Microsoft Tech Ed conference in Australia is next week (expect lots of coverage right here), but this week its New Zealand’s turn. Turns out Microsoft spilling the beans on some brand new products. Smarter Geek is reporting that during a session titled ‘WCL101 Come and see the latest and greatest in Windows Devices’ Microsoft’s Jeff Johnson and Patrick Hevesi showed off a new Windows ‘Slate’.
Said to be a quad-core tablet, it brings thoughts of speeds and performance, but naturally concerns about battery life and heat. Naturally any tablet draws comparisons to the market leader, Apple’s iPad, which has been able to avoid these unattractive heat vents. When holding or resting a tablet, people don’t want to consciously avoid blocking that area, but at least on this model, looks like they may have to.
Its interesting to consider the need for a quad-core processor in a tablet. While the PC industry has convinced bigger numbers are always better, when it comes to tablets, is there really a need for quad-core processors and the trade-offs that come with it. More processor intensive applications like video editing are unlikely to be done on a tablet, at least today. There may well be an interface design that would be conducive and potentially faster that traditional mouse and keyboard input, we just haven’t seen it yet.
Details of upcoming devices will continue to flow in the lead up to the Build Conference next month.
More info @ Smarter Geek via All About Microsoft
