Qualcomm and Microsoft have just announced the continuation of their partnership to make sure that Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 chip can power Windows RT 8.1 tablets and computers efficiently. Windows RT is a version of Windows that has been compiled to […]
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Bloomberg is reporting this morning that Microsoft is cutting the price of Windows RT for small tablets in a seemingly desperate bid to spur sales.
It’s a rather predictable move and a touch sad. Tablets based on Windows RT, an operating system that’s pure garbage, are not selling, because, referring to my first point, Windows RT is trash. And since they’re not selling, Microsoft is making concessions and that means cutting the price.
Windows RT was supposed to be Microsoft’s answer to iOS on tablets. Microsoft built the platform to be more robust than the Apple counterpart by including a lot of Windows 8′s desktop tools to run on lower-power devices. But in doing so, Microsoft forked its operating system, forcing developers to choose between Intel-based Windows 8 or ARM-based Windows RT (or Windows Phone 8 or Xbox).
Now, some eight months after Windows RT’s launch, very few mainstream apps have made their way into the Windows Store. There are only a smattering of Windows RT devices available. Meanwhile, Windows 8 devices are quickly becoming as inexpensive as Windows RT.
Microsoft has failed to provide buyers with legitimate reasons to buy a Window RT tablet over an iPad or Android device. Windows RT can run most of Microsoft Office, something traveling shower ring salesmen probably find enticing.
Cutting the price could help.
Android tablets went through the same sort of soul-searching early on, too. For several years, Android tablets were overpriced and without any real reason to exist (remember the HTC Jetstream?).
Then came the $250 B&N Nook Color followed a year later by the Amazon Kindle Fire and the Nexus 7. Suddenly, thanks to their $200 price tag, Android tablets were a viable option for buyers. As popularity exploded Samsung and others cut the price on larger versions, helping to entice more buyers, thus expanding the Android tablet’s market share.
I’m not sure even a $200 tablet could save Windows RT, though.
Computer makers are dropping Windows RT support en mass. HP killed its RT support early on. Samsung followed suit. HTC recently stopped developing its large RT tablet, instead focusing on a smaller, likely 7-inch model. As Bloomberg notes, Dell also has another RT model in the works.
Just the Dell XPS 10, Surface RT and the Asus VivoTab RT carry the Windows RT banner. Lenovo quickly killed its Windows RT-powered IdeaPad Yoga 11. Any other model is too far outside of the mainstream to matter.
Acer just announced the Iconia W3 at Computex. The 8-inch Windows tablet is supposed to hit at 379 Euros later this month. The small-ish tab packs modest specs: 720p display, dual-core Atom Z2760 CPU, 32 or 64GB internal storage with a microSD expansion slot. But it runs Windows 8, not Windows RT.
In fact, at Computex, Taipei’s massive computer tradeshow, there isn’t a hint of Windows RT. And this is the same tradeshow that featured dozens of Windows RT examples last year. The only talk of Windows 8′s lackluster sibling came from Acer’s chairman who told WSJ that Windows RT won’t be “so influential anymore,” also noting that it would be difficult for Windows RT to overcome the lack of compatibility that the full Windows 8 version has.
Windows RT was a mistake from the onset. It’s ridiculous to force consumers to choose between battery life and usability. They’d prefer both. Like on the iPad.
Microsoft can cut prices and perhaps later introduce device subsidies, but it won’t help. Consumers, and more telling, device manufacturers, have spoken. Neither find Windows RT devices to be worth their money. As widely stated at the Surface RT launch, the platform simply has too many compromises.
Microsoft is believed to be discounting Windows RT tablet OS licenses in an attempt to stimulate interest in the Windows-on-ARM platform. Windows RT had been Microsoft’s strategy to directly take on the iPad and Android tablets with more affordable chipsets from Qualcomm and others, but lackluster app compatibility left OEMs hesitant. Now, Bloomberg‘s sources claim, Microsoft is relying on good old fashioned discounting to drive interest.
Exact figures on exactly how much Microsoft is offering to reduce Windows RT licensing fees for are unclear, and neither has the company revealed its original pricing. The promotion is said to be around “Windows RT for small-sized tablets”, which may or may not include roughly 10-inch versions like Microsoft’s own Surface.
It sounds like a solid strategy, given the feedback from manufacturers around Windows RT over the past months. Some companies have outright panned the platform, such as Acer, which earlier today dismissed Windows RT as not influential. Others, however, have been more taciturn in their failing confidence, marginalizing products that had been on the roadmap.
HTC, for instance, was said recently to have axed plans to release a 12-inch Windows RT tablet, though it’s possible the slate may not have qualified for Microsoft’s “small” criteria as part of a discount scheme. At the time, sources suggested HTC lacked confidence that the market demand for Windows RT hardware was sufficient to make releasing the slate worthwhile; it also took issue with Microsoft’s expensive licensing.
However, HTC is still believed to have a roughly 7-inch Windows RT tablet – as well as an Android-based counterpart – in the wings, for release sometime later this year.
ASUS and Toshiba are yet to bring a Windows RT model to market, and Dell recently slashed the price of its model, the XPS 10, by around a third. A Dell spokesperson blamed underwhelming interest on poor awareness of RT’s strengths, rather than a shortcoming in the platform itself.
“We’ve found that customers using it are really, really happy,” Dell tablet VP Neil Hand told Bloomberg. “There just aren’t enough of them knowing what it is, and why they should use it.”
In the meantime, Intel has pushed its own Atom chips to achieve new, lower power consumption without necessarily sacrificing power. The Clover Trail+ series has already shown up today in new tablet models from Samsung and ASUS, and it’s possible that some of the ARM advantages Windows RT took advantage of may be peeling away as x86 architecture catches up.
Microsoft said it will announce more news about Windows RT and its strategy for the platform at BUILD late this month.
Microsoft slashing Windows RT licensing to rescue interest tip sources is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Acer has already managed to cram full Windows 8 into a $380 8-incher (shown above), but ARM-based Windows RT tablets have the potential to drive prices down even further — if only someone, somewhere would see their merit. According to Bloomberg, Microsoft is now trying to help things along by offering discounts to OEMs who’ll use RT in smaller tablets. The prices in question are confidential, so it’s hard to gauge the likely impact for consumers, but with Dell’s XPS 10 (shown above) still costing $400 with its dock, and with Surface RT fetching $500, there’s definitely scope for improvement.
Filed under: Tablets, Microsoft
Source: Bloomberg
Acer has joined the Windows RT naysayers, with the company’s chairman, J.T. Wang, criticizing the Windows-on-ARM platform for lacking influence in the market. The Taiwanese company hasn’t been slow to jump on board the Windows 8 bandwagon – being the first company to launch an 8-inch Windows 8 tablet, in fact, earlier today at Computex – but Wang told the WSJ that his confidence didn’t extend to the sibling OS.
According to the chairman, Windows RT is unlikely to be “so influential anymore” and that has left Acer uncertain whether it will launch an ARM-based RT model. “We would like to be realistic,” Wang explained. “We have not decided if we want to launch that, to start mass production.”
Windows RT was Microsoft’s attempt to broaden Windows’ appeal among tablet users, taking on iOS on the iPad and the cavalcade of Android slates with a version intended to use low-power ARM-based chips rather than x86 processors from Intel and AMD. Loaded onto the original Microsoft Surface, Windows RT looks ostensibly like the regular version of Windows 8, with the same Metro-style interface.
However, under the hood architectural changes mean most existing Windows apps won’t run on Windows RT, and only new Metro apps are supported. RT has a traditional desktop view, but that’s only for the special version of Office Home & Student 2013 RT; other apps can’t be installed.
Microsoft is yet to announce sales figures for Surface, but the general response has been cold. It’s also seen third-party OEMs step back from their own Windows RT plans. Samsung dropped its RT tablet, while Dell said that it had been underwhelmed by the “pretty negative” response to its RT slate, which it cut the price of last month. HTC was believed to be working on a 12-inch RT model, since dropped amid middling consumer interest, though is believed to still have a roughly 7-inch version in the pipeline for later this year.
It’s not the first time Acer has been publicly pessimistic about Windows RT. Back in May, Acer president Jimmy Wong told reporters that “there’s no value doing the current version of RT,” with plans for a model to be released sometime this current quarter apparently put on hold.
Acer dismisses Windows RT as not “influential” is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
HTC is currently sailing through a patch of rough seas, and it seems as though the company is starting to rethink its tablet strategy. According to a recent report from Bloomberg, HTC was planning to put together a 12-inch Windows RT tablet for release later this year before scrapping it due to cost and anemic overall demand for Windows RT.
That’s not to say that the beleaguered Taiwanese OEM is ditching Windows RT completely — there’s reportedly still a 7-inch RT tablet in the works, as well as another Android tablet. Bloomberg’s unnamed source goes on to note that demand for RT-powered tablets in general has been lackluster, so it made sense for HTC to pick its battles more carefully. After all, recent (albeit unconfirmed) Surface RT sales figures from back in March purport that Microsoft had only sold about a million units at the time — for a device meant to be the RT flagship, such numbers probably weighed heavily into the machinations of OEMs considering entering the RT fray.
Long time HTC watchers will know that focusing on a smaller number of quality devices is a tablet tactic the company has leaned on before. HTC’s recent history with tablets has been, well, pretty spotty. It’s first notable Android tablet in 2011 relied heavily on a smart stylus (a formula that Samsung would later turn into a winner) and just didn’t sell all that well, and its larger-screened followup saw similarly poor sales in the U.S. thanks to its incredibly high price tag — $699 with a contract. Clearly, things had to change.
HTC UK chief Phil Roberson said early last year that the company would be dialing back its focus on tablets, and true to his word HTC company spent much of 2012 trying to perfect its smartphone formula while facing ever-stiffer competition from rivals Samsung and Apple. Arguably the OEM has finally managed to hit its stride with the widely acclaimed One smartphone, but a single well-received device almost certainly won’t be enough to turn things around alone. It’s tough to say just how much of an impact a small Windows RT tablet will have on HTC’s flagging fortunes (I’m guessing it won’t move the needle much), but the company could use any boost it can get at this point. A quick look at HTC’s recently released fiscal Q1 2013 financials reveals a business that has definitely seen better days — it reported a mere $2.8 million in unaudited net income, down drastically from the year-ago quarter.
HTC has reportedly axed plans to launch a 12-inch tablet running Windows RT, sources claim, after deciding demand for the slate would be insufficient, though a smaller version is still said to be on the roadmap. The unnamed 12-inch tablet was sidelined over fears that it would be too expensive, Bloomberg reports, with the components required adding up to too great a bill-of-materials to allow a competitive street price.
Meanwhile, the underlying consumer interest in Windows RT has also spooked HTC, the sources familiar with the company’s tablet plans suggests. Microsoft is yet to release sales figures for machines running the platform – which modifies Windows 8 to work on ARM-based processors, rather than the x86 chips more commonly associated with the OS – though figures from IDC suggest less than a quarter of a million were sold in Q1 this year.
HTC seemingly has some lingering interest in Windows RT, however, since it is believed to have a smaller slate running the OS in the pipeline. The 7-inch tablet isn’t due until later in 2013, and will run RT on a chipset from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon stable, just as the 12-inch variant was supposedly going to.
The company will hedge its bets, however, by also offering an Android tablet at roughly the same time as the RT variant. Also expected to be 7-inches in size, the second slate will echo HTC’s split in smartphones, with part of its range running Android while the rest uses Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform.
Even if Windows RT’s lackluster success wasn’t sufficient to sink the large tablet plan, research into the appeal of different form-factor sizes indicates HTC is right to leave the 12-inch segment alone. According to recent predictions, even by 2017 11-inch or above models are only expected to comprise around 6-percent of total tablet sales.
Tablets aren’t the only bigger-screen push HTC is believed to be planning. The company is also tipped to be working on a “phablet”, larger than the HTC One, and potentially headed to Verizon.
HTC reportedly scraps 12″ Windows RT tablet plans (but 7″ still on the way) is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Logicool is releasing a 9.3mm ultra-thin USB wired keyboard “Logicool Illuminate Keyboard” on June 7.
The illumination intensity of the built-in backlight is adjustable. Since the keyboard is featured with the PerfectStroke key system, typing feels smoother and quieter than regular keyboards. “Logicool Illuminate Keyboard” is less straining on your fingers for a long period of use.
Price is 8,980 yen.
Size: 457 × 190 × 9.3mm
Weight: 1050g
Compliant OS: Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP
Connection: USB
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