Hasta La Gadget!

In an interview with CBS, Bill Gates talks to Charlie Rose about his life, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and more interestingly Microsoft. He says that the way that Microsoft went about the mobile industry didn’t allow them to get the leadership they needed. He says that they should have entered the market earlier in order to get the lead on cell phones and that “it’s clearly a mistake”.

Bill Gates says he and CEO Steve Ballmer are “2 of the most self-critical people”. He says that “There were a lot of amazing things that Steve’s leadership got done with the company in the last year. Windows 8 is a key to the future, the Surface computer, Bing – people are seeing as a better search product, Xbox“. Gates says that due to the self-critical nature of both him and Ballmer, they feel like they could better.

Bill Gates also discusses sleep and that he needs at least 7 hours of sleep, or else his “IQ begins to drop”. He wishes that he could be like other people who can thrive off only 4 hours of sleep. He is a night person and he “gets very excited about something that’s going wrong or right”. He would sometimes stay up until 2:00 A.M., which would prove to be difficult if he had an appointment early in the morning.

Alongside the talks of Microsoft, Bill Gates says that he wants to introduce a new high school course that brings together Science and History. He is also working on innovations in cheap and clean energy. While they weren’t able to get the lead on the mobile market, it seems that Microsoft is doing well in catching-up in the industry. Their Windows 8 mobile devices are starting to get traction in the industry, and hopefully with the release of Windows Blue, they’ll be seen as a major competitor.

[via CBS]

Bill Gates discusses Microsoft and their mobile sector is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Get ready to toss out your brand-new Surface Pro by mid-2017 because that’s when Microsoft is cutting off support for the tablet. According to Microsoft’s Product Lifecycle webpage, the Surface Pro will see its “mainstream support” ending on July 10, 2017 — just four and a half years from now. Granted most people may move on by then, but what about those who want to keep the tablet longer?

Obviously, you’ll still be able to use the Surface Pro long after that date, but many owners of tablets and computers rely on regular updates, and some consider it to be something that they need before considering buying a new product. While four and a half years seems like a long time, there still may be customers who buy a Surface Pro two years from now when prices go down — those people will have an even shorter amount of time with the support lifecycle of the product.

Another interesting facet is that Microsoft usually applies “extended” support for business devices specifically, but the Surface Pro is currently listed as “Not Applicable” under that category, suggesting that while Microsoft advertises the new tablet as a business device, the company may be catering it more towards the everyday consumer in the long run.

Then again, cutting off support for a device a few years in isn’t anything new. Apple has done that with their older iOS devices, including the first-generation iPad and older iPhone and iPod Touch models, which were all shafted of an iOS 6 update. Then again, this may just be the nature of the beast, and the older devices get, the less likely they are to run more complex software as time goes on.

[via PC World]

Microsoft Surface Pro support ending July 2017 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft’s Surface Pro is apparently in short-supply, though whether that means the Windows 8 tablet is in hot demand or merely hardly seeded is already prompting controversy. The stylus-enabled slate – which we reviewed last week – went on sale over the weekend, only to be swiftly followed by claims that the larger, 128GB version had already sold out at multiple retailers.

Microsoft’s own webstore also shows the 128GB version of the tablet as out of stock, with no indication as to when it might return to availability. The 64GB model – particularly criticized for the relatively small amount of storage space left over, once the OS, preloaded apps, and default recovery partition have their way – is still listed as in stock.

That could indicate a surprising degree of demand for Microsoft’s own-brand tablet; however, as Business Insider flags, there are also counter suggestions that Microsoft merely failed to anticipate interest in the slate, and didn’t provide enough to retailers. Comments at Microsoft’s own Surface blog and at Reddit complained of minimal stock, with some Staples and Best Buy stores supposedly claiming to have only been provided with two units each, none of which were the 128GB variant.

If that’s true, it’s unclear whether Microsoft faced production delays or simply didn’t make enough to cater to demand. The Surface Pro – like its RT sibling, released last year – uses a precisely machined “VaporMg” case material, which could be causing the company problems in manufacturing. Meanwhile, initial reception to the $899+ price of the full-Windows tablet had been lukewarm, and it’s possible that Microsoft had been hedging its bets in case of minimal demand.

Meanwhile, pre-launch reviews also proved mixed. While we were impressed by the usability of the stylus and the flexibility of the Surface Pro’s battery life, others were less convinced.

Shortages do make for good headlines, but they don’t help contribute to Microsoft’s market share, and when the company is trying to compete with the best-selling iPad and iPad mini – both for end-users and for developer consideration – that’s not good news. Microsoft is unlikely to comment specifically on its supply chain, but whether the lack of devices is down to production mishaps, poor planning, or even artificial limits, the company is probably kicking itself now over the loss of goodwill incurred.

Did you buy a Microsoft Surface Pro at the weekend? If so, did you get a 64GB or a 128GB? Let us know in the comments!

Where are all the Surface Pro tablets? is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Right on schedule, Microsoft’s Surface Pro is now available to purchase for prospective buyers in the US and Canada. The new tablet was going to be the main event at a special midnight launch event in New York City, but that ended up being cancelled due to the snowstorm. However, the Surface Pro still launched as planned, and consumers can now get their grubby hands on the Surface RT’s successor.

The new tablet starts at $899 for the 64GB model and goes up to $999 for the 128GB variant. Both versions use Intel’s Core i5 processor and integrated HD 4000 graphics. There’s also 4GB of dual-channel memory, and a 10.6-inch Clear Type display on top, which features a full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080. The screen also supports both 10-point multitouch and digital inking thanks to the special stylus.

The 42Wh battery has been one of the big talking points for the new tablet, however. We averaged about five hours, and sometimes even six hours during some occasions. Obviously, for a tablet, this isn’t quite what people were expecting, but Microsoft is hinting at some kind of battery add-on, which means users may soon be able to bump up the battery life a bit.

Of course, you can read our full review of Surface Pro to get a better idea of what you’ll be in for, but if you’re set to buy one right now, you can get one at any Microsoft Store in the US or Canada, as well as Staples and Best Buy in the US, and Best Buy and Future Shop in Canada. And of course, the tablet will also be available online.

Microsoft Surface Pro available now in the US and Canada is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The reviews are in for Microsoft’s Surface Pro, and while it’s been a mixed bag overall, we actually enjoyed our time with the tablet, but one area that many people weren’t too pleased about was battery life. During our tests, we were getting around 4.5 to 5 hours, with 6 hours during some occasions. However, it looks like Microsoft may have a solution.

Panos Panay, Microsoft’s corporate vice president working on the Surface tablet, recently hosted an AMA session (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit about the new Surface Pro. When asked if the company had any plans for an external battery of some kind, Panay said that this “would require extending the design of the accessory spine to include some way to transfer higher current between the peripheral and the main battery.”

Luckily, that’s exactly what Microsoft did. The company added new connector plates to the bottom of the Surface Pro, which aren’t being utilized yet, but Panay hinted at the fact that the company may introduce some new accessories down the line that would take advantage of these new connector plates, which may even include an external battery/keyboard hybrid.

Of course, nothing is set in stone, but it sounds like we should be looking forward to some Surface accessories at some point in the future, whether or not that includes an external battery of some kind. It sounds like a battery-equipped keyboard can be done, though, so it doesn’t sound completely farfetched, but we’ll have to wait and see what Redmond has in store for us later this year.

[via PC World]

Microsoft hints at Surface Pro battery add-on is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.