No WP7 Tablets!

[Jon Westfall]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.wmexperts.com/ballmer-no-plans-wp7-tablets?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+wmexperts+(WMExperts)' target='_blank'>http://www.wmexperts.com/ballmer-no...rts+(WMExperts)</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is in Singapore today to help promote the launch of Office 2010/Imagine Cup Awards Ceremony, nothing too surprising there.Evidently Steve took some questions from the audience and on Windows Phone 7, he reportedly had this to say: We're focused on putting Windows Phone 7 in phones, no plans for tablets."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//wpt/auto/1274874840.usr7.png" style="border: 0px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>So the source is a Twitter post (Through WMExperts), however this meshes with what I've heard about WP7 and tablets, namely that there won't be one (Since "what I've heard" is journalistic lingo for "I've heard nothing"). So we've got an iPhone OS tablet (the iPad), we've got Android tablets on the way, but we won't have a WP7 Tablet. And I don't think that's a bad thing, as WP7 is striving for something noble: A really great smartphone experience. Anyone going to miss a WP7 Tablet?</p>

[egads]

I don't want WP7 on a phone let alone a tablet.

[David Tucker]

I don't want WP7 on a phone let alone a tablet.

I laughed!

I guess the best we'll get from the platform is the Zune HD... :rolleyes:

[Fritzly]

No, I will not miss WP7 on a Tablet at all!
First a "Real" Tablet PC is not what the iPad is and what Android is rumored to be; these two products are what Microsoft envisioned years ago with the "Mira" project, AKA "Smart Display".
The concept was way ahead of its time and the devices were indeed bulky, expensive and with a too short battery life.
What I do not understand is why MS is not resurerrecting the project taking advantage of the improved hardware available nowadays.

I have used Slate Tablet PC since they came out running the "XP Tablet" OS; granted at the beginning the experience was "bumpy" to say the least both because of the shortcoming of the OS and, a much more severe problem in my opinion, the underpowered, overpriced hardware.
Since then the entire experience has improved a lot and while there is plenty of room for improving it I would never trade my Toshiba M400 Tablet for an iPad; in fact I will soon replacing my aging TAblet with a new Lenovo, Touchscreen enabled one. Why should I give away the freedom I have with W7 for an artificial locked down option as iPad and Wp7 are is beyond my understanding.

[doogald]

If this were Steve Jobs and not Ballmer, we'd know for sure that a tablet was coming. You know that Apple is eventually going to do something based inversely on the vehemence of Jobs' stated intention not to do so.

e.g., iPad with Flash, coming fall 2011.

[Jon Westfall]

If this were Steve Jobs and not Ballmer, we'd know for sure that a tablet was coming. You know that Apple is eventually going to do something based inversely on the vehemence of Jobs' stated intention not to do so.

e.g., iPad with Flash, coming fall 2011.

Normally I'd agree with you - however Jobs hatred of Adobe seems to run deeper than his love of misdirection. We'll see though - with Apple you never say never.

[The Yaz]

Microsoft is rightly not porting Windows Phone to a tablet. A phone is more about constant communication, while tablets are more activity oriented. Besides, they already had the operating system for a tablet ready to go for a year now and they've let it wallow in the background...the Zune!

All of the necessary pieces were there; wifi, Zune software for media playback, promised apps for facebook and twitter, a simple finger friendly interface and a serviceable internet explorer with no need for a constant data connection to make it work. Just change the screen resolution and the Zune could have been the Dell Streak with a 5" screen and still pocketable.

But then again, it seems you have to check your imagination at the security desk when you go to work at Microsoft :(

Steve

[Djblois]

I would much rather them advance the tablet experience in Windows. I do not want a secondary device - I want to have one device that is my laptop and my tablet together. They can do this by:

1) have a tablet interface programmed into Windows that slates would have on automatically but convertibles would change into the tablet experience when turned into tablet mode

2) work on getting the boot up speed (my tablet is already about 30 sec but I would like it even faster)

3) put better battery controls into the system ex: when the battery gets low it can change the battery controls, etc..

4) get it so switching between touch and pen mode more fluid

If they do those 4 things than the windows tablet would be much better than any iPad or android tablet.

[benjimen]

It seems as though they're fully copying the Apple business model, I wouldn't be surprised if they do introduce a tablet, approximately 3 years after they should've. Regardless, it doesn't matter -- at this point they couldn't put something on the market that would sell well.

Microsoft's current 'Me-Too' approach to mobility is unfortunate, it would be great to have another innovator in the marketplace -- what they are doing isn't enough to define their products as any sort of standard; lucky for them there's enough market share left over for fringe-OS devices like WP7.

[alese]

The only one that is going to miss the tablet is Microsoft.
They are allready some 3 years too late with new phone OS, and by the time they figue out that they should have a tablet and a mobile, not just phone OS it's going to be too late anyway.

For me it's not just about tablets, it's about having a mobile/home OS that can be used on many different devices, that can leverage Application and media stores. Android is allready such OS, with Google TV it will come to millions of homes and there is no reason not to use it in other devices around the home, giving Google more and better foothold into homes than any PC or XBox.
Apple is in similar position, they can use existing iPhone/iPad OS and basic hardware to build other home devices, like SetTop box, new "MacMini", maybe a Wii like console, home music player... you name it and all these devices would have same/similar UI, same app store/iTunes store/book store, would communicate with each other and lock in the user into Apple environment, feeding adverts through iAds and all built with Apple's hardware.
Potential revenues and profits for both Google and Apple are gigantic.
Also by doing this, both Google and Apple can attack the Microsoft and it's Windows "monopoly", and since Microsoft doesnt have anything to defend against it they will be ultimately the ones that missed the oportunity and made a strategic mistake, one of many under Balmer.
I guess Microsoft will remain big technlogy company, but just like IBM they just wont be relevant anymore in general public mindset.

[Janak Parekh]

Microsoft is rightly not porting Windows Phone to a tablet. A phone is more about constant communication, while tablets are more activity oriented. Not necessarily. One great thing about my iPad is that I can push Exchange email onto it. Always-accessible Exchange email from an Apple device, better than most Windows Tablet PCs. Who would have thought of that?

Besides, they already had the operating system for a tablet ready to go for a year now and they've let it wallow in the background...the Zune! Heck, they had the underlying Windows CE even before that, with more than a decade of experience with various formfactors. Microsoft simply dragged its feet -- in my opinion, it's because it considers desktop Windows to be its sacred cow, and any device approaching a laptop size meant that they should invest in getting Windows, and only Windows, on it.

This confirms the fact that they're continuing the same strategy. It is possible to do that right (although not with the battery life the iPad has, but whatever), but that would require some serious UI revamping. They have lots of technology pieces, but I'm not sure MS has a cohesive strategy here, and HP's departure seems to underwrite that.

--janak

[The Yaz]

[Heck, they had the underlying Windows CE even before that, with more than a decade of experience with various formfactors.

--janak[/QUOTE]

I'm on board with that. I've had PocketPC's since 2001. My point was that the Zune interface was probably the first time I've seen Microsoft build a totally finger friendly UI and the lack of bloat in terms of directory layers would transfer well into a tablet format IMHO :)

Steve :cool:

[Rob Alexander]

Although this discussion is interesting, the original point of the story is pretty much meaningless. Of course they have no plans for a tablet right now. They don't even have a phone yet. To have any chance at a WP7 tablet, they first need to have a successful WP7 with lots and lots of apps. Balmer didn't say they were philosophically opposed to the idea, just that they have no plans for it... and well they shouldn't until they see whether WP7 will be the goose that laid the golden egg, or just an egg.

I'm finding the discussion about what a tablet should be interesting because I am on my third day with a new iPad. I am part of a group testing it for the College and it has been an interesting experience. It really is a nice product with an excellent UI. Probably the biggest surprise to me is just how well it does integrate with my Windows email, contacts and calendar. It's just as seamless as on my Windows phone and the email client is quicker and easier to use that Outlook (though nowhere near as feature-rich).

I am discovering that this is a genuinely useful mobile device for a number of situations that none of my others (laptop, Windows 6.5 phone and UMPC) did as well. The two that jump out at me in these few days are for meetings and for sitting next to me while we watch TV at night. (Looking things up on the fly as you watch a show.) So I get why people are excited about this. I also see many significant limitations that make this 1.0 device not the tablet that we've all been waiting for all our lives, but it's a step in the right direction and, if it spurs the industry into a competitive frenzy, then it will be a win-win for everyone. In the meantime, it's a natural, intuitive UI on a device on which every app seems to have been crafted with a real eye to an easy interface and a beautiful design. It really is a pleasure to use.

One last comment. This iPad has reminded me of something I've known for decades, but have learned to take for granted under Windows. It's all about the apps. There are some amazing products out there for the iPad (and iPhone, of course since most of them started there). I haven't seen this level of creativity in Windows software for a long time and it's been about as long since I've had this much fun exploring applications. If MS wants to compete in the phone and/or light tablet space, they really need to figure that part out. It's obvious that iPad/iPhone developers love the platform and it shows in their products.