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Will Microsoft's Surface Windows Pro Miss the Mark? By Jennifer LeClaire January 22, 2013 11:33AM     According to NPD Group, touchscreen laptops account for only 4.5 percent of Windows 8 sales. NPD also reports that the consumer electronics market in general is in a downward cycle, which does not help Microsoft's chances with its Surface line-up or Windows 8. Microsoft has publicly stated that it has sold 60 million Windows 8 licenses to date.   Related Topics Surface Windows RT Windows 8 Pro Microsoft Tablet Top Tech News Latest News Cyberattacks Could Help Syrian Raids What's in Store for Apple's iOS 7? Facebook Steadies, Year Post IPO Flop Windows 8.1: No Cost, Big Pressure Reality TV's New Stars: Small Biz Microsoft has not seen the results it hoped for with its Windows RT Surface tablets or its Windows 8 operating system. Will consumer reception of its latest Surface PCs be any better? Microsoft on Tuesday announced its Surface family of PCs is growing. Dubbed Surface Windows 8 Pro, the newest model hits store shelves next month in Microsoft's U.S. and Canada stores, MicrosoftStore.com, Staples and Best Buy, among other locations. Despite the lackluster sales, the official line out of Redmond is optimistic. Panos Panay, general manager for Microsoft Surface, said "the response to Surface has been exciting to see." An $800 PC -Like Tablet The Surface Windows 8 Pro is powered by an Intel Core i5 processor. That gives it the power and performance of a laptop in a tablet package. Microsoft is positioning the new product as suitable for home, office and the road because of its size and ability to run Windows 8 applications, as well as current Windows 7 desktop applications. The Surface Windows 8 Pro comes in at $800 and is available in 64 GB and 128 GB models. A Surface pen with Palm Block technology, designed to work with Surface to let customers edit, collaborate and get things done, is included with Surface Windows 8 Pro. Microsoft also announced it would soon make the Surface Windows RT model available in 13 additional markets. That's more than double the number of markets in which Surface is currently available. What's more, the company said, new Surface accessories will soon be available to allow customers to personalize their experience. But is that enough to turn consumer's heads? Who Wants a Surface? According to NPD Group, touchscreen laptops account for only 4.5 percent of Windows 8 sales. NPD also reports that the consumer electronics market in general is in a downward cycle, which doesn't help Microsoft's chances at stellar success with its Surface line-up or Windows 8. Microsoft has publicly stated that it has sold 60 million Windows 8 licenses to date. Roger Kay, principal analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates, said the Surface RT tablets have not been a big hit nor have the desktops with the Windows 8 operating system. Will the new Surface Windows 8 Pro break that trend? "My sense is that businesses will buy only a few, since the use case has yet to be established, and businesses are quite conservative. Several I've talked with have said that they expect to experiment with touch-enabled Windows platforms, but that doesn't sound like a whole lot of volume," Kay told us. "If RT was appealing to anyone, it would be consumers. Windows 8 Pro gives Surface a shot at some business volume, but I still think it will be modest. Businesses are slow adopters of anything."   Tell Us What You Think Comment: Name: Dave C: Posted: 2013-01-23 @ 7:56am PT actually it depends on what you are doing. we are going to deploy 14 to a sales force, which will allow for getting them down from a laptop and a ipad to one device. if all works well we will mate with a windows phone 8 as well. If the users were using autocad, then I would say it would not work, but for mainly email and crm it should be fine. The RT which I tried and am using to write this simply does not fit the bill. Lala: Posted: 2013-01-22 @ 11:33pm PT Not really, these are seriously gimped i5 variety, stripped downed and undervolted to make them semi portable. me: Posted: 2013-01-22 @ 8:23pm PT Gosh, you could buy an iPad and a MacBook for twice the bucks and and carry them both around to have the same functionality as a surface pro Asok Asus: Posted: 2013-01-22 @ 11:58am PT Gosh! For that kind of bucks, you could buy a REAL laptop, like a very loaded Dell E5530 i7 business-class Latitude running a REAL operating system like Window 7 Pro 64bit! Also Visit: iPad Info Center Billions of Bytes Mobile Device Now Apple Info Center TopTechWire.com

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Network Security Spotlight

Syrian Electronic Army Hacks Financial Times The Financial Times is the latest victim of the Syrian Electronic Army, a group that supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The U.K.-based newspaper said a blog and its Twitter accounts were hacked.   Patch Tuesday Hyper Focuses on IE 8 Microsoft on Tuesday issued 10 security bulletins that fix 33 vulnerabilities. These updates include MS13-038, which will address the Internet Explorer 8 issue described in Security Advisory 2847140.   Surge of Venture Capital Buoys Tech Security Sector With companies and governments spending billions to repel cyberthreats, a surge of venture capital is pouring into companies developing cybersecurity technologies, the front line of the conflict.

Enterprise Hardware Spotlight

U.S. Defense Department Gives iOS 6 Security OK In a vote of confidence for Apple's iOS devices, the Defense Department has given the all-clear for employees to use iPads and iPhones for work. But only those running iOS 6, and only if issued by the government.   Cisco Surges After Profit Exceeds Analysts' Estimates Networking equipment giant Cisco's net income jumped 14 percent in the latest quarter as revenue at all four of its divisions rose for the first time in a year and a half, as tech spending increases.   HP and SAP Team To Advance HANA Database Technology The two tech leaders are working on a system that SAP says could fundamentally change the database market. HANA is SAP's technology that keeps data in-memory, for super fast processing.

Mobile Enterprise Spotlight

What's in Store for Apple's iOS 7? There's been talk recently that Apple's products are beginning to coast on their glorious past. So, with Apple's big Worldwide Developers Conference opening next month, speculation is heating up.   Google Glass Raises Congressional Privacy Concerns The buzz around Google Glass continues, but it's not all good. Some in Congress have questions. "We are curious whether this new technology could infringe on the privacy of average Americans," their letter to Google says.   Windows Phone Now No. 3 in Market, BlackBerry No. 4 Has Microsoft Phone moved into a coveted though distant third place for smartphone platforms behind Google's Android and Apple's iOS? A new report says yes, while BlackBerry has slipped to No. 4.

Enterprise Technology Spotlight

U.S. Could Use Cyberattack on Syrian Air Defenses The Pentagon has cyberattack capabilities that allow the U.S. military to help blind Syrian air defenses without firing a shot -- abilities central to a debate over whether to intervene in the 2-year-old civil war.   HP and SAP Team To Advance HANA Database Technology The two tech leaders are working on a system that SAP says could fundamentally change the database market. HANA is SAP's technology that keeps data in-memory, for super fast processing.   Cloud Computing Gains Another Competitor with Google Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure now have a full-on rival in Google, with its I/O announcement that it is opening its hosted Compute Engine environment for virtual machines to all comers.

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