Hasta La Gadget!

Samsung’s first Windows RT tablet will drop in October, sources have claimed, running Microsoft’s slate-version of Windows 8 on ARM processors from Qualcomm. The tablet’s release is expected to be alongside initial availability of Windows RT models, Bloomberg‘s insiders say, despite high-profile drop outs such as HP deciding not to follow the RT path.

Talk of Samsung partnering with Qualcomm to use Snapdragon in Windows RT hardware first surfaced back in December, with Microsoft supposedly playing matchmaker between device manufacturers and chipset companies. At the time, Qualcomm supposedly selected Samsung because of its comprehensive manufacturing capabilities, in addition to the fact that Samsung already had its Galaxy Tab series of Android slates in the marketplace.

Exact specifications for the Samsung Windows RT model have not been confirmed, though as it stands the company looks likely to use a Snapdragon S4 processor. Such chips have been found in recent high-end phones  like the Samsung Galaxy S III variants in the US, and indeed Qualcomm provided developers with Windows RT prototypes using the processors earlier this year.

Microsoft threw the tablet cat among the pigeons in recent weeks, revealing its own Surface tablet running Windows RT. Though HP subsequently insisted that its decision to bypass the RT slate segment (in favor of full-fat Windows 8 tablets running x86 processors from Intel and AMD) was settled prior to Surface being revealed, rumors indicate many of Microsoft’s high-profile OEM partners were frustrated by the own-brand tablets.

Samsung Windows RT tablet tipped for October with Qualcomm chip is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We have had word that Dell and HP are working on a Windows RT tablet (according to Digitimes, whose track record in terms of accuracy has not exactly been the best to date), although there was also word that there is HP might be ditching plans for a Windows RT tablet. Samsung has also thrown their lot into the Windows RT tablet scene, or so it seems, as the South Korean conglomerate is said to be one of the first to deliver such a tablet that will be powered by ARM-based processors instead of chips that run on Intel’s offering. I guess there are always fanboys in terms of different camps that they support, so with the new Windows RT tablets, they will run on either ARM or Intel processors.

It is said that the Samsung Windows RT tablets will roll out when Windows 8 itself is revealed later this October, at least according to Bloomberg. It will definitely aid Microsoft in their effort to make a dent into the tablet market, which is currently dominated by the iPad from Apple.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Windows 8 confirmed for October release, HP and Dell launching Windows RT tablets end of this year?,

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 chipset is certainly hot (well, not too hot), but it looks like demand is expected to grow even further, causing the San Diego-based SoC maker to turn to allies in the east to help beef up supply. According to China Economic News Service, United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) and Korea-based Samsung will join Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) to manufacturer the 28nm chips beginning later this year, in an attempt to increase S4 availability ahead of the Windows RT launch. The article cites Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs as saying that a shortage is expected to continue, due to the complicated techniques necessary to manufacturer 28nm chips, and that the company may consider adding its own manufacturing plant in the future. All in all, it doesn’t seem like a terrible position for QCOM to be in. Full details are at the Taiwanese source link below.

Qualcomm enlists Samsung, UMC to help meet 28nm Snapdragon S4 demand originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Jul 2012 16:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SlashGear  |  China Economic News Service  | Email this | Comments

Rumors that HP will not build a Windows RT (for ARM processors) are swirling around the web, and making some noise this morning. As you may remember, Microsoft surprised a number of people, including their hardware partners, when it launched its Surface tablet (which is pretty awesome) earlier this month in Los Angeles. Interestingly, rumors don’t mention Intel-based tablets, so let’s assume for a moment that HP may still produce those. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: webOS hacked, offers swiping gesture to switch apps, HP offering one-year warranty extension to a few line of Pavilion desktop PCs,

Fears of Windows tablet manufacturer apathy spurred Microsoft’s Surface development, despite insistence that the slates are intended to support not compete with OEM efforts, according the latest batch of rumors. Observations of the extent to which Apple will go to secure the materials necessary to develop distinctive and unique products – and concerns that its own Windows OEMs were playing device strategy too safely – prompted Microsoft taking Surface into its own hands, a former executive told the NYT, burned too by the ill-fated HP Slate 500 project.

That tablet, demonstrated by Steve Ballmer back in 2010 as a poster-child of Windows 7 on touchscreen hardware, highlighted the shortcomings both of off-the-shelf components and Microsoft’s own platform. Components sufficient to run Windows 7 left the slate heavy, thick, hot and expensive, while the performance of the OS itself fell significantly short of the iPad’s usability. “It would be like driving a car, and the car not turning when you turn the wheel” a former HP executive who worked on the Slate 500 project said, blaming underwhelming finger-friendliness in Windows and the multitouch display for the issues.

HP went on to spend hugely on acquiring Palm for webOS, then dropped the platform into open-source vagueness after the initial HP TouchPad feedback proved subpar. According to insiders at the firm, HP was frustrated at the apparent lack of time and investment Microsoft appeared to be demonstrating in getting Windows 7 to the level where it could legitimately compete with iOS on the iPad. For its part, Microsoft was supposedly reluctant to free up engineers and developers from coding Windows 8, which is designed from the outset to accomodate touchscreen control.

Opinion is now divided as to whether Microsoft wants to continue with its own hardware range or if, after it has shamed OEMs into action, it will bow out. “I think once they jump-start it, they plan to make money the way they always have,” MIT management professor Michael A. Cusamano suggests, “from licensing software,” echoing similar comments recently from Acer’s founder.

The company itself, though, is playing its cards close. “Microsoft has tremendous respect for our hardware partners and the innovation they bring to the Windows ecosystem,” Microsoft corporate VP Steven Guggenheimer insisted in the aftermath of the Surface reveal last week. “We are looking forward to the incredible range of new devices they are bringing out for Windows 8.” No pricing or specific release dates for either the ARM-based Windows RT Surface or the more expensive Intel-based Windows 8 Surface Pro have been confirmed.

As of late-2010, the ex-Microsoft exec claims, it was still undecided internally whether Surface would be Microsoft-branded or licensed out as a hardware reference design. The added control of helming the project from drawing board to store shelves seems to have tipped Microsoft’s hand, however.

Surface spawned over timid OEMs tip ex-Microsofties is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.