“Microsoft has officially launched its Surface line of touch computer units in Australia with a focus on retail, education and finance markets,” Nadia Cameron reports for Computerworld.
Cameron reports, “At an event in Microsoft’s Sydney headquarters on Tuesday, Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division president, Robbie Bach, said the main targets would be businesses and not consumers.”
“Key verticals being targeted include education, public sector, retail, finance and other public-facing service providers,” Cameron reports. “All Surface hardware sales will go direct through the vendor and cost users $21,000 each [US$18,283.65], while software development kit (SDK) models will cost $24,500 [US$21,330.93].”
Cameron reports, “Microsoft managing director, Tracey Fellows, forecast hundreds rather than thousands of unit sales in the first 12 months.”
“The Surface device is identical in all 19 geographic markets. Its operating system is based on Windows Vista SP1 and five cameras sit beneath a ruggedised 30-inch multi-touchscreen with object recognition built-in,” Cameron reports. “It’s driven by a 2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU and 2GB of DDR2 RAM with a maximum resolution of 1024 x 768. The unit weighs 90kg [198.4 lbs.] and measures 108 x 69 x 54cm [42.5 x 27.2 x 22.3 inches].”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Wonderful news! Now Aussies can ignore Microsoft’s Big Ass Table, too!
Wanna hear something funny? Windows Vista SP1.
Let’s see: $18,284 for Microsoft’s 42.5″ x 27.2″ x 22.3″ and 198.4 pound non-portable Big Ass Table or $499 for an Apple iPad that’s just 9.56″ x 7.47″ x 0.5″ thin, weighs just 1.5 pounds and does 150,000+ more things? Oh, however would one be able to decide?
Only a dysfunctional, oblivious, foolish, suicidal mess of a company would make such a move after Apple unveiled the iPad, much less announce it to the press.
Microsoft, keep focusing on inessential boondoggles, and may Steve Ballmer remain CEO for as long as it takes!
Direct link via YouTube here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “James W.” for the heads up.]
At that price per table they could just buy 37 iPads to be passed around. Who in their right mind would buy this gigantic piece of crap. Even the specs are unimpressive…
What that money, you could outfit an entire school with at least 60 mac Minis. Wouldn’t that be much better in terms of learning? The big ass table will be a bigger flop than the zune.
With that money coming in from sales, Ballmer can eat five hamburgers, chow down five extra large fried and wash it down with a superdupersupersize it drink every few hours. Now wait for it……wait for it……. 5 hours later… he’ll need a big ass toilet to process it all out.
“Key verticals being targeted include education, public sector, retail, finance and other public-facing service providers,”
A perfect example of asinine corporate boardroom-speak. A bunch of high-sounding words that say nothing. This pretty much sums up MicroSoft.
Wow it shits with outdated os and m$ thinks it’s smart by selling it to foreigners? Balmer: they’re austrailian, not stupid! The only dozens that’ll sell will be to the ignorant or to the naive. Either way they’ll get what’s deserved
MS had to send a couple of BATs to the Southern hemisphere to balance out the couple sold in the Northern hemisphere to keep earth rotating properly on its axis.
Really, the BAT just looks completely outdated. You would have to be a completes bend over and take me Microsoft stoogie to even buy, promote and develop for this POS. The cost is ridiculous and functionality is absolutely stupid.
The iPad is just lightyears ahead of this BAT. Imagine doing all of that and more with something so portable as the iPad and 1000% more functional. A fraction of the cost to obtain and to develop for.
I think this device would be a great platform where “Monkey Boy” Balmer could perform table dances.
Unfortunately, the popular “Big Ass Chair” accessory still hasn’t survived a signoff meeting with Ballmer.
Will they sell enough to pay for Robbie Bach’s plane ticket?
Ducking in to say,…
looking both ways…
I’d buy one if I had the money.
RUNNING OUT FOR DEAR LIFE!
I’m guessing Robbie Bach just wanted a summer vacation in sunny Sydney, to get away from the interminable gloom of Redmond.
Ten of those puppies together weigh just under a ton.
Call the chiropracter!
Shocking. The SDK alone costs $3000!!!
But will it run Crysis?
Funniest thing I read today…
Can I stream Pandora and… aww…. skip it.
How far would you have to hold an iPad in front of your face before a $499 screen looks like a $20,000 screen?
Probably better to just pass the pad to the client and let them look, than to do it on the BAT.
Is the number of sales going to become known as the BATting average?
Will they be sold to churches? Then they’ll have BATs in the belfry?
These and other questions must be answered.
Apple will sell hundreds of iPads in about, what, 15 seconds after it goes on sale?
i am looking forward to a 9.7in iPad with 1024×768. I have an old 15in Apple Cinema Display (acrylic bezel) at 1024×768 and I love it, but I use that for viewing Mail or iTunes alone.
Anything bigger and I expect way more than VGA resolution. I can’t begin to fathom “1024×768 max resolution” on a 30in screen. Sorry MS, you just killed it for me right there. I was so looking forward to a Big Awesome Table that I could serve drinks on for the cool factor.
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And for the kitchen, a refrigerator with a touch-screen door and strategically placed internal cameras so that you can see inside without opening it.
Wow, the last time I ever saw anything like the “Bad-ass table” it was one of those “Space invaders” pub table and they lasted about 9 months in the uk before the novelty wore off. Maybe that’s the sort of business ms are thinking about. Sell them to pubs and while you’re having a pint with yer mates and you suddenly remember it’s your girlfriends birthday you can simply email her some excuse from the pub via the ultra-useful “Bad-ass Table”. Woohoo, another romanced saved. Thanks ms!
$20 000!!!
Without a keyboard???
Ah Ah Ah …
What educational institution would want to waste money on the BAT? And what developer will spend US$21K just to develop for it? Yikes!!
“the main targets would be businesses and not consumers.”
We’re talking about one of those information kiosk things.. i.e., entirely different category to Apple’s upcoming media pad. So why all the scorn?