Surface 2 Launch Event

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billgates

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#934635 15-Nov-2013 20:52

Half second lag between Surface 2 and Netgear Miracast is now gone. Netgear released a new firmware today which fixed it.

Do whatever you want to do man.

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nathan

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#934715 16-Nov-2013 00:24

Should have got some Surface updates from WU on patch Tuesday, Wednesday down here, this week too that improve Miracast wireless display

ActionTec have got 15% off their device as mentioned in this blog post too

And a great overview of the tech

http://blogs.windows.com/windows/b/windowsexperience/archive/2013/11/12/windows-8-1-on-your-big-screen-with-miracast.aspx

billgates

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#934728 16-Nov-2013 07:53

Yep the firmware update on Surface 2 has improved the battery life as well.

Do whatever you want to do man.

macuser

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#938028 20-Nov-2013 16:51

Went to return my SP2 for a couple of reasons (the pen tracking issue on the screen edges and a sqeaky bezel) JB says I must contact Microsoft, which flys in the face of the CGA since my purchase relationship is with JB Hifi. JB hifi were good about it though and will contact Microsoft on my behalf.

crackrdbycracku

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#941494 27-Nov-2013 09:31

So here I was seriously considering buying a Surface 2, probably early in the new year as I intend to spend as little time as possible in front of a screen over the summer and who knows the price may drop after the end of year buying season and then ...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/25/microsoft_weve_got_one_too_many_windows/

"We have the Windows Phone OS. We have Windows RT and we have full Windows. We're not going to have three," Julie Larson-Green told the audience at a UBS investor event

OK, I it doesn't take a genius to figure which OS is going to get the chop, bye bye RT. Mary Jo Foley figures, and her guess is usually better than most peoples, that Windows Phone and Window RT will be 'merged' by early 2015.

All right, that probably doesn't mean that if I buy a Surface 2 now it will be a brick in a little over a year. What will probably happen is that a bunch of updates over the next 13 or so months will integrate the software on the Surface 2 to be compatible with the software on my Nokia 720. MS might just hold Surface 3 a little longer and release it after the merge is done or bring the merge forward so they can get in on the end of year buying season.

The problems are two fold. First, the weakest aspect of buying a Surface 2 is app support and with this announcement I can't see that getting much better. Second, the big picture problem is the Microsoft isn't actually saying what will happen to RT devices. We just have to guess. The $750ish price (Surface 2 + keyboard) might not be a big deal for some people but I expect to get a least three years from a computer/phone/tablet purchase and this merge is only one third the way through that.

Sure, burning all the customers who bought RT devices by saying 'Sorry, those devices won't work now we merged the platforms' would be a very stupid thing to do but would it really be the strangest thing Microsoft has ever done? Remember the whole Surface project bought them into competition with their own device manufactures and plenty of commentators thought RT was a dumb idea in the first place. Oh, yeah, and they wrote off over one billion on the Surface RT write down and the marketing campaign that didn't sell any devices.

I mean would a simple statement like 'whatever we do your RT device will still work' be so hard?

Why is Microsoft working so hard to talk me out of buying their product?

Didn't anybody tell you I was a hacker?

billgates

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#941515 27-Nov-2013 09:48

Windows Phone and Windows RT will be merged into one platform. They are both based on the ARM architecture. Surface 2 is plenty fast enough to get future updates as well.

Do whatever you want to do man.

crackrdbycracku

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#941524 27-Nov-2013 09:54

billgates: Windows Phone and Windows RT will be merged into one platform. They are both based on the ARM architecture. Surface 2 is plenty fast enough to get future updates as well.

See, I totally agree from a 'it would be rational if ...' perspective but that isn't confirmation.

Didn't anybody tell you I was a hacker?

nathan

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#942731 29-Nov-2013 10:24

crackrdbycracku:
billgates: Windows Phone and Windows RT will be merged into one platform. They are both based on the ARM architecture. Surface 2 is plenty fast enough to get future updates as well.

See, I totally agree from a 'it would be rational if ...' perspective but that isn't confirmation.

you need to think about the motivations of writers who want big juicy headlines like "Windows RT is dead" to generate buzz and clicks and adwords revenues for their stories

Surface and Windows on ARM (Windows RT) is here for the longhaul, its not going away

TwoSeven

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#942803 29-Nov-2013 11:03

Merging two code bases is not the same as getting rid of a platform. When it comes to mobile devices the user generally doesn't access the OS itself, so it actually doesn't matter what is used under the hood and keeping things simple is usually a good idea.

The difference between the two devices is simply in the presentation layer, Apple do the same with IOS for the IPhone and IPad.

If one takes the windows 8 core and adds ARM support, then layers WinRT on top of it, one pretty much as a platform capable of working on a surface and win phone (at least as far as I can see).

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benmurphy66

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#958446 28-Dec-2013 21:18

Nathan, any further word on possible release dates for the dock? Also struggling to find the car charger which I assume is because it's not formally released yet either?

nathan

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#958600 29-Dec-2013 13:44

benmurphy66: Nathan, any further word on possible release dates for the dock? Also struggling to find the car charger which I assume is because it's not formally released yet either?

these are both available in the US, so your fastest way to acquire them will be parallel importing them yourself sorry

we don't have a NZ launch date yet for either of those accessories.

The car charger is particularly handy, just like the Surface Pro charger has a spare USB port for charging something else so does the Surface car charger

(sent from on holiday while my Surface 2 charges from my car, and its charging a Lumia 1520 at the same time ;P !)

benmurphy66

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#958602 29-Dec-2013 13:47

nathan:
benmurphy66: Nathan, any further word on possible release dates for the dock? Also struggling to find the car charger which I assume is because it's not formally released yet either?

these are both available in the US, so your fastest way to acquire them will be parallel importing them yourself sorry

we don't have a NZ launch date yet for either of those accessories.

The car charger is particularly handy, just like the Surface Pro charger has a spare USB port for charging something else so does the Surface car charger

(sent from on holiday while my Surface 2 charges from my car, and its charging a Lumia 1520 at the same time ;P !)

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Do you know am I correct that it's ok to the use the Car Charger on a Surface RT? I don't see why it wouldn't work.

nathan

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#958603 29-Dec-2013 14:08

benmurphy66:
nathan:
benmurphy66: Nathan, any further word on possible release dates for the dock? Also struggling to find the car charger which I assume is because it's not formally released yet either?

these are both available in the US, so your fastest way to acquire them will be parallel importing them yourself sorry

we don't have a NZ launch date yet for either of those accessories.

The car charger is particularly handy, just like the Surface Pro charger has a spare USB port for charging something else so does the Surface car charger

(sent from on holiday while my Surface 2 charges from my car, and its charging a Lumia 1520 at the same time ;P !)

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Do you know am I correct that it's ok to the use the Car Charger on a Surface RT? I don't see why it wouldn't work.

yes it will charge them all - Surface RT, Surface 2, Surface Pro and Surface Pro 2

just won't charge the Surface Pro and Surface Pro 2 as fast as the AC wall adapter

CutCutCut

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#958690 29-Dec-2013 17:29

nathan:
benmurphy66: Nathan, any further word on possible release dates for the dock? Also struggling to find the car charger which I assume is because it's not formally released yet either?

these are both available in the US, so your fastest way to acquire them will be parallel importing them yourself sorry

we don't have a NZ launch date yet for either of those accessories.

The car charger is particularly handy, just like the Surface Pro charger has a spare USB port for charging something else so does the Surface car charger

(sent from on holiday while my Surface 2 charges from my car, and its charging a Lumia 1520 at the same time ;P !)

Hanging out for those docks :-)

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