. Look at the history of tablet products priced above the iPad. Not pretty," he said … Read more

The least expensive Microsoft Surface tablet will be priced more in line with a low-end laptop than a $199 Google Nexus 7, one analyst argues.

Microsoft's imminent Surface RT tablet will priced between $399 and $499, excluding the smart cover/keyboard, according to Sameer Singh, an analyst with India-based consulting group Finvista Advisors, a mergers and acquisitions consulting group.

And the Pro version -- due next year -- will fall in the $799 to $899 range, also excluding the smart cover/keyboard.

Surface RT uses an inexpensive Nvidia ARM chip and won't run older Windows software. The pricier … Read more

Microsoft really wants to make sure its shareholders, customers, partners, and competitors realize it's not just a big software company anymore.

In an October 9 letter to shareholders, part of Microsoft's just-released fiscal 2012 annual report, CEO Steve Ballmer repeated his new "devices and services company" mantra to drive it home.

Ballmer hasn't (yet) chanted "devices, devices, devices" in front of any public or private audiences (that we know of, at least) in the way he once, in 2006, infamously chanted "developers, developers, developers."

But he told The Seattle Times a … Read more

Drip, drip, drip.

The Redmondians are continuing to torture us Microsoft watchers with a slow flow of information about the company's bet-its-business launch.

We already knew Microsoft planned to launch Windows 8 and its ARM-based Surface RT devices in New York City on October 25, thanks to a save-the-date invitation we got a while back. We knew those products would become available commercially the following day, and we found out this week that Microsoft would be opening 30-plus holiday pop-up stores in the U.S. and Canada on October 26 as well.

As of October 4, we now know … Read more