This is kind of interesting. Earlier this week, Microsoft's new Windows RT was jailbroken for the first time. The operating system was hacked to run unsigned, arm-based desktop applications using a memory exploit.
Surprisingly, the Redmond-based software company commented on the news yesterday, saying that it actually applauded the efforts of those involved in the jailbreak, and all of the work they did to document it...
How did holiday sales of tablets shake out? Although sales numbers aren't yet available, we can get some idea of which devices were in most demand. For instance, Amazon's Kindle Fire, followed by Samsung's Galaxy tablets and Google Nexus devices were the top three non-iPad products serving ad impressions in December, according to an ad firm.
Although the iPad (both the full-size versions and the iPad mini) accounts for 87 percent of U.S. and Canadian tablet-based ad impressions, the Kindle Fire was next best with 4.25 percent of tablet traffic. The Samsung Galaxy tablets had 2.65 percent, while the Google Nexus family of tablets garnered 1.06 percent of tablet traffic, according to ad network Chitika...
Despite lackluster sales, Microsoft's new Surface has been praised for its innovations. Windows 8 RT certainly doesn't look like anything else on the market right now, and the tablet's ultra-slim Touch Cover keyboard is an interesting concept.
In fact, a lot of folks are asking if there is something similar available for the iPad. There are, actually several keyboard covers that are compatible with Apple's tablet, but none of them come closer to the Touch Cover than the NIBIQÜ...
Before PC demand dwindled, software giant Microsoft was happy with licensing its Windows software to computer makers. Now that we are taking the first steps into the post-PC era, the Redmond firm still wants its profit. But how do you charge a $50 per-tablet royalty fee when the device itself costs $199?
Enter the $499 Surface, says one independent analyst. While Google's Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire both sell for $199, the Surface carries the much higher price tag because Microsoft stubbornly refuses to give up the 30 percent profit margin it's accustomed to receiving for Windows and Office software licenses...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ismMaczcCzo
Microsoft, once the mighty Apple archival, in ways more than one is now directly or indirectly supporting Apple's war on Android. With that in mind, let's check out Microsoft's recap video highlighting its milestones in 2012, one for each month. I'd call only two Microsoft products milestones: Halo 4, which raked in $220 million in sales in the first 24 hours, and the Xbox console with Kinect, which got Windows support in February.
As much as I like Windows Phone's originality, it's failed to make a dent and clings to a single-digit market share. The Surface is a flop (even the CEO agrees) and major software launches like Windows 8 and server products have not met the management's internal expectations. Besides, Apple's iPhone biz recently became worth more than all of Microsoft. How's that for a milestone?
Despite a blitz of advertising and promotions, consumers across the globe are choosing Apple products during the run up to Christmas. After interviewing more than seventy shoppers in ten cities, Reuters reports consumers are not swayed either by Wall Street concerns or Madison Avenue come-ons. Instead, in shopping malls in the US, Europe and Asia, the key is Apple's simplicity.
Samsung - Apple's chief rival - is gaining no converts in shopping malls. Only in Singapore and Bangalore, India did Reuters find consumers picking Samsung products over the iPhone or iPad. In Mexico, despite having a mall covered with ads and displays promoting the South Korean firm's products, the iPad mini is selling like hotcakes...
Microsoft's Surface tablet just isn't selling. But the company knows - or thinks it does - the reason. The problem with sales is that the Surface just isn't available in enough stores, the software giant turned tablet maker says. Currently, the Surface is mainly sold in about three dozen Microsoft's own retail outlets in the country.
After being stung by reports that its tablet wasn't even selling in Microsoft-owned stores (are you reading this, Oprah Winfrey?), the company announced it will put the Surface on the shelves of third-party retailers, such as Staples. If 'build it and they will come' isn't working, will 'stock it and they will buy' be any better?
Apparently, more of Microsoft's Surface tablets are showing up in commercials and television episode placements than online. Despite an aggressive push, the Windows device accounted for just 0.13 percent of advertising served to tablets during November, according to one mobile advertising network. The dismal numbers are just the latest sign the much-heralded Surface just isn't selling.
Microsoft's outspoken boss Steve Ballmer acknowledged as much when he recently called Surface numbers "modest". By comparison, 0.91 percent of Google's Nexus tablets displayed ads between November 12 and November 18. The percentages come just a day after a report that the iPad mini saw ad impressions climb 28 percent daily during the November...
When Microsoft unveiled the Surface, its first in-house foray into the tablet market, back in June, it said that it would consist of two versions: a lower-end RT model built on ARM's architecture, and a Pro model powered by Intel.
The RT version officially launched in October, in 32GB and 64GB flavors priced at $499 and $699 respectively, and has thus far seen modest sales. And last night, Microsoft finally divulged some information about the Surface Pro...
The iPad mini is taking a bite out of sales of its full-sized counterpart. That's the conclusion of one Wall Street observer, who found fewer seven-inch Apple tablets available than the larger 9.7-inch iPad. But is the finding a sign of cannibalized iPads or something else?
A poll of fifty Apple stores by Citi uncovered the mini available in eighty percent of the locations, but severely limited, except for the 32 gigabyte version. However, all stores checked had the new fourth-gen iPad in stock, just six percent reporting limited availability...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgzzQUvNm8U
Microsoft's inaugural ad for the Surface tablet initially captured our attention, with its pro dancers performing all sorts of crazy moves with their tablets certainly helping a great deal with that. The software maker then followed up with the somewhat subdued teaser on the eve of Surface's launch.
On Cyber Monday, Microsoft has stepped up its game with a new television commercial seen above. It kinda looks familiar. Pretty sure I saw a similar concept involving jumping gadgets somewhere before...
Another significant win for Apple's popular tablet brand: British multinational banking and financial services company Barclays has confirmed it's purchased 8,500 iPads “to assist our branch colleagues to interact with customers, improving the customer experience”.
The announcement couldn't have come at a worse time for Microsoft, whose Surface tablet hit store shelves on October 26 but so far has generated only "modest sales", per CEO Steve Ballmer...