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The murmurs surrounding a 10-inch Nokia tablet are growing louder, and they suggest that the company won’t just follow the herd. Tipsters for The Verge claim that the Windows RT slate would center on a Surface-style keyboard cover with its own twists. While the add-on would shelter the screen, it would also include a battery to supplement the 10-hour lifespan of the tablet proper. Not enough? It could carry a pair of USB ports and serve as a kickstand. There may be a chance of a US release, as well: Nokia’s tablet would supposedly include cellular access and head to AT&T in the US, much like its Booklet 3G ancestor. We’re not surprised that the Finnish firm won’t comment on the rumor, but we might not have long to wait for verification if the early 2013 release proves real.

Filed under: Tablets, Nokia

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Source: The Verge

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

When Microsoft announced the Surface RT, it seemed clear that the ARM-based product — with its precious adornments such as the kickstand and, of course, typing covers — sought to appeal to those wanting to do more than is typically done with tablets. Microsoft, straight-faced, calls the Surface RT a PC, but with a connotation that it is trying to transform. There’s less ambiguity around the Surface Pro. It has a capable Intel processor and runs virtually any Windows app. While someone from an earlier time might not recognize it as a PC turned off (especially with a closed Touch Cover), booting it up into Outlook would provide a convincing case.

In the story of the blind men and the elephant, the protagonists each discover some element of the majestic animal and draw conclusions about its nature without understanding the bigger (literally, in that case) picture. Now that we know the size of the Surface Pro’s elephant in terms of how much it might feed from our wallets, its relative value and competitiveness will vary greatly depending upon which assumptions prospective buyers have when considering the product.

Continue reading Switched On: The Blind Men and the Surface Pro

Filed under: Tablets, Microsoft

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A relatively reliable MSFT tipster @MS_nerd recently tweeted that Redmond will release three new and distinct generations of the Surface tablet sometime in 2013.

Ballmer recently said on a shareholders’ call that the company would never again let hardware or anything else stand as a barrier to innovation, admitting that Microsoft was late to the game (especially with the tablet).

It only makes sense that they would go big with both Surface and Windows 8, making up for lost time with plenty of shapes and sizes. After all, the company bet a lot on the popularity of a brand-new Microsoft, complete with Metro, touch, and true entry into the hardware space.

The first tablet is said to be an 8.6-inch Surface RT 2, running on a Qualcomm chipset instead of the NVIDIA Tegra 3 chip. The Microsoft Pro will allegedly upgrade to an 11.6-inch display with an unreleased AMD “Temash” APU, and a new Surface Book product will sport a hefty 14.6-inch display with a next-gen 22nm “Haswell” chip from Intel under the hood.

It’s interesting that none of the new models have the same 10.6-inch screen size as current-generation Surface RT and Pro slates do. However, in our reviews, we felt the form factor was a bit awkward and larger than the tablet that currently dominates the large tablet space, the 9.7-inch iPad.

And then there’s Amazon and Google’s 7- to 8-inch offerings, and Barnes & Noble, and we can’t forget the iPad Mini now, either. Microsoft is late to a very feisty and competitive game, and a big push is necessary. And so far Surface sales have been slow going.

The breadth of the lineup also sounds plausible alongside rumors of a Surface phone, as DigiTimes recently reported that Microsoft has sent orders to Foxconn for a self-branded and Microsoft-designed Surface phone.

Of course, it’ll still be a while. Though the tipster specified 2013, I wouldn’t expect to see new models in stores until the holidays next year.

Ever since the Surface tablet was released from Microsoft, we’ve only been more and more curious about their upcoming Pro version. Finally, the Redmond-based company has released details about the upcoming tablet for power users, including pricing and availability. Starting in January, you’ll be able to grab a Surface Pro starting at $899 for the 64GB version and $999 for the 128GB variant.

The $899 and $999 models will be the “standalone” versions, meaning you’ll have to crank out more cash if you want the keyboard attachment. However, it’ll come with the pen/stylus in the box. As you can see, the device looks very similar to the regular Surface tablet, including the same type of casing and built-in kickstand. Plus, it also boasts the same 10.6-inch display with the 16:9 aspect ratio.

However, a lot of differences are coming to the Surface Pro. For one, the screen will feature a full HD 1920×1080 resolution. It’ll also bypass ARM chips altogether and will opt for an Intel Core i5 processor, as well as a Mini DisplayPort that can output a 2560×1440 resolution, a full-size USB 3.0 port, and a copy of Windows 8 Pro with support for traditional desktop applications.

The Surface Pro will act more like a laptop than the regular Surface tablet. Of course, you’ll still have the ability to easily use it as a tablet, but using it with either keyboard attachments will no doubt give the Surface Pro more credit as being a true hybrid, thanks to a full version of Windows 8 Pro instead of just Windows RT.

Microsoft Surface Pro arriving in January starting at $899 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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If you happen to own the Microsoft Surface, then you might have noticed that there is a spanking new update for your tablet device – the KB 2756872 update. Well, those who have a keen eye for detail will be pleased to know that the KB 2756872 is accompanied by a rather informative change log, where it has promised to deliver improvements to performance, battery life and of course, better driver compatibility. Not only that, you can expect improvements in the audio department, which will, keep your fingers crossed here, fix the stuttering issue that select Surface users did complain about in the past.

So far those who have given the update a go have no complaints at all, where KB 2756872 does what it promised, with some citing that the Xbox Music app has also become slightly more responsive – which is always a good thing, and a more fluid and faster scrolling experience would go down well with the masses as well. For those of you who have applied the update, how do you find it treating you so far?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Asus Taichi Shipments Delayed, Huawei MediaPad 10 Link spotted on WiFi and Bluetooth certification websites,