News - Acer delays launching Windows RT tablets until April 2013

[HEXUS]

Wait and see strategy is prudent decides the Taiwanese computer giant.

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[OilSheikh]

Getting Megan Fox to do the Ultrabook ads must have been a huge financial strain!

[drakioned]

Is there that much interest in Windows RT? I don't think I know anyone who actually wants one of these. Near as I can make out, anyone who doesn't want an iPad and isn't picking up the ultra cheap Playbook is probably after some kind of Nexus.

[Biscuit]

Good point actually, thinking about it i also don't know anyone in the flesh who is genuinely looking forward to getting an RT device. With ipads and nexus i can always find someone i know who is thinking about it. Personally i think it will prove to be a sensible move, i see there being a brief fad and then it dying down and RT will be left bottom of the mobile tablet pile while Android and iOS continue to battle it out.

[dangel]

Is there that much interest in Windows RT? I don't think I know anyone who actually wants one of these. Near as I can make out, anyone who doesn't want an iPad and isn't picking up the ultra cheap Playbook is probably after some kind of Nexus.

Going by what i've read - I think there is in all honesty. Even i'm interested in playing with one and i'm in the market for the pro.

I think more the problem here is Acer has it's nose out of joint over the fact MS did a tablet themselves - couple that with keen pricing and high quality and the truth is Acer are probably struggling to compete.

[crossy]

Good point actually, thinking about it i also don't know anyone in the flesh who is genuinely looking forward to getting an RT device. With ipads and nexus i can always find someone i know who is thinking about it. Personally i think it will prove to be a sensible move, i see there being a brief fad and then it dying down and RT will be left bottom of the mobile tablet pile while Android and iOS continue to battle it out.

Going by what i've read - I think there is in all honesty. Even i'm interested in playing with one and i'm in the market for the pro.

I think more the problem here is Acer has it's nose out of joint over the fact MS did a tablet themselves - couple that with keen pricing and high quality and the truth is Acer are probably struggling to compete.

Add me to the "interested in seeing WindowsRT" list - from what I've seen it's capable of doing mail, web and Office, so perhaps this would be a good replacement for my wife's ageing Dell laptop (running Windows7). Especially if the RT boxes have a decent keyboard, double digit battery life and are priced at the level of current Android and Apple tablets (preferably lower). I might even consider one to replace my Android-running Asus Transformer when that finally dies, if the price is right.

What's interesting me is whether one (or more) of the big players will be trying to get RT into businesses. From what little I've heard you're talking about inexpensive devices that probably will drop into a Microsoft environment quite nicely, so if there's remote (push) install/update and ways to lock it down (no local installs) then perhaps the corporates will be interested.

As to Acer not doing their stuff until next year - I'm with dangel, it's probably because Microsoft "stole" Acer's "much cheapness" niche while still being able to keep the quality high. Personally speaking I'm not much bothered if Acer go into RT at all - as I'm sure that other manufacturers will.

[dangel]

Add me to the "interested in seeing WindowsRT" list - from what I've seen it's capable of doing mail, web and Office, so perhaps this would be a good replacement for my wife's ageing Dell laptop (running Windows7). Especially if the RT boxes have a decent keyboard and double digit battery life. I might even consider one to replace my Android-running Asus Transformer when that finally dies.

What's interesting me is whether one (or more) of the big players will be trying to get RT into businesses. From what little I've heard you're talking about inexpensive devices that probably will drop into a Microsoft environment quite nicely, so if there's remote (push) install/update and ways to lock it down (no local installs) then perhaps the corporates will be interested.

As to Acer not doing their stuff until next year - I'm with dangel, it's probably because Microsoft "stole" Acer's "much cheapness" niche while still being able to keep the quality high. Personally speaking I'm not much bothered if Acer go into RT at all - as I'm sure that other manufacturers will.

I didn't expect RT to interest me much but it already looks far more capable than my iPad - if I were after an 'office' device plus apps in a quality package it's a good sell (and hence it might well be corporate approved as the management tools for it are far better and fit into the MS ecosystem). I would of jumped on the new nexus 10 - android is much better than iOS and all I really wanted was a tablet with decent screen res to move me from my iPad 3. Now i'm waiting for the higher res surface pro and I expect it to replace both my iPad 3 and my laptop. Great to have so much choice.

[Funkstar]

What's interesting me is whether one (or more) of the big players will be trying to get RT into businesses. From what little I've heard you're talking about inexpensive devices that probably will drop into a Microsoft environment quite nicely, so if there's remote (push) install/update and ways to lock it down (no local installs) then perhaps the corporates will be interested.

Windows RT could be the ultimate (not so) dumb client. The thin clients I've seen in offices aren't that power efficient compared to what is available in the mobile space these days, and their performance is terrible. A monitor that is not really any bigger than a standard PC monitor but includes a system running Windows RT could be great in offices. I would be very surprised if MS didn't have this usage model in mind when building Win8.

[kingpotnoodle]

Good point actually, thinking about it i also don't know anyone in the flesh who is genuinely looking forward to getting an RT device. With ipads and nexus i can always find someone i know who is thinking about it. Personally i think it will prove to be a sensible move, i see there being a brief fad and then it dying down and RT will be left bottom of the mobile tablet pile while Android and iOS continue to battle it out.

Droid and iOS is what the general public will know and crave, as RT gains more momentum you'll find those people. RT is also the sensible practical choice for business and people who want to do serious work rather than consume media on the tablet. I reckon it will sell, maybe not as well as iPad but it will sell.

[crossy]

Windows RT could be the ultimate (not so) dumb client. The thin clients I've seen in offices aren't that power efficient compared to what is available in the mobile space these days, and their performance is terrible. A monitor that is not really any bigger than a standard PC monitor but includes a system running Windows RT could be great in offices. I would be very surprised if MS didn't have this usage model in mind when building Win8.

I'm hearing a lot of buzz around 8 and RT - although some of it is frankly ridiculous. For example, I heard a discussion where someone was waxing lyrical about voice driven interfaces for helpdesk folks - so they could control their app and leave both hands free for getting the details of the customer's issue. They didn't think that one through did they?

Other thing that's attracting me is that 8 and RT tablets could be user serviceable or upgradable - perhaps even a thicker model that allowed memory and storage changes like you can do for normal laptops (although you'd be replacing one SSD mem module with another).

Given the interest I've got to wonder whether there's something else annoying Acer.

[dangel]

Droid and iOS is what the general public will know and crave, as RT gains more momentum you'll find those people. RT is also the sensible practical choice for business and people who want to do serious work rather than consume media on the tablet. I reckon it will sell, maybe not as well as iPad but it will sell.

And yet amazon can launch a tablet (and not market it as being Android) and sell plenty. I'd wager plenty of iPad owners don't even think about iOS - the device itself is desirable not the underlying OS. What's interesting for MS is that they are playing that card - the OS is important because it gives you multi platform apps (and neither Android or iOS facilitate that). Of course with "Windows" there's massive brand recognition.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

win 8 is a great OS. i am using it now on my rigs at home. wonderfuly made and quite stable.

i personally dont see a point for RT though. they should just make the win 8 pro versions of all tablets. that itself has a huge selling point ahead of ios and android ie can run any desktop app.

[dangel]

win 8 is a great OS. i am using it now on my rigs at home. wonderfuly made and quite stable.

i personally dont see a point for RT though. they should just make the win 8 pro versions of all tablets. that itself has a huge selling point ahead of ios and android ie can run any desktop app.

Cost, lack of decent comparible intel architecture and the fact that most desktop apps will suck for touch. The pros will be ~twice the price.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

desktop apps will be fine on a tablet especially with the new tactile pen

[scaryjim]

Cost ...

You could've stopped right there

I'm pretty sure we will eventually see Win RT tablets at £200 or less. Given app and settings sync between devices if you use a Microsoft account, it'll basically mean you can pick up your office and take it with you. Sure, you lose out on your x86 apps, but how many of those do people really need to use on the go? You'll be taking your email, calendar and contacts with you, which is probably by far the most important thing to have when you're out and about. A lot of people moved over to Google apps when they got the ability to carry around the same inbox and calendar on their phone as they were using on their desktop - now MS are taking that one step further by practically baking it into both OSes. Add a built in office package so you can review meeting notes etc. on the go, and you're very close to an ideal portable office...

[dangel]

You could've stopped right there

I'm pretty sure we will eventually see Win RT tablets at £200 or less. Given app and settings sync between devices if you use a Microsoft account, it'll basically mean you can pick up your office and take it with you. Sure, you lose out on your x86 apps, but how many of those do people really need to use on the go? You'll be taking your email, calendar and contacts with you, which is probably by far the most important thing to have when you're out and about. A lot of people moved over to Google apps when they got the ability to carry around the same inbox and calendar on their phone as they were using on their desktop - now MS are taking that one step further by practically baking it into both OSes. Add a built in office package so you can review meeting notes etc. on the go, and you're very close to an ideal portable office...

Yeah I guess I could. I suppose from my view - i've got an Android phone and an iPad and then Windows PCs/laptops etc. The OS wasn't key to me buying the iPad - the screen res plus the apps I need was (in fact, iOS feels crap versus Android). Arguably 8 doesn't have the latter, but given the three platform MS strategy (and the size of that market) I expect the Windows App store to explode in a very short time indeed - in other words probably not an issue in 2-3 months.