"Taiwanese computer maker Acer is putting off the launch of tablets using Microsoft's new Windows RT operating system to give itself time to see how Microsoft's own Surface tablet fares. The world's No. 4 PC vendor by shipments initially planned to roll out Windows RT tablets based on ARM chips early next year. However, the launch of Microsoft's tablet last week and the mixed reviews it has drawn has prompted Acer to wait and see until at least the second quarter of 2013." Whatever the reason, this doesn't send a very promising message about Windows RT. Or, not entirely unlikely, Acer and other OEMs just can't measure up to Surface RT.
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Member since:2007-08-27
Member since:2012-06-22
Don't worry, Microsoft fanboys are standing by to explain why you really want to pay $500 for a Windows tablet that can't run Windows programs and doesn't have Outlook.
Oh and there are bugs as well.
If Ballmer ran Ford:
Ford today announced a new F150 4x4 that can't actually haul anything or go off-road. There also might be some engine issues that you have to deal with.
Only $30,000, get in line today!
Member since:2007-11-11
Exactly, we ALL know this thing has fail written all over it, especially with the new Atom and Hondo tablets coming out with REAL Windows on it, and Acer doesn't want to end up with an HP Touchpad sized fail on their hands.
Personally I think its another Vista, I really do. I have had Win 8 running in the shop since Feb for people to play with and NOBODY liked the new UI, nobody. I thought maybe the teens would like it but their answer was "I already have a smartphone, what do I want this for?" and as the pundit on Money Matters said the other day "What brain dead moron priced this thing higher than an iPad? What are they insane?" and I have to agree.
No apps, lousy third party support, its another WinPhone and we ALL saw how well WinPhone 7 went over.
Member since:2007-09-22
Member since:2006-07-14
I think its kind of both problems:
Windows RT is questionable
They won't be able to match surface style at a simular price point.
I'm not sure what I would be doing if I were a windows OEM these days, except maybe resurrect the swivel neck laptop/tablet.
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-PORTEGE-Tablet-Pentium-512MB/dp/B0001...
I wanted one of those, but not at the $2200 price point they originally sold for.
Member since:2011-01-28
Bill Shooter of Bul,
"I wanted one of those, but not at the $2200 price point they originally sold for."
I've always wanted one of those too, but not at the ridiculous price points they were going for.
Imagine how different tablets would be today if those had been affordable for consumers at the turn of the decade. The tablet market would have grown before walled gardens could take off and we would not have this artificial divide between open desktop/laptops & restricted tablets.
Member since:2007-11-11
They never stopped making swivel tablets, they are just crazy priced so nobody buys 'em..
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=LJ539UT-ABA-DT&cat=NBB
As you can see they are a thousand bucks and only running a dual core i3 with Intel graphics, they just aren't a good buy. Dell tried selling convertable Atom tablets at $600, they ended up on Woot! for like $300 and still had trouble moving them.
The simple fact is there is NO point in WinRT, as the only reason people buy Windows is to run Windows X86 programs, which just don't work on WinRT. And the swivel convertibles end up too high so you do what most people do, they have a Windows desktop or laptop AND a tablet or smartphone. Frankly MSFT just doesn't seem to understand that desktops and tablets are too radically different when it comes to function and form factor to use the same OS, what you end up with is "jack of all trades, master of none" and a device that doesn't make anybody happy.
It doesn't run X86, so it can't take the place of your laptop, yet at the same time it has practically no apps and the ones it does have are half baked, so it can't take the place of a good droid or iPad tablet...its just not a good product, any way you slice it.
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Member since:
2011-06-20
If I had to venture a guess, I'd say they might be waiting to see how many RT tablets are returned due to confused consumers thinking they got a full version of Windows that's compatible with all the existing Windows software.
Maybe the plan is to let Microsoft spend the marketing dollars to sell Windows RT (albeit on Microsoft hardware) and the customer support dollars to explain why Windows RT won't run existing x86 software. Then, once Windows RT is established, they could come out with their own device and only spend marketing dollars instead of customer support dollars.
Whatever the reason, I think it's smart to wait and see what happens with Microsoft's Surface before putting out a Windows RT device. If Windows RT and/or Surface fails to gain traction, they could probably just ship the hardware with Android instead (assuming they think it would be profitable to do so).
In the end, though, who really knows?