The end of October looks to be a busy time for Microsoft as the renowned tech giant will finally be demonstrating its new OS, Windows 8; its new phone system, the Windows Phone 8; and its new tablet, the Surface tablet. The Windows 8 release and launch event is scheduled to take place on October 25 in New York to showcase the much anticipated operating system and tablet, while the smartphones will be unveiled on the West Coast on October 29, according to eWeek. There is still no word about prices for any of the gadgets. But of course for your viewing pleasure, we’ve posted a few Windows 8 pics and Surface photos.
Windows 8 and the Surface tablet will take center stage in New York on the 25th. For your device to support Windows 8, however, it’ll need to fulfill a few requirements. According to TechRadar, You need a 1GHz or faster CPU (it also needs to support PAE or PAE-NX Physical Address Extension for new security features in the Windows 8 kernel), 1GB of RAM (or 2GB for 64-bit systems), 20GB of hard drive space and a DirectX 9 graphics card with WDDM driver. Back in August, our own Greg Gomer covered the latest OS extensively.
The Surface specs have yet to be fully disclosed, but we suspect Steve Ballmer wants it that way. In fact, Business Insider wrote yesterday, “Microsoft was widely criticized for keeping the Surface tightly guarded at the tablet’s unveiling in June, but only a few people got to actually try it out. Now Microsoft is promising a “Microsoft Surface reception” following the final Windows 8 demonstration.”
Here’s what you can expect to see at the event. The Surface will sport a 10.6 auto-adjusting HD screen, it will be 9.3mm thick, and will feature a 3mm thick cover that doubles as a fully-functioning keypad. There’s still no word on price, but according to the Seattle Times back in September, Microsoft has a “very competitive product from the features perspective,” and that “probably $300 to about $700 or $800” is the “sweet spot.”
Windows Phone 8 will debut on five confirmed smartphones: Nokia’s Lumia 920 and 820, HTC’s Windows Phone 8X and Windows Phone 8S, and Samsung’s ATIV S. The smartphones will range in screen size from 4-inches to 4.8-inches but all will feature HD multi-touch screens. They will all come with NFC capability, SkyDrive integration, and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon quad-core processor for speed and efficiency.
We’re interested to see what you all think about Microsoft’s latest developments. Do you prefer their technology to Apple’s? Which devices do you think will make the biggest impact. Let us know all of your thoughts in the comments section below.
