There's nobody quite like 'Mobile Tech Review' when it comes to their tablet and hardware reviews.  They're simply the best.  Lisa Gade has done dozens of these and she strikes just the right balance of technical knowledge and consumer straightforwardness.   Her thorough understanding and deep experience using various kinds of tablets gives her a particularly seasoned eye and ability to cut through the BS you might see in other reviews and let you know the 'straight dope' on new products.   Thus, she's one of the most respected tech reviewers in the blogosphere today.

I'm happy to say that Lisa gives a really fantastic 30 minute review and overall she's very positive about Microsoft's new baby.  She's particularly impressed with the 'Touch Cover' with one of the best lines of the review being "Pretty much like Apple's Smart Cover only this one actually does something".  I definitely recommend everyone that's interested in the Surface RT to give it a watch and make sure you leave us your comments below.   You can see the full written review when it's available at the link below.


MobileTechReview

Add Chinese technology company Huawei to the list of outfits that have announced they are working on a Windows 8 tablet.  The company is the 6th largest handset maker in the world, although most of their sales tend to be outside of the U.S. and are especially strong in the Asia-Pacific region.  It should be interesting to see what they come up with in the Windows 8 Tablet space.  The S7 Pad shown below was one of their earlier tablet efforts which ran on Android.

Microsoft introduced their answer to the new world or Tablet computing today with 'Surface', a family of tablets that is designed to showcase their new Windows 8 and Windows RT operating systems and hopefully 'prime the pump' for what will be a bold new era in Windows computers.   Eschewing the company's usual model of only providing the software while depending on hardware partners to provide the physical machines, Steve Balmer started out the presentation at Los Angeles's 'MILK' Studios by reviewing the company's history of hardware firsts and successes such as the Windows Mouse, Keyboard and Xbox before unveiling the stunning new tablets which feature VaporMG magnesium casings and  'touch' and 'type' covers with built-in keyboards. 

The two models of 'Surface' are remarkably similar on the outside but rather different when it comes to operating system and features.  Both features a 10.6 inch Gorilla Glass 2 screen with the RT version coming in at 'HD' (probably 1366 x 768) and the Windows 8 Pro version with 'Full HD' (probably 1920 x 1200) resolutions.  'Surface for Windows RT ', the thinner and lighter of the two comes in at 9.3mm thin and 676 grams and will run on the Windows RT operating system.   The tablet runs on an ARM processor which is reportedly provided by Nvidia and  featurs microSD, USB 2.0, Micro HD Video and a 2x2 MIMO antannae.


'Surface for Windows 8 Pro', slightly larger and thicker comes in at 903 grams and at 13.5mm thick and runs on the full Windows 8 Pro operating system.  It is based on an Intel (probably Ivy Bridge) processor and ports include USB 3.0, microSDXC, Mini Display Port and 2x2 MIMO Antennae. 

Now the main difference between the two tablets, besides their obvious hardware configurations is the operating system.  Windows RT is the scaled down version of Windows 8 that is designed to run on the lower power ARM processors and relies on the 'Metro' touch UI as it's main platform for the user.   It does not have backwards compatibility with legacy applications from Windows and can be considered the closest to a pure 'iPad' or 'Android' competitor.  While it does have a 'desktop mode' it is more for file management purposes.   'Surface for Windows RT' will come with a special version of Microsoft Office built-in that is designed to work with the Metro UI and be compatible with all your Word, Powerpoing, Excel and OneNote files.


Surface for Windows 8 Pro on the otherhand features the full Windows 8 Pro experience which included backwards compatibility with legacy Windows applications.   One should be able to use full versions of all their Windows applications such as the full desktop version of Microsoft Office, games, applications such as Photoshop, Premiere, Wordperfect and anything else you use on your desktop Windows PC at home.  It truly will be a full 'PC', but one that whey the keyboard is removed or the 'touch' or 'type' cover is folded away becomes a 'Metro' based tablet similar to the Windows RT model

One of the 'highlights' of the Microsoft event in LA that unveiled the Surface tablets was when they showed their new 'touch' and 'type' covers.   These two accessories function as protective covers but also have a keyboard built-in, along with accelerometer.   The 'touch cover' is a super thin cover of only 3mm thickness that has a keyboard 'imprint' and promises a typing experience superior to what you would get typing on glass.   the 'type cover' on the other hand has a full tactile keyboard that promises a comfortable typing experience with actual physical keys, albeight in a slightly thicker package.


Another highlight has to do with the 'kickstand' that is built-in on both tablets which allow for easy viewing as well as typing on the tablet.   The company went to great lengths to emphasize the '3 hinge' design and how the stand was incredibly sturdy when opened yet would 'disappear' when snapped back into place as a tablet.   Both designs (the stand and keyboard covers) are probably the most talked about 'innovations' that came out of the even, along with a new term 'VaporMG' which is the process that was used to make the magnesium casings for the tablets.

Pricing wasn't immediately available but was said to be in line with current ARM and Ultrabook pricings depending on model.  Availability was estimated to be when Windows 8 rolls out in the fall (October) for the 'Surface for Windows RT' tablets while the 'Surface for Windows Pro' models would follow about 3 months later.  So what do you think?  Has Microsoft hit it out of the park with these new 'Surface' tablets?   Will you buy one?  How do they compare to what you've seen from other hardware companies at the recent Computex show in terms of tablet design?  Finally...do the 'Surface' tablets make you excited about Windows 8?   Let us hear your thoughts in the comments!

Back at Computex last week Toshiba showed off an upcoming Windows RT tablet in form only but didn't have a working model to show us.   Well now they have.   The fine folks over at Slashgear were able to see the new thin and light device fired up sporting a Texas Instruments OMAP 4470 (OMAP 4) processor and put through its paces.  Now in the video above Product Manager Bill Crean puts Windows RT through its paces to show us what this baby is capable of.  The graphics processor used in this development model is the SGX-544 which supports DirectX 9 features level 3...so we're talking pretty high end here.  Now to be sure this is not a final consumer design tablet...it's still called a developer tablet but we're assured that Toshiba is planning on having at least one and possibly more tablets running this very same processor or a close cousin with Windows Rt on it and should be ready for launch in October when the new OS goes live.

The website Neowin is reporting that Dell is getting ready to release an Intel Atom powered 10 inch Windows RT tablet complete with docking station sometime close to the official Windows RT launch in October.  Called the 'Lattitude 10 Tablet', the device will feature 2 battery options, 2 cell 30whr or 4 cell 60 whr, come in at 10.5 mm thick, have a front 2mp webcam and rear 8mp.  The mobile docking station will have four USB ports, ethernet, HDMI, mobile broadband and a built-in stylus.  Screen resolution will be the Windows RT standard 1366 x 768 and 128GB SSD memory will be standard.   Notably, the battery will be replaceable enabling the user to swap out and replace batteries on the go.

If there's one company that really pulled out all the development stops when it came to introducing Windows 8 tablets during this week's Computech show in Taipei, Taiwan it's Asus.   Showing no less than 6 different tablet devices plus a plethora of Ultrabooks the company is really going 'all in' with the new OS.  First up is the innovative...if unusual Asus Taichi, a dual screen with keyboard...that's right...two screens...tablet that appears to want to let you use the device either as a laptop or a tablet.   What's interesting about this design is that it opens up the possibility of having two users work on the tablet at the same time.  One on the front screen and the other on the back.  How useful this would be in actual use is a question.  The question is...is the additional cost and technical difficulty of having two screens squeezed on one device opposite each other worth it?   Wouldn't it be better to just use one great screen on a device that can either flip over like the Lenovo Yoga or that has a dock like so many other devices including Asus's own Transformer series.


Next up are the Asus 'Transformer Book' which might look familiar because they are basically spitting images of the company's own Android 'Transoformer Pad' tablets.   Featuring the same tablet plus dock configuration, the company plans to offer three different modes in different screen sizes (11.6, 13 and 14 inches) and all featuring a version of Intel's Ivy Bridge x86 CPU to provide you with the full version of Windows 8. 


Last up...and perhaps most interesting to yours truly are the new Asus 'tablet' 600 and 810...two full fledged tablet/keyboard combos that appear more robust than the 'Transformer Book' models and with some differences between them.   First up...the Asus Tablet 600 is the company's first Windows RT device...which will run on an ARM (Tegra 3) processor and feature outstanding battery life, lower cost and the Windows RT OS which of course features the Metro UI, although unlike Windows 8 x86 versions will not have legacy support for old Windows apps.   Want more power?   Well the Asus Tablet 810 will provide you with an Atom CPU, 2GB of ram, 1366 x 768 resolution IPS display.   


We'll have more detailed specs as well as full reviews on all of Asus' new Windows 8 Tablet devices soon so make sure to check back at Windows Tablet Central.

For those not in the know this week is the giant computer trade show Computex which is being held in Taipei, Taiwan and as expected with Microsoft's Windows 8 launch just around the corner we've been getting our first glimpses of lots of new Windows 8 hardware including a bevy of tablets starting with Acer and their introduction of their first Windows 8 tabs. 

Coming in two flavors, the 11.6 inch W700 and the 10.1 inch W510, the W700 features a high resolution full HD display resolution of 1920 x 1080 with 10 finger touch support.  It ships with a cradle that let's the user rotate the tablet for landscape or portrait viewing and it offers over 8 hours of battery life.  It's also being positioned as a desktop replacement with a full keyboard offered via bluetooth and such specs as Dolby Home Theater audio, thunderbolt, MicroHDMI, USB 3.0, headphone jack, power button, stereo speakers and more.  There's also a 5mp camera on the rear as well as microphone. 


The little brother, W50 is a 10.1 inch tablet sporting a more standard 1366 x 768 resolution IPS display with a detachable chiclet keyboard dock that includes a built-in battery that when used with the tablet provides an outstanding 18 hours of battery power.  Other features include docking port and latch, speakers on each side, a SIM card slot, microSD, micro-USB and HDMI ports, as well as a volume rocker and microphone, power button, lock toggle and headphone jack up top.   The chipset is assumed to an x86 Ivy Bridge variety but no word on pricing.  We expect to see these beauties available at the Windows 8 launch in October.