surface

Surface tension: Acer needs to shut up about Microsoft tablet

Acer may only be hurting itself by criticizing Microsoft.

The Taiwanese company, best known for its low-cost Netbooks from several years ago, has been one of the most outspoken opponents of Microsoft's new hardware push since the software giant first revealed its plans in June. Comments have ranged from pleas for Microsoft to change its plans to predictions Surface will flop. The common theme is that Acer believes Microsoft should stick to what it knows -- software -- and leave the hardware to its partners.

The problem with that criticism, though, is that it makes Acer look like a … Read more

Surface fine print: Windows eats up storage space

Windows has a bad rep for gobbling up storage space on PCs. Ditto Surface.

The $499 32GB Surface tablet actually leaves you with only 16GB free storage space for things like music, photos, and videos, according to Microsoft documentation.

So, what's devouring all of that flash storage space? On a 32GB Surface, Windows reports 29GB available. Subtract 5GB for Windows recovery tools, then another 8GB for Windows RT, Microsoft Office, and built-in apps. That leaves 16GB for the user.

On the 64GB model, you're left with 46GB.

Microsoft does offer advice on the same FAQ page about how … Read more

Acer warns Microsoft that hardware is like 'hard rice'

Acer is pretty peeved with Microsoft's hardware push and continues to let the software giant know it.

The latest comments from the Taiwanese computer maker again criticize Microsoft's recent push to compete with its hardware partners.

According to a rough translation from Google, Linxian Lang, Acer's manager of Greater China operations, compared making hardware to food. He described the process to "hard rice" that's "not so easy to eat."

Of course, the translation is riddled with errors, but the general sentiment is clear: Acer thinks Microsoft should stick to what it does … Read more

Why the Microsoft store isn't like the Apple store

Like any tasteful, sentient being, I follow in the footsteps of Kelly Clarkson.

Yesterday, she was in Corte Madera, Calif., opening her throat to celebrate the opening of a Microsoft store.

So this morning, I wandered along to see whether there would still be a hullabaloo.

Because Microsoft is in cheery assault mode, it has placed the store around 110 steps away from an Apple store. This isn't throwing down a gauntlet. It's positively sticking one's tongue out.

Indeed, mere feet from the Apple store was a member of Microsoft's army, giving away t-shirts.

Outside the … Read more

The future of the iPad

Now that the iPad line has split into two families, the Mini and the Retina, it might make you wonder where the iPad, as a product, is heading. I've wondered it, too, even going back to the days before the Mini. The third-gen Retina Display iPad was such a complete product that it made me curious: where could iPads go next?

As the days go on since reviewing the iPad Mini, I look back and forth between both the "large iPad" and the Mini. I carry both around (I don't normally travel with two iPads -- they're review samples, I own a third-gen). I use them around my home and outside. They're awfully similar in experience, different in size and speed. But I think there's something else going on. I think iPads, to some degree, are entering a transition.… Read more

iPad Mini launches with mini lines

While CNET's New York office waits for power to come back after the storm, we're bringing you the Update show from our San Francisco office. Friday's top tech stories include:

- iPad Mini launch day: Lines were smaller compared to a typical iPhone or iPad launch, but there were still some crowds. New York saw a long lines at the 5th Avenue store, which was sold out of iPad Minis two hours after it opened. One analyst estimates Apple might sell as many as 1.5 million iPad Minis over the weekend.

- Apple released its first … Read more

Microsoft Surface RT vs. Asus Transformer Pad Infinity

It's a Prizefight punchout for tablet supremacy between the Microsoft Surface RT and the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity.

Microsoft is the new kid on the block, looking to conquer and take names later, while the Asus Infinity Pad is a battle-tested veteran that's evolved over the past couple years.

The Surface brings a fresh concept, positioning itself as a tablet that can replace your laptop. The Infinity Pad takes on the philosophy of being either a tablet or a touch-screen laptop, leaving the choice up to the user.

Which tablet will reign supreme? Cast your vote!

Windows 8 reshapes the laptop: Touch models on the rise

Windows 8 is all about touch. And that means a lot more touch laptops and hybrid devices are popping up at PC stores in the U.S.

Microsoft's brick-and-mortar and online stores are among the most aggressive at stocking up on touch-capable Windows 8 portables. Its online store now shows eight traditional (non-hybrid) clamshell laptops with touch screens. Those include the $499 Asus VivoBook X202E, the $899 Sony Vaio T13, and the high-end $1,349 HP Spectre XT TouchSmart.

Throw hybrids, or so-called "convertibles," into the mix and the number jumps to 16. Convertibles -- which include … Read more

Oprah: Microsoft's Surface is like a Mercedes

When a person of influence endorses your product, your marketing department reaches for the sky.

Or, more likely, for the Skyy.

So, wherever you are, you will surely be hearing the ululations of vodka-fueled pleasure emanating from Redmond on hearing that Oprah has declared the new Surface one of her "Favorite Things" of the year.

As Mashable reports it, Oprah likened the Surface to a Toyota Prius, because it is such a perfect hybrid of tablet and PC.

No, wait, she actually said: "The Surface, Microsoft's first tablet, feels like a Mercedes-Benz to me, people!

Would … Read more

Microsoft Surface $499 model 'out of stock' online

The $499 Surface model appears to be a popular item on the Microsoft store's Web site.

As of this afternoon, Pacific Time, that model (without the Touch Cover) is listed as "out of stock." Previously, it had been listed as "back-ordered", along with the $599 and $699 models.

The other two models -- both come with the Touch Cover -- are no longer listed as back-ordered.

"The store periodically will run out of certain models," a Microsoft representative told CNET in response to an e-mail query.

Calls to Microsoft stores in Century City, … Read more