Steve Ballmer holds a Lenovo ThinkPad Helix hybrid tablet-laptop at the Build Conference on Wednesday.
Posted on 07/01/2013 12:20:39 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Will new Windows 8.1 hybrids finally expose the iPad for what it really is, a mere tablet?
That's what Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer suggested this week.
When speaking at the company's Build Conference on Wednesday, he described in colorful -- and maybe just a tad exaggerated -- terms how tablets don't measure up to laptops (or even pencil and paper).
Enter the "2-in-1," as Microsoft likes to call hybrids. During his keynote presentation, Ballmer brandished the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix as an example of a 2-in-1 he has used.
The Helix can be a pure tablet or can snap into a dedicated keyboard and become a full-fledged laptop, replete with a mainstream Core i5 processor and a 1,920x1,080 resolution 11.6-inch display.
That was essentially Ballmer's pitch at Build. The salient advantage Windows 8.1 devices have over Apple tablets is that you need only one hybrid, not two separate devices.
And Ballmer knows that a lot more Helix-like 2-in-1 devices are on the way, packing Intel's battery-life friendly Haswell and Bay Trail processors.
That's all good except that Apple's iPad 5 is coming too. The 2,048x1,536 pixel-density, 9.7-inch tablet is expected to be lighter/thinner and more powerful, sporting iOS 7 and next-gen Apple A7 silicon.
And there's a booming market for third-party keyboards that turn the iPad into a quasi-laptop.
Then there's the next-gen iPad Mini, which will likely be even more popular.
Not to mention the very-well-received 2013 MacBook Air, which no single Windows ultrabook even comes close to in sales.
Is Ballmer right? Will 2-in-1 devices running Windows 8.1 steer consumers away from the next iPad? Maybe even get them to jettison their MacBooks?
Hmm...I think we had this discussion last year when Windows 8 launched.
Playing catch up with android features?
Lo, how the mighty have fallen.
Oh gag.
Stand by for the “Microsoft is more evil and terrible then Satan” bots to really let you have it.
That's what Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer suggested this week.
Step away from the crack pipe, Steve.
There is always somebody trying to get in the second or third post warning about other posters who are bots of some sort. Palinbots, Bushbots, Perotbots, Applebots, anti-Applebots, there’s bots for every side in every argument. Thanks for warning the original poster and all others that there are bots who will come along and disagree with them. Never mind that these things called Forums are for discussion, and competing viewpoints are what you find on forums.
I spent nearly 45 minutes on the phone, talking to four different people at Microsoft this morning, and got nowhere. Microsoft can't possibly be more evil and terrible then Satan. That would require job efficiency.
Is a Hybrid going to play angry birds better than a tablet? If not, 3/4 of the market does not care, nor will every have the capacity to care despite millions in advertising.
They just don’t get cursive...
Hey, don’t mess with the holier than thou or warning bots...
The problem is that the ThinkPad Helix is about 1700 out of the box. You can buy a 11” Air and an I-pad Mini for that amount and then have both.
Well you know what? When it comes to any story about Microsoft, it is a guarantee that the first 10 posts will mostly be:
“You are better off with Linux”
“I bought an Apple and never looked backed”
“Ballmer needs to be fired”
“Everyone I know hates Windows”
“Windows is a failure” <—recycled for every release
“I cant figure out how to do ____. Micro$oft sucks!!!”
I think Ballmer is a perfect spokesman for Microsoft.
It’ll be OK, VanDeKoik. Seriously.
Paint him blue and he’d be the SBOD.
“I spent nearly 45 minutes on the phone, talking to four different people at Microsoft this morning, and got nowhere. Microsoft can’t possibly be more evil and terrible then Satan. That would require job efficiency.”
As a Microsoft Slave, what right do you have to complain about losing months of your life doing technical support without pay???
or, as the Dell reps always told me...
“We will do a reinstall of windows now. It has been more than a year since you installed it, right?”
Well, I am an Apple love so Ballmer is an ally.
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