A Smartphone, a Tablet, and a Laptop, each has a very special role in our lives and it’s really hard to replace or remove even any one of them. Companies have tried to combine a phone with a Tablet, but that didn’t work so well. Maybe because of the portability issues, not everyone prefers a mobile phone with a five or six inch display screen.
We have Skype and Yahoo for our computer, which allows us to make voice and video calls. But can such applications eliminate mobile phones completely?
No, because we need a handy device for calling, which fits in our pockets.
Talking about experimentation, one such innovation is a Hybrid Computer (A Tablet cum PC). Imagine a device which actually is a computer but has a detachable screen!
And that screen in itself works like a Tablet – a Tablet with an Operating System, a processor, a camera, couple of USB ports and some other utility ports like HDMI etc. in it. So next time when you’re on the move, you can just pull out the screen of the computer, by which I don’t mean breaking it off,. Just a legit unplugging option, detach it off its base and take it anywhere you want.
And whenever you want a physical keyboard or a mouse to work with (basically like a Computer), you can just plug the screen back into its base unit which has a keyboard, CD player and other utilities. And with just a single click you can turn your Tablet’s Interface to Windows 8, which is similar to Windows 7 but with some enhancements.
Well now there’s an option for that.
Microsoft and other companies like Dell, HP, Toshiba, Asus, Acer and Lenevo showcased their hybrid computers recently. They all have a detachable Tablet style Screen, a physical keyboard with a touchpad and other utility ports on its base, with Windows 8.
In Windows 8, icons have been replaced by colourful tiles which keep on changing its display. For instance, ‘People’ (one of the application in Windows 8) tile keeps on displaying a new profile picture of a person out of the user’s media contact list. These tiles are beautifully arranged, big, and one can easily scroll throughout the screen with the awesome touch these tablets feature. Users can also arrange them in any order they want.
The interface is similar to what Nokia Lumia mobile phone features, just arranged on a 10-inch screen.
With just a single click, a user can switch from this tile style interface to normal Windows interface which is similar to Windows 7. The best part is that the Windows 8 operating system is compatible with all the software and hardware we have been using with our current Windows Computer.
Even though we have the coolest Smartphones and the best Tablets on our tables, we still prefer a computer to make our presentations or project reports on. Even though they have Photoshop for iPads and other Android Tablets, we still prefer to process our images on our computers. We will never want to play Counter Strike on a tablet. And why is that?
Because we still need a physical keyboard and a mouse to work with. We are comfortable with our computers as they are very versatile.
Thousands of softwares are available in the market for Windows and we are very dependent on some of them, like we will never prefer anything apart from Microsoft Office to make our projects on. Isn’t that right?
There was a big gap in the market.
A device which offered ultimate portability and utility was still missing. A Tablet, which apart from just entertaining apps offered other utilities like a computer does (because they have huge operating systems in them), which also had a potential to replace our computers.
Almost 70 percent of the world’s computers work with Microsoft Windows. Microsoft also launched its Windows phones in the second half of 2010 which has about five percent share in the mobile phones market now, which is quite an achievement. Dennis Crowley, Co-Founder of Foursquare once said, “If there’s something you want to build, but the tech isn’t there yet, just find the closest possible way to make it happen.”
So, Microsoft has cleverly designed their next Windows release (i.e. Window’s 8). They foresaw this change and hence, they combined a Tablet and a Computer. Other companies are following the same concept.
I think Microsoft’s new move has got all the potential to bring about a change. Microsoft named its hybrid computer as “Surface”. Microsoft’s “Surface” went up for pre-order earlier this month, and offers Windows RT which is a sub set of Windows 8 (Windows 8 is still not officially announced for public use).
It comes in two variants, one with 32 GB of storage and the other one with 64 GB.
It has a High Definition 10.6inch display with 1366×768 Resolution.
With 2 GB RAM and NVIDIA T30 dedicated display chip, it’s a decent configuration for the start Microsoft is looking forward to.
It also offers WiFi, Two 720p HD Cameras (one in front and other one rear-facing), a USB port, micro SDXC card reader and a standard Stereo speaker with a Headphone Jack.
One has an option to purchase a touch cover with the “Surface” separately, which has a keyboard and a touch mouse keypad on it.
“Surface” packs a lot more exciting features with it, but still with Windows RT Operating System you might feel a little left out next year, because soon Microsoft will be out with a new “Surface” with Windows 8 and that is worth the wait.
Stay tuned for the review of Microsoft RT Surface. It might change my viewpoint after I have my hands on it. And I can hardly wait for it now.
Divay Kumar
Image Source [http://appsplit.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Microsoft-Confirms-Surface-Tablets-Release-On-Windows-8-Launch-A.jpg]
