Topic: Microsoft unveils tablet

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but....but.....data capzzzzzzzzzzz

(edit: at first I was like "sarcasm, yay!", but now I'm wondering if I should have overthought what you said. o.O )

Why would you want to watch your iPad movies on the hotel screen? The third generation iPad screen looks better than any TV I've come across - especially in hotel rooms.

If you've got a 32GB iPad, you've got enough storage space on it to have enough movies/ TV shows to keep you entertained for an hour or so while you travel to the hotel room and a WiFi zone.

Just to clarify the "between the lines" point I'm making here - USB ports and HDMI Out are things I've never needed with the iPad. Ever. Bluetooth, Cloud and Airplay has got me through just fine.

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You really need to work for a marketing company. "Immersive big screen experience" is the kind to trite they spew out that sounds good but has no meaning whatsoever.

It's also amusing since I've seen you talk about the 3DS being immersive before. And yet the 3DS's screens are both far smaller than the iPads, and of a far inferior quality.

"Immersion" happens when the material (movie, game, book, whatever) is good. Find a good movie, get a good set of headphones and relax comfortably in bed and the iPad can be perfectly immersive.

I like the virtual pen...Apple will nick that idea, I'm sure...apart from that though, I've heard nothing about how it competes against the iStore, which is what really matters in the tablet market, isn't it? Or are Microsoft really aiming solely at the corporate market?

I'll want to buy a new tablet for the home eventually, and if Microsoft want me to ditch Apple, they need to make it clear how this thing works as a music and book downloader/player/reader

I like the virtual pen...Apple will nick that idea, I'm sure...

The only reason the iPad doesn't have an Apple stylus is because Steve Jobs hated the idea of interacting with a tablet in that way. While it's possible that Tim Cook has different plans for his company (just as we may now see an official game controller, Jobs hated that idea too, but Cook might be different), were Apple to release a stylus, it would be... rather silly... to claim it was a "stolen" idea.

If you're talking about digital pens in particular, it's not even Microsoft's invention.

apart from that though, I've heard nothing about how it competes against the iStore, which is what really matters in the tablet market, isn't it? Or are Microsoft really aiming solely at the corporate market?

It's going to use Microsoft's app store, whatever that's called. Which means a fraction of a percentage of the apps that are on either Android or iOS, and very little incentive for developers to bother with it when there's better install bases with the competitor platforms.

Microsoft know that, so they'll push the corporate angle. Sadly, anyone who knows anything already realises that there's plenty of really good corporate apps on the iPad.

I'll want to buy a new tablet for the home eventually, and if Microsoft want me to ditch Apple, they need to make it clear how this thing works as a music and book downloader/player/reader

Rationally, you're better off sticking with Apple, as it's unlikely Microsoft is going to offer anything that does what the iPad does significantly better.

But then people have an irrational need to hate on Apple, so that renders my point moot.

Didn't Apple already patent a stylus recently...?

Also, you shouldn't rule out Microsoft's tablet- it's not even out. Sounds like you have this massive bias towards Apple :/

Wouldn't it be a massively once five to release apps for it as windows store runs on both tablets as well as windows desktops and windows 8 and windows RT share code making app porting easy.

Also, you shouldn't rule out Microsoft's tablet- it's not even out. Sounds like you have this massive bias towards Apple :/

Windows Phone has what, one per cent of the market? Has it managed to overtake Blackberry yet?

No one is developing apps for this platform because Apple and Android have larger audiences, and at a few dollars an app, you need very large audiences to make any money. Without apps, these products are doomed to fail. It's what killed Nokia and RIM.

The tablet space is no different. Even Android is struggling there - the one and only commercially successful Android is the Kindle Fire, and that's because the Kindle Fire is a lot cheaper than the iPad.

It's not bias to recognise that a product is dominant in the market. It would be a commercial miracle if this tablet is commercially viable long term, let alone competitive.

Wouldn't it be a massively once five to release apps for it as windows store runs on both tablets as well as windows desktops and windows 8 and windows RT share code making app porting easy.

You're assuming the majority of people out there care about that.

They don't. While they care about is being able to access their media on all devices (already possible in Apple environments), apps are a different story. Further, optimising apps so they can work across phones, tablets and PCs is going to be insanely difficult work for developers on account of the massive differences in screen sizes. Developers already have to rewrite iPhone apps entirely to make them worthwhile on iPad.

There's definitely room for improvement on the music library/player. But more to the point, if Microsoft can offer more choice on how I download MP3/books, and make them cheaper, they could capture my custom, somewhere down the line

Who are the "majority" of people? It's like you know them personally

And I'm not talking about your bias towards a product. I'm referring bias towards a company.

Seems like its no fun to always look at it from a business view. Sometimes its better sit back enjoy the new tech and relax.

I think BB10 looks cool and its no way in bell going to do well, and I loved webos before it was killed.

I couldn't care about about what business stragey When it comes to what I want for my personal use.

You also say to the point they won't announce anything g better than apple does on the media side. Most poeple tend to use third party software sk thats not Muhammad of a big deal.

And Xbox Music is better than itunes for the most part.

@Sony_70 I love your autocorrect

Damn you stupid non adaptive keyboard.

Just turned it off.

And I'm not talking about your bias towards a product. I'm referring bias towards a company.

The moment someone comes out with a product that appeals to me more than Apple laptops/ iPads etc is the moment I'll buy that instead. I don't play the silly fanboy games. I simply buy into whatever works for me best.

Right now, yes, it's Apple. Many of the reasons it does work for me best is because it's the world's biggest company (fact, not opinion).

Seems like its no fun to always look at it from a business view. Sometimes its better sit back enjoy the new tech and relax.

I agree: I bought the PSPGo and the Vita.

The chatter around the Internet, though, is all about how this is potentially an "iPad beater." No, no it's not. I would personally rather people realise that a product is going to fail, buy it, and enjoy it for what it is, than go in expecting an industry revolution and end up disappointed.

Furthermore, the likely failure of the product is going to have some consequences with how good it is - fewer apps being the main one.

You also say to the point they won't announce anything g better than apple does on the media side. Most poeple tend to use third party software sk thats not Muhammad of a big deal.

And Xbox Music is better than itunes for the most part.

I (and many others) prefer iTunes, for the sheer weight of content it has.

Beyond that, the iPad has access to (ultra-high resolution, thanks to retina) as many, if not more, streaming services than any other device. Personally I use Crunchyroll, Quickflix and Music Unlimited, with Mubi on the way (Hulu Plus and Netflix not available in Australia) .

For a device to attract me away from the iPad, it needs to do better than that. Otherwise, what's the point?

I think it's safe to say that the majority of people will ALWAYS prefer watching a Movie on their TV in comparison to an iPad....There's no arguement @Watlz">there...@Watlz if you enjoy laying in your bed with your I-pad while watching movies than all the power to you, Movie experiences in the palm of your hands just doesn't do it for me as it destroys that large scale impact and 'wow' factor that a TV can provide.

You do realise that, assuming you sit a normal distance away from a TV, the iPad in the hands takes up about as much of your field of vision as the TV at the other end of the room, right? I completely agree that if you have a home cinema then it's a different story, because that $10,000 or so investment provides you with a "screen" that takes the whole field of vision, with a sound system to boot.

But a regular TV playing out of a regular set of Dolby speakers? No.

Scale is the same.

Oh I dkn't think windows 8 or windows phone 8 will ever be number #1. Im hoping for a #2 on thr tablet and #3 on the phone side lf things.

While Itunes is still one of my to go's for stuff I cant find on xbox music or google music (mostly video game soundtracks) I love me zune pass (pretty much the sony music unlimited) and the crazy sales google music gets that itunes doesnt.

And im getting the surface pro becuase its pretty much shaping up to me to be the perfect marriage of a Tablet and an Ultrabook. I'd rather get something powerful that will fits those wholes, while contuining to use my fire as an ebook reader and picking up a vizio all in one for desktop needs.

Oh yes, and his family can watch movies with him on the iPad, and he could sync his multi-gig HD movies.

I admit it, I'm not too fond of Apple themselves, only because I don't like their braggy marketing. But I do like their products and hope to invest in an iMac soon.

No interest in the tablet...

Oh yes, and his family can watch movies with him on the iPad, and he could sync his multi-gig HD movies.

If we're going to continue on this ridiculous hypothetical, the man should man up and take his family to a cinema, or order a movie off the hotel's room service.

But let's keep going. Eventually we'll reach a scenario so obscure and ridiculous that actually proves that the iPad isn't a fine travel companion. Off the top of my head I suspect if the hotel is in the middle of Arctic and the power has gone out, the iPad might freeze and stop working.

Oh noes!

@Waltz Just saying...

Anyway, what does this tablet offer that the competition initally didn't (or doesn't) have? Apple revolutionized the tablet version of the App Store. Palm and WebOS had Synergy to collapse search results and organizing information in a unified list, be it e-mails or webpages. No clue about Google Android. I feel like Microsoft is making a tablet for the sake of competing with Apple and Google. Having a unique feature could really help...