Microsoft Announces Surface Tablet PC

[OldJadedGamer]

Originally Posted by crazyD

TLDR - jeffbax is a giant Apple fanboy.

Regardless, he does have good points.

[J Arcane]

Originally Posted by OldJadedGamer

Regardless, he does have good points.

Says the other giant Apple fanboy.

[Xerxes]

Originally Posted by J Arcane

Says the other giant Apple fanboy.

I ever tell you how odd it is having you on the other side of these threads.

[muddi900]

Originally Posted by J Arcane

I couldn't get the device sync to work. And the organization was terrible.

It has been constantly updated. It's a lot better.

EDIT:
IBM doesn't make consumer laptops any more...

[J Arcane]

Originally Posted by muddi900

It has been constantly updated. It's a lot better.

EDIT:
IBM doesn't make consumer laptops any more...

Unless it's happened in the last couple weeks, it hasn't been improved enough.

Last time I tried to sync it with the desktop version, it wiped all my comics instead. And the Android interface is missing half the organization options, which made puzzling out which order to read them in impossible.

[muddi900]

You can set the order in the desktop version while syncing. The desktop version though, needs a lot of work. You can also just copy the comics over MTP.

[OldJadedGamer]

Originally Posted by J Arcane

Says the other giant Apple fanboy.

No way, people keep going on how I love Microsoft.

[Orca]

Originally Posted by jeffbax

Actually, the 4S has a hardware chip specifically for decoding Siri commands.

Siri was a 3GS app at one point. They pulled it to force people to buy the 4S.

[muddi900]

Well, now, to be fair, that app sucked.

[jeffbax]

Originally Posted by Orca

Siri was a 3GS app at one point. They pulled it to force people to buy the 4S.

I'm well aware of this, but if you think it was pulled solely for the purpose of selling the 4S (which, I'm sure contributed), I think you are underestimating the power and software advantages Apple gets from dedicated hardware and integration across the OS versus a single App. Apple's Siri is certainly improved over what they got, and they are also not ones to shy away from saying "this device isn't capable of living up to the quality standard we want to set".

The fact of the matter is, the 4S has hardware decoding and hardware noise reduction that the 3GS and 4 do not have. The other factor was likely limiting the audience for initial rollout as Siri was "unavailable" quit a bit at the start and is still considered beta.

[Suave Peanut]

I have a developer friend who backported Siri to older models. It wasn't that hard.

The audio just gets sent to Apple servers for decoding anyway. What prevents non-4S phones from using it normally is authentication data generated by and exclusive to the iPhone 4S.

[jeffbax]

Originally Posted by Suave Peanut

I have a developer friend who backported Siri to older models. It wasn't that hard.

The audio just gets sent to Apple servers for decoding anyway. What prevents non-4S phones from using it normally is authentication data generated by and exclusive to the iPhone 4S.

Nowhere am I implying Siri couldn't run. I think they've even spoofed Android phones to hit the Siri servers early on. The point is that its not going to be as reliable or have the same power impact as having dedicated chips to do it. Additionally, there is the whole "they tried to do too much on the 3G and rendered it completely useless with iOS 4" thing in regard to OS-wide services being enabled on older hardware. Siri in a single app instance is not necessarily the same as something that is going to compete for resources more frequently.

[fitbabits]

I just pre-ordered my 64GB Surface. Total cost (after tax) - $727. It should be arriving by 10/26!

[PathMaster]

I would love to hear your impressions after you get it.

[J Arcane]

Where's the X86 model?

[biosc1]

Originally Posted by fitbabits

I just pre-ordered my 64GB Surface. Total cost (after tax) - $727. It should be arriving by 10/26!

Yah, saw the Samsung pricing come out yesterday.

I haven't seen specs yet, but hopefully the pricing makes sense. I really want a touchscreen laptop and the Surface seems to be the way to go.

http://venturebeat.com/2012/10/15/sa...indows-8-pcs-2

Samsung ATIV Smart PCs (hybrid laptop/tablets)

• ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T — $1,200
• ATIV Smart PC 500T — $750 (with keyboard) / $650 (without keyboard)

Samsung Mobile PCs (laptops)

• Series 9 Premium Ultrabook — $1,400 (15 inch), $1,300 (13 inch)
• Series 7 Notebook — $1,100 (15 inch)
• Series 5 Ultra Touch (13.3-inch touch screen laptop) — $860 (Core i5), $810 (Core i3)
• Series 3 Notebook — $450 – $900 depending on configuration

I did find it funny that people were complaining the tablet pricing was too high compared to the iPad 2...like anyone wants the 2 any more.

[muddi900]

Originally Posted by J Arcane

Where's the X86 model?

I believe it will come out after a few months.

[Xerxes]

Man if I was rich... Bwhahahahhahaha!!!

Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T though looks nice.

[fitbabits]

Originally Posted by Xerxes

Man if I was rich... Bwhahahahhahaha!!!

Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T though looks nice.

I am by no means rich, but I have a purchase card through work!

[MagGnome]

Yeah, those prices killed any interest I had. Yikes! The specs better be top notch.