Hasta La Gadget!

Dell unveiled four new tablets today at an event in New York City. Two of them, which we have already covered, run on Android. The remaining two run on Windows 8.1 and are called Dell Venue 8 Pro and Dell Venue 11 Pro. The Dell Venue 8 Pro has an 8 inch 1,280×800 IPS display with pen input support, Intel’s new quadcore “Bay Trail” processors coupled with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage. It weighs just 400 grams, runs Windows 8.1 and is claimed to offer 10 hours of battery life. This tablet will cost $299.99 when it is released in the market on October 18th.

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Dell Venue 8 Pro And Venue 11 Pro Windows 8.1 Tablets Unveiled original content from Ubergizmo.

We haven’t heard any rumors recently about Acer working on a successor for its Iconia W3 tablet. The Acer Iconia W3 is the first tablet that runs Windows 8 on a 8.1 inch display. This particular tablet was making the rounds in the rumor mill earlier this year before finally being announced by Acer a few months back. A video has surfaced online which apparently shows off the Acer Iconia W4 820 tablet, the successor to the W3.

Acer hasn’t officially said anything about this tablet, so it is not known at this point in time when the W4 will be released and what it will cost in different regions. An announcement is yet to be made, so that will obviously come before the actual release. The Acer Iconia W4 820 is rumored to have a 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z3740 processor coupled with 2GB of RAM, an 8.1 inch IPS LCD display with 1,200×800 pixel resolution, 32GB of onboard storage as well as a 5 megapixel rear and a 2 megapixel front camera. The keyboard dock that works with the current Iconia tablet is said to work with the W4 as well. OS is said to be Windows 8.1 with a free version of Office 2013 Home & Student Edition pre-installed.

Acer Iconia W4 Caught On Video original content from Ubergizmo.

Rumor has it that Microsoft is currently planning to develop one single store that will contain apps for both Windows and Windows Phone platforms. That way, the company won’t have to run the separate Windows Store and Windows Phone Store. According to The Verge, this move has been confirmed today by head of the operating systems group at Microsoft, Terry Myerson. The internal company meeting was reportedly attended by “thousands” of Redmond’s employees. Myerson is said to have committed that the single store will go live with the “next releases” of both platforms, believed to be Windows Phone 8.1 and a special update for Windows 8.1. Both releases are expected in Spring, 2014.

The report says that Myerson didn’t reveal at the meeting how the single “Windows Store” is going to work on two different platforms, and if it will be possible for Windows Phone apps to work on Windows machines. This approach will be similar to the App Store, through which one can’t install tablet apps on an iPhone, but iPhone apps can be installed and scaled up to run on the iPad. Microsoft has talked about providing a common app platform before, but this is the first there’s been any news of an expected release time frame.

Microsoft Will Reportedly Offer A Single Store For Windows And Windows Phone Apps original content from Ubergizmo.

Today, Microsoft has detailed Windows 8.1 price and packaging through an official blog post. Consumers who’re already using a device with a legitimate copy of Windows 8 will receive Windows 8.1 update free of charge through the Windows Store on October 18th. Those who want to upgrade from an older Windows version will have to buy this update. Windows 8.1 can either be bought through a retailer as a packaged DVD product or it can be purchased as a download from Windows.com. Pricing will vary by market, but in the U.S., Windows 8.1 will cost $119.99 and Windows 8.1 Pro $199.99. Pricing and editions for this update are similar to that for Windows 8.

Customers who purchase a device later this year that comes with Windows 8.1 pre-installed will be able to upgrade to Windows 8.1 Pro for $99.99, the add-on will not only unlock Pro features, it will also bring Windows Media Center. Customers with devices that have Windows 8.1 Pro pre-installed can purchase Windows Media Center for $9.99. Customers who upgrade from Windows 7 will be able to retain all their files, though they will be required to reinstall desktop apps, even Microsoft Office. Microsoft says that Windows 8.1 is not designed for installation on devices that run Windows XP or Vista, but if customers want to upgrade those devices, they should buy a retail packaged DVD and boot from the disc to do a clean install. Files, settings and programs will not be transferred to the Windows 8.1 installation in this case. Microsoft releases Windows 8.1 to the public on October 18th.

Windows 8.1 Price And Packaging Detailed original content from Ubergizmo.

The executive vice president of marketing at Microsoft, Tami Reller, announced during the keynote at the Intel Developer Forum today that Windows 8.1 RTM build has been downloaded over two million times in just 24 hours. Only yesterday Microsoft announced that it was going to release the build to TechNet and MSDN subscribers, after initially deciding that the subscribers would get it at the same day as the public release, October 18th. This decision was criticized a lot by developers, Microsoft said that it had heard the criticism and seen the demand so it decided to roll out a pre-release build for them.

It was back in August when Microsoft announced that Windows 8.1 RTM build was complete, the build was leaked soon after that, initially only with Chinese language packs. Even though the build was complete, Microsoft didn’t release it to TechNet and MSDN subscribers, instead it told them to wait until general availability launch on October 18th. Since the official release yesterday, Reller says that Windows 8.1 RTM is “definitely getting a bit of chatter out there in the market place.” Developers now have ample time to work with the pre-release build before Microsoft releases the much awaited Windows update to the public.

Microsoft Claims Windows 8.1 RTM Downloaded Two Million Times In 24 Hours original content from Ubergizmo.