surface

Since May, Microsoft has dished out announcement after announcement and put on event after event. Now the company is taking a short breather.

Frank Shaw, Redmond's vice president for corporate communications, said in a blog post that the software giant is "taking a breath or two" after two months of hard work at a "blistering pace."

Since May 31, Shaw noted, the company has unveiled the Windows 8 Release Preview, the Surface tablet, showcased Windows Phone 8, and the Office 2013 preview.

The announcement comes a few days after Windows 8 had hit the release to manufacturing … Read more

Things are not looking good for PC makers in the age of the iPad.

Market researcher Canalys makes this point with PC shipment stats, which are a function of the way it sees the PC market. In short, tablets are PCs too. (And note Canalys defines "PC" generically, not the traditional definition of a Windows PC.)

That gives Apple an overwhelming lead over No.2 Hewlett-Packard. In the second quarter, Apple shipped about 21 million PCs versus about 13.5 million for HP, according to a Canalys report released today. Lenovo was a close third with 13.1 … Read more

No spam in Tuesday's top tech stories:

It's not often we get a shakeup in the email world, but say hello to Microsoft's new free email account, Outlook.com. It'll eventually be replacing Hotmail, but you might want to grab your name now. There's a new, clean look and it ties in your social media contacts. It's not too far off from what you may be used to already in Gmail, as you'll be able to tell from CNET's full overview of the features.

The Mars Science Laboratory rover, called Curiosity, will … Read more

Though it's not exactly an earth-shattering revelation, Microsoft has confirmed that Surface tablets will arrive October 26 along with Windows 8.

"The next version of our operating system, Windows 8, will be generally available on October 26, 2012. At that time, we will begin selling the Surface, a series of Microsoft-designed and manufactured hardware devices," Microsoft said in its annual report filed this week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Microsoft has said before that Surface products "would be available the same time that Windows 8" was launched, but it's reassuring to … Read more

Those of you eyeing a Microsoft Surface tablet won't have to cough up $1,000 or $2,000 for the privilege.

The rumor mill was buzzing yesterday after Swedish Website Webhallen listed prices for the four different Surface models ranging from $1,002 up to $2,150.

But now it turns on that the site's prices weren't based on anything in the real world. Responding to a query from CNET, Webhallen confirmed that it's received no information on pricing from Microsoft. The site instead claimed that it jacked up the prices on the tablet to lure … Read more

Microsoft has finally acknowledged that its Surface device could put other Windows 8 tablet makers in a bind.

Unveiled last month, Microsoft's Surface tablet is the company's attempt to compete with the iPad and the slew of Android tablets on the market. But Surface will also be competing with similar devices from Microsoft's own partners.

In an annual report filled with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday, Microsoft admitted that "our Surface devices will compete with products made by our OEM partners, which may affect their commitment to our platform."

Microsoft has been pushing its … Read more

Despite all chatter about Microsoft's upcoming Surface tablet being competitively priced, rumors are swirling that it might cost $1,000 at the cheapest, according to The Next Web.

This news comes via a Swedish Web site that lists prices for all four of the future models, including the Windows RT and Window 8 Pro editions. The cheapest of the four models has the price tag of 6,990 kroner, which is $1,002, and the most expensive is 14,990 kroner, equaling $2,150.

Of course, the tablets could cost less in countries with a lower cost of living … Read more

It's probably an understatement to say that Microsoft is in a hurry to release Windows 8 and the Surface tablets that run on top of it.

Enough of a hurry that Redmond, on Wednesday, needed to make sure you knew that Windows 8 will arrive by October 26.

I'm guessing the Surface products won't be too far behind.

With Google Nexus 7 on the rise, Microsoft wants to (let's call it a hunch) get in the game before consumers begin focusing too much attention on Android.

Android, you know, the OS that seemed to be stuck … Read more

Head on over to our Microsoft Surface first take to read about the company's Surface tablet plans.