Microsoft gearing up to reintroduce iPad competitors running Windows 7
Microsoft will again present Slate PCs running Windows 7 at next month's 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, hoping to offer users an alternative to Apple's iPad.
According to a report by New York Times, "Microsoft?s chief executive [Steve Ballmer] is expected to announce a number of these devices when he takes the stage at CES, showcasing devices built by Samsung and Dell, among a number of other manufacturing partners."
The report said that the new crop of Slate PCs include a model from Samsung "similar in size and shape to the Apple iPad, although it is not as thin. It also includes a unique and slick keyboard that slides out from below for easy typing."
Samsung already sells its Android-based Galaxy Tab, but that 7 inch device isn't designed to function as an iPad-like tablet as much as an oversized smartphone (or iPod touch). Google's version of Android aimed at competing in the iPad market isn't due until next summer.
Microsoft hopes to bring Windows 7 to market to serve as a contender in the table market, which is currently dominated by Apple's iPad. Without time to develop a new operating system or adapt its fledgling Windows Phone 7 to work on full sized devices, the company is falling back to a strategy that pairs the conventional Windows 7 desktop in landscape mode with a new "layered interface that will appear when the keyboard is hidden and the device is held in a portrait mode," the report stated.
No focus on apps
While the large library of custom iPad apps delivers much of the allure connected to Apple's tablet, Microsoft is following Google's Chrome OS strategy of relying on HTML5 to unlock the value of partner's new devices. The report cited "a person who works at Microsoft" as saying that "the company was encouraging partners to build applications for these devices that use HTML5."
The same source said that "applications will not be sold in an app store, as with the Apple iTunes model, but Microsoft will encourage software partners to host the applications on their own Web sites, which will then be highlighted in a search interface on the slate computers. It is unclear if these applications will be ready for CES as most are still in production."
Microsoft similarly downplayed the importance of available third party software when launching Windows Phone 7, claiming that smartphone users don't want to be distracted with lots of functionality in their mobile phone. Claiming the same thing about tablet computers will be harder to do, but the new devices' backward compatibility with conventional Windows apps will make this less necessary.
Lots of Tablet PC failure: 2001-2005
Microsoft began touting "Pen Computing" in the early 90s, at a time when Apple was bringing its Newton Message Pad to market. Stylus-based tablet never caught on outside of a brief flurry of cheap PDAs offered by companies like Palm.
In 2000, just as the promising PDA market was reaching its peak, Microsoft debuted the Tablet PC as a "new" concept, in an effort to sell desktop Windows to mobile users.
While Palm converted its PDA business to smartphones, Microsoft's Tablet PCs never garnered much attention. Near the end of 2001, Bill Gates claimed that Microsoft's Tablet PC would become the most popular form of PC in five years, but that never happened.
A year later at the end of 2002, even Gartner was reporting that "despite much publicity and market promotion, the Tablet PC is not expected to result in a high rate of early adoption."
The firm wrote at the time that "a lack of application support, clumsy hardware designs and a price premium will be barriers for most users," but still predicted that "by 2007 at least 35 percent of all notebooks sold will have screen digitizers with a convertible or separable keyboard design." Even that conservative five year prediction didn't pan out.
UMPC Origami tablet failure: 2006
In 2006, Microsoft relaunched Tablet PCs as part of Project Origami, resulting in a category of products the company named UMPC (for "ultra mobile"). The primary UMPC device was Samsung's $1300 Q1, which ran both Windows XP (upgradable to Vista) as well as Microsoft's mobile Windows CE (since rebranded as "Windows XP Embedded" to escape the stigma of Windows CE's past failures.)
In 2006, Gartner said that it believed Microsoft's UMPC was rushed to market and "assigned a probability of 80% to the UMPC not achieving mainstream success (sales in the millions of units) by 2009," according to a report made at the time by Pen Computing.
That same year, CNET UK pitted the Samsung Q1 against a decade old Newton MessagePad 2000 from 1997 and pronounced the Newton as a better mobile device overall.
Surface, Courier and the Slate PC: 2007-2009
In 2007, Microsoft turned its attention to touch-based desktop PCs as Apple released the first iPhone, later unveiling the Microsoft Surface prototype. Apple continued to broaden its reach into the tablet market with the iPod touch, which delivered much of the functionality of a tablet while only claiming to be an entertainment device.
In 2009, Microsoft floated prototype pictures of the Courier, a dual screen tablet device that was supposed to support both multitouch and stylus input, and run the same software as Windows Phone 7 (at least according to the imagination of the company's fans). Microsoft officially scuttled the project in 2010.
In 2010, Microsoft once again focused on Tablet PCs, this time under the name Slate PC, showing off a prototype of an HP Slate running Windows 7. That device ended up selling just 9,000 units as Apple's full sized iPad began selling into the millions.
According to a report by New York Times, "Microsoft?s chief executive [Steve Ballmer] is expected to announce a number of these devices when he takes the stage at CES, showcasing devices built by Samsung and Dell, among a number of other manufacturing partners."
The report said that the new crop of Slate PCs include a model from Samsung "similar in size and shape to the Apple iPad, although it is not as thin. It also includes a unique and slick keyboard that slides out from below for easy typing."
Samsung already sells its Android-based Galaxy Tab, but that 7 inch device isn't designed to function as an iPad-like tablet as much as an oversized smartphone (or iPod touch). Google's version of Android aimed at competing in the iPad market isn't due until next summer.
Microsoft hopes to bring Windows 7 to market to serve as a contender in the table market, which is currently dominated by Apple's iPad. Without time to develop a new operating system or adapt its fledgling Windows Phone 7 to work on full sized devices, the company is falling back to a strategy that pairs the conventional Windows 7 desktop in landscape mode with a new "layered interface that will appear when the keyboard is hidden and the device is held in a portrait mode," the report stated.
No focus on apps
While the large library of custom iPad apps delivers much of the allure connected to Apple's tablet, Microsoft is following Google's Chrome OS strategy of relying on HTML5 to unlock the value of partner's new devices. The report cited "a person who works at Microsoft" as saying that "the company was encouraging partners to build applications for these devices that use HTML5."
The same source said that "applications will not be sold in an app store, as with the Apple iTunes model, but Microsoft will encourage software partners to host the applications on their own Web sites, which will then be highlighted in a search interface on the slate computers. It is unclear if these applications will be ready for CES as most are still in production."
Microsoft similarly downplayed the importance of available third party software when launching Windows Phone 7, claiming that smartphone users don't want to be distracted with lots of functionality in their mobile phone. Claiming the same thing about tablet computers will be harder to do, but the new devices' backward compatibility with conventional Windows apps will make this less necessary.
Lots of Tablet PC failure: 2001-2005
Microsoft began touting "Pen Computing" in the early 90s, at a time when Apple was bringing its Newton Message Pad to market. Stylus-based tablet never caught on outside of a brief flurry of cheap PDAs offered by companies like Palm.
In 2000, just as the promising PDA market was reaching its peak, Microsoft debuted the Tablet PC as a "new" concept, in an effort to sell desktop Windows to mobile users.
While Palm converted its PDA business to smartphones, Microsoft's Tablet PCs never garnered much attention. Near the end of 2001, Bill Gates claimed that Microsoft's Tablet PC would become the most popular form of PC in five years, but that never happened.
A year later at the end of 2002, even Gartner was reporting that "despite much publicity and market promotion, the Tablet PC is not expected to result in a high rate of early adoption."
The firm wrote at the time that "a lack of application support, clumsy hardware designs and a price premium will be barriers for most users," but still predicted that "by 2007 at least 35 percent of all notebooks sold will have screen digitizers with a convertible or separable keyboard design." Even that conservative five year prediction didn't pan out.
UMPC Origami tablet failure: 2006
In 2006, Microsoft relaunched Tablet PCs as part of Project Origami, resulting in a category of products the company named UMPC (for "ultra mobile"). The primary UMPC device was Samsung's $1300 Q1, which ran both Windows XP (upgradable to Vista) as well as Microsoft's mobile Windows CE (since rebranded as "Windows XP Embedded" to escape the stigma of Windows CE's past failures.)
In 2006, Gartner said that it believed Microsoft's UMPC was rushed to market and "assigned a probability of 80% to the UMPC not achieving mainstream success (sales in the millions of units) by 2009," according to a report made at the time by Pen Computing.
That same year, CNET UK pitted the Samsung Q1 against a decade old Newton MessagePad 2000 from 1997 and pronounced the Newton as a better mobile device overall.
Surface, Courier and the Slate PC: 2007-2009
In 2007, Microsoft turned its attention to touch-based desktop PCs as Apple released the first iPhone, later unveiling the Microsoft Surface prototype. Apple continued to broaden its reach into the tablet market with the iPod touch, which delivered much of the functionality of a tablet while only claiming to be an entertainment device.
In 2009, Microsoft floated prototype pictures of the Courier, a dual screen tablet device that was supposed to support both multitouch and stylus input, and run the same software as Windows Phone 7 (at least according to the imagination of the company's fans). Microsoft officially scuttled the project in 2010.
In 2010, Microsoft once again focused on Tablet PCs, this time under the name Slate PC, showing off a prototype of an HP Slate running Windows 7. That device ended up selling just 9,000 units as Apple's full sized iPad began selling into the millions.
Comments
I expected the HP slate to sell much better than that, but didn't expect it to rival the iPad.
MS should look at the real sales figures of the HP slate and evaluate them objectively. If it really is selling that poorly they need to quit trying to sell slates based of Win 7 and move on to developing Win 7 series mobile for a slate device. Frankly I'm surprised they haven't done this already.
Is this indication that Microsoft has lost touch with the market, or that they are so busy trying to sell to businesses that they haven't noticed the influence of the consumer market on certain business choices.
MS product development has really come off the rails, with one "Hail Mary" after another. I have visions of Balmer either freaking out on people who don't know what to do, or he is sitting in his office saying "Whatever" to any product development person that comes in the door. I get the distinct impression that he has given up, and just wants something to say, no matter how unlikely it will succeed or actually work, at these CES gatherings.
He must know he is in a bad position, wants to take the money and run, but has to do this for the board members, at least one more time.
I can hardly wait for the tell all book that some employee with write one day, and his management is all laid out in can't look away cringing detail. I will read it on my ipad.
Does anyone in the entire world really believe that you can just add touch capability to a desktop operating system, and everything will be okay? Sure.... ship that running on a phone...or a pda...or a slate...or a pony. It wasn't designed for it, but hey, Windows isn't technically 'designed' for any specific hardware configuration so no big deal right? Wrong.
We are trying to get a slate at work, its on back order, and its only been for sale for something like 30 days now or less.
I know from working in the medical industry for 4 year that tablet based PC's sold well in certain markets, yet nothing mentioned in this blog post????
My prediction, no matter what Microsoft and others come out with at CES, AI will predict failure, quote some ifan idiot like Jon Gruber, and tell us why the iPad is so much better. Just save my post and use it as a blog article!!
Microsoft's mobile Windows CE (since rebranded as "Windows XP Embedded" to escape the stigma of Windows CE's past failures.)
Seriously AI? If you can't even get the most basic factual content of the article correct then why even bother reporting on non-Apple products?
All you achieve with this is to make your readers look like total idiots when they repeat this BS in the real world.
I love your breaking news on Apple products, however your reporting on non-Apple products is simply rubbish.
I'd laugh at how idiotic it all is
KRR
Where do you get your information? Like the HP sales, please provide links???
We are trying to get a slate at work, its on back order, and its only been for sale for something like 30 days now or less.
I know from working in the medical industry for 4 year that tablet based PC's sold well in certain markets, yet nothing mentioned in this blog post????
My prediction, no matter what Microsoft and others come out with at CES, AI will predict failure, quote some ifan idiot like Jon Gruber, and tell us why the iPad is so much better. Just save my post and use it as a blog article!!
They got the 9,000 number from the widely quoted number of 5,000 produced and 9,000 ordered which produced a sell out and a backorder. Here is one source: http://www.wirejacked.com/index.php/...production-run
5,000 is a typical run when HP is unsure of demand. Since it is not a real consumer item but really a business one, it sounds about right.
They got the 9,000 number from the widely quoted number of 5,000 produced and 9,000 ordered which produced a sell out and a backorder. Here is one source: http://www.wirejacked.com/index.php/...production-run
5,000 is a typical run when HP is unsure of demand. Since it is not a real consumer item but really a business one, it sounds about right.
No need to respond to anything that Betty Blue the troll posts here. Killfile him.
Now he'll expect me to post sources and links to places verifying that he's a troll.
So this MS snoozefest, where they put their colossal ignorance of the market on display, will be an annual thing, then?
Yes. the name will soon change from CES (Consumer electronics Show) to WinCES since MS buys into the so-called keynote every year and Ballmer turns what used to be a serious event into Open Mic night at Rooster T. Feathers.
Next stop: Guest hosting the Jay Letterman O'Brien Show.
A brown Zune pad is sure to turn some heads...
Your post makes me miss AI member wilco, who specialized in his analysis of brown Zunes.
I guess he was banned.
Yes. the name will soon change from CES (Consumer electronics Show) to WinCES since MS buys into the so-called keynote every year and Ballmer turns what used to be a serious event into Open Mic night at Rooster T. Feathers.
WinCES is an appropriate name. I know it makes me wince every time I see Ballmer perform.
I don't know about you guys, but I'm actually looking forward to win7 tablets / slates. I've used the old tablets for taking notes back in college, and they worked extremely well. I hope they don't do away with a stylus tho (*cough* i'm looking at you, Apple *cough* ) cause handwriting support in those made them amazing.
I had two tablet PCs back in the day. Needless to say, even as a developer, I never used it much as a tablet and it quickly lost its novelty. The handwriting recognition was great, but the problem is that most people don't write by hand anymore. So I'd say that typing for younger people is the only way they write.
No need to respond to anything that Betty Blue the troll posts here. Killfile him.
Now he'll expect me to post sources and links to places verifying that he's a troll.
You responded Tod.
I had two tablet PCs back in the day. Needless to say, even as a developer, I never used it much as a tablet and it quickly lost its novelty. The handwriting recognition was great, but the problem is that most people don't write by hand anymore. So I'd say that typing for younger people is the only way they write.
There are times when typing isn't ideal though. Most of my engineering notes, for example, are centered around diagrams with more greek than english. Typing doesn't really allow for this.
Not to mention being able to handwrite Chinese is a godsend for me; my pinyin sucks.