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Microsoft Drops The Surface
Microsoft has dropped the prices on its Surface RT tablets by as much as 30%, with the entry-level 32GB model selling for $349.
The 64GB Surface RT was also discounted by $150, and now sells for $449, or 25% off its former price.
When Microsoft launched the tablet, it sold the 32GB device for $499 and the 64GB configuration for $599.
Microsoft started selling the Surface RT at the lower prices Sunday, as did some of its U.S. retail partners, including Best Buy and Staples. On its website, Staples noted that the discounted prices are valid until July 20, and only while supplies last.
Microsoft’s website, however, listed no caveats, hinting that the lower prices might be permanent or at least will be honored for longer than one week.
The prices are another attempt by Microsoft to clear its existing inventory in preparation for a second-generation line of Windows RT devices. Previously, Microsoft had launched multiple deals to rid itself of the poor-selling tablet, most recently in June when it slashed prices by 60% in a bid to get universities and K-12 schools to buy the device.
Earlier, it kicked off a buy-a-Surface-RT-get-a-free-cover deal that ran until June 30. And at several conferences, including June’s TechEd North America and this month’s Microsoft Partner Conference, the company sold attendees a 64GB Surface RT for $100, 83% off list price.
Today’s sale prices were nearly Microsoft’s cost, which according to estimates of the tablet’s component prices, runs the company at least $284 for the 32GB Surface RT.
Microsoft has not abandoned Windows RT, the pared-down operating system that powers the Surface RT, but virtually every third-party OEM has either pointedly ignored the OS or publicly announced that they would not support it with devices of their own. Instead, the OEMs have flocked to Windows 8 Pro, even though some analysts question the value of touch devices on a platform whose biggest selling point is legacy software that doesn’t support touch.
Microsoft has not revealed sales figures for the Surface line — which also includes the Surface Pro, powered by Windows 8 Pro — but estimates by research firms like IDC have been lackluster.
Intel Takes A Shot At ARM
ARM chips practically rule the mobile chip market, but Intel is trying to carve out a foothold with its new x86 chips, with relatively little success.
Intel claims its parts can outperform ARM chips in benchmarks and its manufacturing process lead should help it deliver faster and smaller chips. However, in spite of Intel’s claims, few vendors seem interested in its mobile chips.
Speaking to CNN, Intel mobile chief Mike Bell stressed that Intel has the software and systems competence to be the most successful player on the market. He pointed out that Intel can develop software to get the most out of its hardware and that Intel single core chips outperform multicore ARM designs.
“It’s a question of whether you’d rather have a jet engine or two propellers,” said Bell.
Granted, Bell has to tout the company line, but his engine comparison works both ways. Crop dusters and ultralight planes don’t need jet engines, or two piston engines for that matter. That is what really matters and Intel knows it. Not everyone needs a turbojet or turbofan, and not everyone needs an Intel core, especially not in mid- to low-end devices.
Intel believes its next generation 22nm mobile parts, with integrated LTE, will allow it to score some tablet and smartphone partners in late 2013 or 2014. However, Intel will have nothing to take on new A15 class ARM chips this year.
Windows 8 ‘Grace Period’ Ends
Microsoft has halted the 30-day grace period, a trademark of Windows 7, in the retail copies of Windows 8, requiring that users provide a product key during setup.
The change runs counter to previous practice by the Redmond, Wash. developer. With Windows 7, for example, users could run the OS for 30 days before activating the copy by providing a legitimate key.
That “grace period” was used by some to evaluate the software prior to purchasing, to save up to $100 by using an “upgrade” license to install the OS on a newly-formatted hard drive, and to create physical partitions or virtual machines for quick testing purposes.
Because Windows 8 handles activation differently, the grace period has been eliminated.
As several blogs have noted, customers must enter a unique product key — a 25-character alpha-numeric string — to proceed during Windows 8 setup. Failure to do so stops the process in its tracks. The Consumer Preview and Release Preview used this technique too, although Microsoft provided users a generic key for those sneak peeks.
Once Windows 8 is installed — assuming the machine is connected to the Internet — it automatically seeks out a Microsoft server to verify that the key is valid and then activates the OS. “If the licensed computer is connected to the Internet, the software will automatically connect to Microsoft for activation,” states the end-user licensing agreement, or EULA, for Windows 8 Pro.