Surface Pro 2 Launch
Well, I watched the Surface Pro 2 launch today, and I have to say I'm torn on how I feel. I'm ignoring the Surface 2. Nothing in today's unveiling is likely to do anything for the success of this product line. Combined with a total failure to unveil actual specs there is virtually nothing to talk of on this aspect of the product line.
Also, other had dashed rumours of a Surface Mini being unveiled today, and they were right. Though, a key sentence, "we're unveiling 2 of them today" does indeed imply that there are more Surface devices yet to be unveiled.
Firstly, this felt a lot like the iPad 2 release. Which isn't a bad thing overall. This is an evolutionary release, but there were some interesting incidentals in the form of the accessories. All in all, it was better than say, the iPhone 5c/s unveiling.
Let me start with the Surface Pro 2 itself. As with the RT version, no hard specs were provided, aside from HD/RAM configurations at the end. I wanted to what processor and their actual battery life estimates. What we got was 75% better than gen1 and 250% better with battery cover. I hear estimates ranging from 4-5 hours for the original. And especially with that 75%, that can be an important differentiator as that is the difference between 7-8.25 hrs. Or, just under vs just over a full work day. In the 250% market 12-15 hours is also quite a range, but a less important range.
Graphics are improved by 50%, and the tablet itself is supposed faster than 95% of laptops. Again, VERY vague numbers. Especially the point about it being faster than 95% of laptops. Are we talking 95% of all laptop models, or all laptops sold? Even though in most cases there are more lower end laptops to begin with, a larger quantity of lower end models are sold every year, so even that upper 5% percentile can be drastically affected by the interpretation of that number. At least with the 50% faster, we know exactly what that is 50% faster than.
I was however disgusted by their rear camera improvements. WHY?!?! Raw 6k data stream? Really? I will re-iterate. Rear facing camera quality is something people harp on because variations in hardware exist. The average person does NOT in my experience actually use a tablets rear facing camera, and without exception they look like idiots when they do.
In fact, in most people probably wouldn't notice if they didn't exist. To compound matters, the rear camera typically gets the better quality camera despite the fact that it is the front facing camera more people use. Whether to take silly pictures of themselves, or to Skype, or whatever. The fact that front facing cameras get back burnered while the rarely used back facing camera takes all of the glory continues to confuse and frustrate me. This frustrates me both because it makes no damn sense, but also because you have eaten up your profit margin and thus the margin within which you could safely decrease the cost of the product. In fact, a price drop would have made this a much bigger unveiling than it was. And removing that ludicrously powered camera would have definitely enabled that.
That being said... as with the iPad 2 unveiling, the real gem was the accessories. Battery cover that improves battery life by 250%. That is huge. And it has a built in keyboard. That is twice as huge. If that cover works with the original Surface Pro and they price drop that model by enough, that is the direction I would be more likely to gravitate towards.
A tablet dock. Thank you! The only company I know of to do this so far was Acer and it is apparently a terribly built plastic monstrosity. How no one else thought before now to provide a business class dock to a tablet supporting a Core-i5 processor in it blew my mind. Again, if this works with the original Surface and I get one, I'll probably pick this dock up as well.
For those who don't care about battery life and docking capabilities. Backlit keyboard covers. A small, but very enticing feature. And improved sensors in the touch cover.
Honestly, these accessories CRUSH anything iPads and Android devices get. And they are, in my opinion substantial game changers. And, while progress may be slow, the Windows 8 app store is slowly getting the bulk of the must have titles. The only thing really missing for Microsoft is a truly affordable tablet. Which is why it is disappointing to not see a mini version unveiled yet. Even if it is Windows RT based, if the price is right, at least it would give Microsoft a chance.
And this leads into my final gripe. Microsoft keeps trying to tout Windows RT as more productive than iOS and Android. Yet they continually ignore that product from their productivity related features. In Surface 2 is even supported by the new dock, it wasn't mentioned. And you can bet your ass that if they release a Mini Surface, it won't have a supported dock either. Who cares if it comes with Office? Without the ability to fully use it in a productive environment it is gimmicky at best. I don't even care what Apple and Google offer in terms of office apps. Neither truly provides me the experience I would need to be at home doing any intensive editing. And, at the moment, neither does any Windows RT based device.
Also, other had dashed rumours of a Surface Mini being unveiled today, and they were right. Though, a key sentence, "we're unveiling 2 of them today" does indeed imply that there are more Surface devices yet to be unveiled.
Firstly, this felt a lot like the iPad 2 release. Which isn't a bad thing overall. This is an evolutionary release, but there were some interesting incidentals in the form of the accessories. All in all, it was better than say, the iPhone 5c/s unveiling.
Let me start with the Surface Pro 2 itself. As with the RT version, no hard specs were provided, aside from HD/RAM configurations at the end. I wanted to what processor and their actual battery life estimates. What we got was 75% better than gen1 and 250% better with battery cover. I hear estimates ranging from 4-5 hours for the original. And especially with that 75%, that can be an important differentiator as that is the difference between 7-8.25 hrs. Or, just under vs just over a full work day. In the 250% market 12-15 hours is also quite a range, but a less important range.
Graphics are improved by 50%, and the tablet itself is supposed faster than 95% of laptops. Again, VERY vague numbers. Especially the point about it being faster than 95% of laptops. Are we talking 95% of all laptop models, or all laptops sold? Even though in most cases there are more lower end laptops to begin with, a larger quantity of lower end models are sold every year, so even that upper 5% percentile can be drastically affected by the interpretation of that number. At least with the 50% faster, we know exactly what that is 50% faster than.
I was however disgusted by their rear camera improvements. WHY?!?! Raw 6k data stream? Really? I will re-iterate. Rear facing camera quality is something people harp on because variations in hardware exist. The average person does NOT in my experience actually use a tablets rear facing camera, and without exception they look like idiots when they do.
In fact, in most people probably wouldn't notice if they didn't exist. To compound matters, the rear camera typically gets the better quality camera despite the fact that it is the front facing camera more people use. Whether to take silly pictures of themselves, or to Skype, or whatever. The fact that front facing cameras get back burnered while the rarely used back facing camera takes all of the glory continues to confuse and frustrate me. This frustrates me both because it makes no damn sense, but also because you have eaten up your profit margin and thus the margin within which you could safely decrease the cost of the product. In fact, a price drop would have made this a much bigger unveiling than it was. And removing that ludicrously powered camera would have definitely enabled that.
That being said... as with the iPad 2 unveiling, the real gem was the accessories. Battery cover that improves battery life by 250%. That is huge. And it has a built in keyboard. That is twice as huge. If that cover works with the original Surface Pro and they price drop that model by enough, that is the direction I would be more likely to gravitate towards.
A tablet dock. Thank you! The only company I know of to do this so far was Acer and it is apparently a terribly built plastic monstrosity. How no one else thought before now to provide a business class dock to a tablet supporting a Core-i5 processor in it blew my mind. Again, if this works with the original Surface and I get one, I'll probably pick this dock up as well.
For those who don't care about battery life and docking capabilities. Backlit keyboard covers. A small, but very enticing feature. And improved sensors in the touch cover.
Honestly, these accessories CRUSH anything iPads and Android devices get. And they are, in my opinion substantial game changers. And, while progress may be slow, the Windows 8 app store is slowly getting the bulk of the must have titles. The only thing really missing for Microsoft is a truly affordable tablet. Which is why it is disappointing to not see a mini version unveiled yet. Even if it is Windows RT based, if the price is right, at least it would give Microsoft a chance.
And this leads into my final gripe. Microsoft keeps trying to tout Windows RT as more productive than iOS and Android. Yet they continually ignore that product from their productivity related features. In Surface 2 is even supported by the new dock, it wasn't mentioned. And you can bet your ass that if they release a Mini Surface, it won't have a supported dock either. Who cares if it comes with Office? Without the ability to fully use it in a productive environment it is gimmicky at best. I don't even care what Apple and Google offer in terms of office apps. Neither truly provides me the experience I would need to be at home doing any intensive editing. And, at the moment, neither does any Windows RT based device.
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