Blockbuster Microsoft Pad announcement?

[smoledman]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/16/technology/microsoft-expected-to-introduce-tablet.html

Woah. Wouldn't this be Microsoft telling all their OEMs - F U? At the very least it would be Microsoft signalling they are becoming a full computer company, because Apple proved it's the only way to be profitable in this business - full vertical integration.

 

[G51989]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/16/technology/microsoft-expected-to-introduce-tablet.html

Woah. Wouldn't this be Microsoft telling all their OEMs - F U? At the very least it would be Microsoft signalling they are becoming a full computer company, because Apple proved it's the only way to be profitable in this business - full vertical integration.

Stop smoking so much weed.

Microsoft is a very succesful and profitable company. There is no reason they can't make a tablet and still supply OEMs with software

 

[smoledman]

Stop smoking so much weed.

Microsoft is a very succesful and profitable company. There is no reason they can't make a tablet and still supply OEMs with software

Why would Samsung pay $85 license fee and make almost no profit on a Windows RT tablet when Microsoft is busy making their own?

 

[G51989]

Why would Samsung pay $85 license fee and make almost no profit on a Windows RT tablet when Microsoft is busy making their own?

Easy, because there are still people who will perfer the Samsung made tablet over the microsoft tablet.

And, even with the 85 dollar fee. Samsung can still profit.

 

[boss.king]

Why would Samsung pay $85 license fee and make almost no profit on a Windows RT tablet when Microsoft is busy making their own?

You really think MSFT would abandon the business model that made them the success they are today? Even if they did start doing hardware, there's no way in hell they would abandon the OEMs. If anything it would be a reference tablet made by an OEM of their choice (probably Nokia, maybe more than one) similar to what Google did with the Nexus line.

 

[Abstract]

Microsoft bought Nokia. Did you really believe that MS wouldn't eventually enter the hardware game? Anything released by Nokia now is, in essence, a Microsoft product.

You can package it as a Nokia (or Microsoft) tablet or phone, but Microsoft is in the hardware game regardless of the label or colour of the device.


I don't know why this bothers people. MS has owned Nokia for awhile now, and Google has owned Motorola. They're smart businesses. They're not going to start shutting other companies out.

 

[malman89]

Why would Samsung pay $85 license fee and make almost no profit on a Windows RT tablet when Microsoft is busy making their own?

And what's the cost of the non-RT licensing fee? No one knows - probably a good deal cheaper. $85 isn't a deal breaker, but neither is the success (or not) of Windows 8 on ARM.

 

[Peace]

Why would a MS tablet be an automatic "blockbuster" anyway ?

Remember the Zune ?

 

[G51989]

Why would a MS tablet be an automatic "blockbuster" anyway ?

Remember the Zune ?

The 360 did great, no reason a tablet couldn't.

Yeah I do , I love my zune.

 

[Peace]

The 360 did great, no reason a tablet couldn't.

Yeah I do , I love my zune.

I'm glad you love your Zune but Microsoft doesn't feel the same way.

 

[LethalWolfe]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/16/technology/microsoft-expected-to-introduce-tablet.html

Woah. Wouldn't this be Microsoft telling all their OEMs - F U? At the very least it would be Microsoft signalling they are becoming a full computer company, because Apple proved it's the only way to be profitable in this business - full vertical integration.

Isn't Google basically doing the same thing w/their Nexus phones?

 

[G51989]

I'm glad you love your Zune but Microsoft doesn't feel the same way.

Yeahhhh. It kinda sucks

 

[fertilized-egg]

The 360 did great, no reason a tablet couldn't.

Yeah I do , I love my zune.

That's the funny thing about the whole XBox business. It's doing pretty well now, especially since Kinect's introduction, but if you look at the history it hasn't been all that profitable.

Just in the first half of the last decade, the gaming division of microsoft lost somewhere around $5 billion and it wasn't making money until 2008 or so. (Let's not forget Microsoft spent more than a billion to fix the RRoD issue for 360) Even if you combine all the profit made from XBox from the past 5 years, I don't think it comes close to the money MS lost over the years.

Of course XBox's future is looking pretty good and neither Sony or Nintendo is looking like a huge threat right now. But Microsoft had to spent a ton of money and time just to get XBox going, and Google and Apple are arguably a lot tougher competitor than Nintendo and Sony especially given that they all share the same North American home base; with XBox Microsoft was able to really able to exploit the home North American market first to get traction but it'll be tougher to do that in the tablet market where both of their biggest competitors are based in the USA.

 

[LethalWolfe]

The RRoD really hurt the 360, but I think they started selling 360's at a break even rate about 12mo after its release so they actually planned well in that regard (again, aside from the RRoD problems).

What gets really interesting is how well SmartGlass factors into all of this. The last piece of the eco-system puzzle is the living room and MS has been gunning for that space since the 90's (WebTV, anyone). IMO the 360 gives them a big leg up over Google and Apple in this area and if SmartGlass turns into a must have, cross platform app MS might just be able to cut Apple and Google off at the pass.


Lethal

 

[smoledman]

The RRoD really hurt the 360, but I think they started selling 360's at a break even rate about 12mo after its release so they actually planned well in that regard (again, aside from the RRoD problems).

What gets really interesting is how well SmartGlass factors into all of this. The last piece of the eco-system puzzle is the living room and MS has been gunning for that space since the 90's (WebTV, anyone). IMO the 360 gives them a big leg up over Google and Apple in this area and if SmartGlass turns into a must have, cross platform app MS might just be able to cut Apple and Google off at the pass.


Lethal

Cross platform is overrated. Having a fully integrated ecosystem that "just works" like Apple's is where it's all at now. The ability to use AirPlay and Mirroring from your iPad to an Apple TV is magical.

 

[G51989]

Cross platform is overrated. Having a fully integrated ecosystem that "just works" like Apple's is where it's all at now. The ability to use AirPlay and Mirroring from your iPad to an Apple TV is magical.

Cross platform is great, it gives users choice.

Having a fully integrated ecosystem is so boring

And I've had plenty of Apple products refuse to " just work "

And if that's your idea of " magical ". You seriously need to get out more.

 

[smoledman]

Cross platform is great, it gives users choice.

Having a fully integrated ecosystem is so boring

And I've had plenty of Apple products refuse to " just work "

It's hardly boring when Apple gives so many magical features that work seamlessly. Why have cross platform if those other products don't give you better functionality then Apple?

 

[miles01110]

Why would a MS tablet be an automatic "blockbuster" anyway ?

Remember the Zune ?

The Zune was clearly not going to be successful from the start - it was a knee-jerk reaction to the success of the iPad. A Microsoft tablet will be able to take advantage of all of the work that has gone into Windows 8, which has been more or less built from the ground up to work on tablets. The two aren't really comparable.

 

[G51989]

It's hardly boring when Apple gives so many magical features that work seamlessly. Why have cross platform if those other products don't give you better functionality then Apple?

Because the Apple " ecosystem " isn't capable of helping me do my job. Therefore, I'm not interested ( Terrible hardware kinda kills that. OSX can't even read the amount of memory my workstation has ).

Yeah, some of the Apple features are really cool. And I do like most of them, though I doubt I'll ever own a tablet of any kind such as an iPad. To limited for me.

What do you find magical exactly?

It also depends on what you need, for a lot of people. The Apple Ecosystem works great, for me. It'll fall flat on its face when my job is involved.

Cross platform is great, because it allows you to Mix and Match devices which do their job the best.

----------

The Zune was clearly not going to be successful from the start - it was a knee-jerk reaction to the success of the iPad. A Microsoft tablet will be able to take advantage of all of the work that has gone into Windows 8, which has been more or less built from the ground up to work on tablets. The two aren't really comparable.

This.

I do have a Zune HD. And I love it. Its the best MP3 player I've ever owned. Its light, it has a great display. The battery life is straight up retarded good. And I LOVE the interface.

I think the Zune did hit it for some people. The used prices are insane. Ive seen in box Zune HD's go for as much as 400 dollars.

But I also realize. It was always gonna be a failure. That never stopped me from buying one, as long as mine still works. I'll use it.

I gotta say, I have NEVER seen an MP3 player of any kind with anything like the build quality seen on the Zune HD, its pretty incredible.

 

[smoledman]

Because the Apple " ecosystem " isn't capable of helping me do my job. Therefore, I'm not interested ( Terrible hardware kinda kills that. OSX can't even read the amount of memory my workstation has ).

Yeah, some of the Apple features are really cool. And I do like most of them, though I doubt I'll ever own a tablet of any kind such as an iPad. To limited for me.

What do you find magical exactly?

It also depends on what you need, for a lot of people. The Apple Ecosystem works great, for me. It'll fall flat on its face when my job is involved.

Cross platform is great, because it allows you to Mix and Match devices which do their job the best.

----------



This.

I do have a Zune HD. And I love it. Its the best MP3 player I've ever owned. Its light, it has a great display. The battery life is straight up retarded good. And I LOVE the interface.

I think the Zune did hit it for some people. The used prices are insane.

But I also realize. It was always gonna be a failure. That never stopped me from buying one, as long as mine still works. I'll use it.

You just proved my point - Apple fits perfectly into everyone's home. Who cares if they're not the ideal solution for work?

 

[G51989]

You just proved my point - Apple fits perfectly into everyone's home. Who cares if they're not the ideal solution for work?

Because there are a large number of people who bring their work home with them.

If I brought my work home with me into my Apple Ecosystem, even with a Mac pro, it would all melt into a puddle.

What makes Apple so perfect for everyone's home? They clearly are not. Or Windows would not be the king of personal computers. And Apple would have 100% of the marketshare in desktops, laptops, tablets and MP3 players and phones. And they don't.

 

[smoledman]

Because there are a large number of people who bring their work home with them.

If I brought my work home with me into my Apple Ecosystem, even with a Mac pro, it would all melt into a puddle.

What makes Apple so perfect for everyone's home? They clearly are not. Or Windows would not be the king of personal computers. And Apple would have 100% of the marketshare in desktops, laptops, tablets and MP3 players and phones. And they don't.

Correction, maybe 2% of people take their computer work home to an extent they need an identical setup as at work. The other 98% can choose what they want and increasingly they choose Macs. Every quarter Macs grow 25% year on year.

 

[G51989]

Correction, maybe 2% of people take their computer work home to an extent they need an identical setup as at work. The other 98% can choose what they want and increasingly they choose Macs. Every quarter Macs grow 25% year on year.

I don't know what you do for a living or who you know, but I know a TON of people who take their work home with them.

Mac's might be growing, but they still make up less than 10% of the home computer market. Microsoft dominates that for a very good reason. They make a very stable, secure, easy to use and very compatible OS.

 

[smoledman]

If Monday is indeed the Microsoft xPad announcement, they should highlight major features that differentiate it from the iPad:

* the start screen with live tiles and semantic zooming
* integrated video streaming application. basically the XBox Video dashboard as an app in Windows 8
* a USB port so that you can sync any device
* SmartGlass
* application snapping(having side by side apps)
* picture password

do it boom, boom, boom. Leave 'em breathless, don't take more then 30-45 minutes and take no questions.

 

[G51989]

If Monday is indeed the Microsoft xPad announcement, they should highlight major features that differentiate it from the iPad:

* the start screen with live tiles and semantic zooming
* integrated video streaming application. basically the XBox Video dashboard as an app in Windows 8
* a USB port so that you can sync any device
* SmartGlass
* application snapping(having side by side apps)
* picture password

do it boom, boom, boom. Leave 'em breathless, don't take more then 30-45 minutes and take no questions.

Exactly, the only way Microsoft is going to make a good tablet that can compete is to make it different than an iPad.

I think the Tabletness of Windows 8 can really go far. Right now, iOS strikes me as being pretty far behind.

Apple is in catch up mode right now, but iOS6 looks like they've been closing the gap pretty quickly. And they NEED to.

As it stands right now, I don't think iOS can stand up to Windows 8