Windows 8 tablet event: 5 things we want to see
If the rumours are correct and Microsoft’s particular event in LA on Monday truly is the launch of an ‘offcial’ Windows 8 tablet, what would we like to see? Listen to us, Microsoft. For we are the font of all knowledge! Here are 5 factors we’re hoping for.
Launching an ‘own brand’ Windows 8 tablet is a bit of a threat for Microsoft, provided the potential to annoy the manufacturers who give them lots of cash by bundling Windows with their machines. If it functions although it would be fantastic for consumers. Here’s what we assume the Microsofties really should concentrate on.
A Kindle Fire killer
We know that Microsoft has teamed up with Barnes & Noble to attempt and take on the Kindle Fire. Could Monday’s large announcement be a Windows 8-powered version of the Nook e-reader? A Windows-based OS under the hood could be what is needed to take on the Android-derived Fire and the Windows 8 ‘Metro’ style aesthetic could function nicely on an e-reader. We have our fingers crossed for this one.
Xbox integration – IE SmartGlass on steroids
Microsoft’s second-screen tech SmartGlass was 1 of the handful of surprises at this year’s E3 and the way it tends to make the net fit the Metro UI appears genuinely well carried out. We want to see this in action, preferably with much more media centre integration to lastly give Apple’s AIrPlay a thing to be concerned about.
A Microsoft-made tablet with no the name
The Xbox might sell like hot cakes for the duration of a hot cake festival on planet Hot Cake, but the failed Zune experiment shows that Microsoft is equally adept at generating terrible hardware items that no one desires to purchase. Place bluntly, Microsoft is not a attractive brand. If it wants the Windows 8 tablet to sell to non-Windows 8 geeks then a whole new brand could be needed. Think Google’s Nexus branding for the flagship Android phones.
Lots of form variables
You cannot move for 7-inch tablet at the moment, so whilst we wouldn’t turn our noses up at a 7-inch Windows 8 slab, we hope Microsoft gets a bit creative and tries out some distinct form factors. Asus is stated to be operating on a Transformer Prime-ish tablet running Windows 8 and if Microsoft can come up with something like that with a rapidly ARM processor and a sub-MacBook Air price tag we would be all more than it.
Lots of developer announcements to make it worth getting
A Windows 8 tablet will require lots of decent apps created specifically for the quirks of the platform if it is going to succeed. Microsoft has a lot of great relationships with developers who have kept the desktop Windows well supplied with computer software more than the years, but it will need to secure some guaranteed good quality releases and AAA games if it wants to convince us to portion with our money.
[supply: All Things D]