In August 2008, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts unveiled a 30-inch computer table like display across a few key cities in the United States in a bid to make its lobbies metamorphose into social-networking hubs. This was not surprising, given that Sheraton is a flag bearer for applying the latest digital technologies in its space.
The computer table was pretty innovative given that it featured a touchscreen display that allowed guests to interact with content without a mouse or a keyboard. Functions included listening to songs, getting information about nearby retail stores and so on. The roadmap also included features such as allowing customers to download coupons and retail information into their mobile devices and order food and beverages. This futuristic and impressive technology was called Microsoft Surface.
The resurfacing of the Surface
The technology actually surfaced earlier. In 2006, Ray Ozzie created a prototype using this technology that could flick content across multiple flat-screen devices with just a cool swipe and also be able to interact with the content. How about grabbing a piece of action off the X-box in to your tablet screen with just a swipe? Pretty cool indeed.
Now Microsoft has once again resurfaced with the Microsoft Surface Tablet, in a ‘Take 3’ manoeuvre, this time headed for a piece of action in the current global blitzkreig evident in the tablet space. This is not the first time Microsoft has forayed into the hardware space: the highly successful Xbox is the most renowned piece of hardware from the company, which has also offered a slew of products that faded into oblivion, like the Zune and an array of phones.
But will the Microsoft Surface tablets, as Steve Ballmer addressed them, create a ripple in the already crowded tablet arena where iPad reigns supreme?
Under the surface of Surface
Well, there are actually two Surfaces to talk about here. While one model is armed with a Windows RT, ARM-based chipset for light weight and long battery life, the other houses an Intel-powered model that can run all Windows 8 apps, as well as software designed for earlier version of Windows.
The ARM-based Surface for Windows RT is closest to wearing the garb as well as a price tag that may be comparable to the tablet breed, while the Surface for Windows Pro, as the more robust version is called, is reported to be too heavy and expensive to be positioned against other tablets.
Hence the Surface Pro would be a possible competitor in the Ultrabook space rather than the tablet space. Like the Asus Transformer Prime, which is a class apart, Surface has convertibility on its side; it is a tablet when you need it to be, with a touchscreen for interacting with Metro apps as well as a keyboard embedded in the cover. With a 10.6-inch screen size, it may be a wee bit small for the ultra-book category. But we will not fret about that for now.
Back to the Surface RT, this ‘wannabe’ tablet provides more ports than most of the competing tablets, come with an optically bonded HD display, has the ability to view dual apps in one screen, has a convenient kickstand and boasts a reported 32GB memory. But the advantages lose a bit of lustre in the weight department where it stands a tad heavier than the current iPad, which incidentally is heavier than the earlier version of the iPad.
These are days when the Android tablet stables are churning out progressively powerful but lighter tablets with full HD displays. And on that note, I cannot help but pat myself on the back for grabbing my personal favourite, the Asus Transformer Prime: an 8.33-mm super thin, 586-gram ultra-light, NVIDIA TEGRA 3-equipped, full HD display, quad-core tablet running Android ICS 4.0.3, power-packed for hard-core gamers as well.
Will the Surface remain at the surface?
These are the days when the tech pioneers and early-adopters are on a rampage, getting their hands on the latest pieces of hot technology and setting the course for the mass market to follow. The plethora of tablet choices is quite intimidating. To compare, contrast and decide on a purchase is even more intimidating to the average Joe. Then there are the wannabe tablets or “tabletoids” like the Galaxy Note, side-by-side with the ever-thinner Ultrabooks. And all of these are stacked along a ‘not-so-wide’ price-point spectrum as well.
While the Surface Pro may emerge a winner eventually, given that it is pitched against the Ultrabook category with a lower price-point, superior specifications, interoperability, convertibility and cross-functional capabilities, the million dollar question for me is this: Will the Surface RT move the needle with tablet buyers?
Only time will tell. But for the eager geek lobby and possibly to the chagrin of iPad lovers out there, I will leave you with a recent report from CNN titled “5 Ways Microsoft’s Surface may be better than the iPad”.