Microsoft "Surface"

With its new Surface Tablet, Microsoft didn’t just break the mold. It smashed it into a million little pieces, chucked them all into the furnace and set the temperature to obliterate. There really is no precedent for what Microsoft did this week.
What was once recognizable is gone. The expected is no more. There are no rules, only supply and the possibility of demand.

Microsoft finally built the tablet it wants to use for its platform: an ultra-thin, superlight, kick-stand-sporting, brainiac-cover wearing, touch screen wonder that elicited dozens of “I wants” in Mashable’s live blog chatter.

Surface is still wrapped in so much mystery (no pricing, no availability, no processor speed) that it remains something of an enigma. On the other hand, the tablet (which, depending on how you look at it, may be a full-blown tablet or a hybrid tablet PC) is no reference design. This is not the pad Microsoft wants its partners to build.

The partners are, at least in this instance, out of the picture.

Windows 8 Tablet

Lenovo, Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Toshiba and others will surely deliver dozens of Windows 8-based devices this year. Many will sport Intel CPUs. Some, like Asus and Lenovo, are planning tablets and convertibles. These may or may not be well-received. This is no longer Microsoft’s problem.

Or is it?

What, for example, does Microsoft say about Windows tablet design now? Can it point to anything but its own Surface tablet as the epitome of Windows 8 design? Not likely. And what about that very smart cover with the built-in touch or tactile keyboard (take your pick)? Microsoft won’t license that design to its partners. So it’s inevitable that Windows RT partners will always have second best covers.

Microsoft built a kickstand into the tablet. Is that how they want partners to build their devices? Probably not. In fact, I bet Microsoft would prefer to keep that proprietary.

Here’s a telling aspect of the Microsoft Surface event. CEO Steve Ballmer, Windows Lead Steven Sinofsky and company spent most of their time extolling the Surface design features. Perhaps that’s to be expected; we’re already quite familiar with Windows 8 (and to a certain extent the ARM-friendly Windows RT), and we knew nothing of a home-grown Microsoft-designed-and-built tablet. Up until today, however, system hardware design was somebody else’s business.

Hardware

Back in 2010, when Steve Ballmer stood on the CES stage demonstrating Windows 7 on a tablet, he held an HP slate in his hands (hard to believe that was only two years ago). That device never even made it to the consumer market. Still, Microsoft continued to rely on others to support its software platform, even as it transformed into an ecosystem with a singular design language (Metro).

Overall, Microsoft has made few big hardware bets. Xbox 360 is, by Microsoft’s own estimation, its biggest hardware hit. It failed with the Zune and with Windows Phone it notably handed over the hardware work to a handful of key partners (HTC, Samsung, Nokia).

I’ve been trying to imagine how Microsoft hardware partners feel about today’s developments. Betrayed? Maybe. Maybe not. When I asked Dell CEO and Founder Michael Dell how OEM Windows 8 Tablets and convertibles co-exist with Microsoft Surface (on ARM and Intel), he answered very simply via e-mail, “Yes, they co-exist.”

At the very least, the Intel version of Microsoft Surface (thicker and heavier than the ARM model, but with support for pen input) should make companies like Dell and Lenovo uneasy. That’s a device aimed squarely at the business set. Might Microsoft business customers assume that buying a Microsoft Surface tablet with Intel inside will ensure a more tightly wound ecosystem and fewer headaches down the road? Short answer: Yes.

When it comes to manufacturers considering consumer-based Windows 8 tablets, well, I think that list is shorter and for some of those manufacturers, less certain. Earlier this year I spoke to one Microsoft OEM who seemed, at best, lukewarm to the idea of putting Windows 8 on a consumer tablet. They were already committed to a variety of Android-based devices and just didn’t know if consumers had an appetite for Windows on anything but a desktop or laptop.

Is it possible that Microsoft took a long hard look at the situation last year and realized that the only way to drive Windows 8 into mobile consumer hands was by doing it on their own?

If that’s the case, we may hear a lot of public angst from Microsoft Windows partners and some very quiet relief behind the scenes. You see, manufacturers are having a hard enough time convincing consumers to buy Android-based tablets, despite the fact that the OS has tremendous mobile success and thousands of tablet-ready apps. How can they convince them that a new, and untested Windows tablet platform is a better choice than Apple’s iPad and the iOS ecosystem?

So you may think Microsoft done its OEMs wrong. I bet they think Microsoft just did them a favor

The Microsoft Surface Tablet Up Close

Taking the Tablet to New Heights

Microsoft thinks Surface can redefine the tablet with dual USB ports, thin-yet-sturdy construction and a cover that reveals a fully functional keyboard complete with trackpad.

Ultrabook? No. Ultra thin? Yes.

The Surface's Windows RT version is just 9.3 millimeters thick, while the Windows 8 Pro version measures 13.5 millimeters.

Mad Props

A built-in kickstand on the rear of the tablet holds it up while you’re typing or viewing videos.

Surface Tablet

Surface has a 10.6-inch, 16:9 high definition screen made of super-sturdy Gorilla Glass.

If You Had a Choice of Color

The Microsoft Surface will come in a variety of cover colors including blue, charcoal and pink.

Mashable