Finally iPad mini.. and price for Microsoft Surface Tablet. As usual, it will be some kind of surprise on Apple side.. Nobody is expecting just a simple small mini version of iPad. There are rumors that it will have not only iPad mini will have Cellular Data but will also have cellular voice capability. It is easier to do that.. no biggie.. it will be competitor to Samsung Galaxy Note.. kind of.. Knowing Apple, if they can get some other interesting Voice + Data Plan to make it affordable.. so instead of iPad mini as purely Cell phone, it can be an extra cell phone possible with pay as you go/use.. I think it is easily doable considering Apple's clout. Hope something useful comes out.. not just min/micro version..
As far as Microsoft Surface is concerned.. looks like Microsoft is positioning it to enterprise customers with enterprise discounts which usually can be any where from 40-60%. Or some real fool/idiot is sitting in their pricing who is thinking that people will pay same price as iPad just because we are adding physical keyboard in cover of surface tablet. or... I am too dumb to understand great Microsoft strategy.. but whatever I know.. in my view this price will make surface DOA (dead on arrival). Even if it 10 times better than iPad.. perception is that iPad is gold standard and you can only raise price later on if your product was successful. Lot of people have tried it out.. Motorola I know tried with docking station kind of nonsense.. but nobody even remember Motorola's tablet's name..
APPLE
Above is the e-mailed invitation sent to journalists Tuesday, advising them of Apple’s Oct. 23 event presumably to introduce the new iPad Mini.
A smaller and less expensive iPad would be a logical step by the Cupertino company to thwart sales of similar tablets by Google, Microsoft and Amazon. Rumors have focused on a screen size of about 7.85 inches diagonally for the so-called iPad Mini, notably smaller than the standard iPad’s 9.7-inch screen. Smaller devices are easier to carry in a purse or suit pocket and cost about $200, far more affordable than the latest version of the iPad, which starts at $499. An “iPad Mini” would allow Apple to protect its retail flank, experts have said, effectively corralling off that lower price point from its rivals.
Analyst Shaw Wu with Sterne Agee told Bloomberg News last week that while “these competitors have a tough enough time competing against the 10-inch iPad,” a smaller, less expensive iPad Mini “will make the competition even tougher. It tells you how hard it is to beat Apple. These other companies have to either lose money or break even on these products.”
Several news outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News and Reuters, have reported this month that Apple has already begun production of the device. Other reports have said that Apple will also introduce a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, smaller than the current 15-inch model.
Jobs famously denounced a smaller iPad model as late as 2010, when he said “One naturally thinks that a 7-inch screen would offer 70 percent of the benefits of a 10inch screen. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. … The reason we won’t make a 7-inch tablet isn’t because we don’t want to hit a lower price point, it’s because we think the screen is too small to express the software.”
However, business needs seem to have trumped the thinking of Jobs.
“Even though we all remember Steve Jobs saying you’d have to file down your fingers to use a 7-inch tablet, it sounds like it’s finally going to happen,” Needham analyst Charles Wolf told this newspaper earlier this month. “But while it’s been proven there’s a market for a smaller iPad, I think it’s the lower price point that Apple’s concerned with.”
Apple stock, struggling since the launch of the iPhone 5 led to concerns of production delays, shot up Tuesday, gaining 2.4 percent to close at $649.79. Before Tuesday’s gains, Apple — the most valuable U.S. company in terms of market capitalization — had fallen 9.4 percent on Wall Street since the launch of its newest smartphone on Sept. 21. Staff writer Pat May contributed to this report. Contact Jeremy C. Owens at 408-920-5876; follow him at Twitter.com/mercbizbreak.
======================
Enterprise version pricing? with 60 or 70% discount?
Microsoft Surface to start at $499 — same as iPad
By Salvador Rodriguez
Los Angeles Times
The long-awaited pricing of Microsoft’s Surface tablet has finally been revealed — four months after the product was first announced. Microsoft said Tuesday it was taking pre-orders for its tablet, which starts at $499 for the 32 GB model that runs Windows RT, a lighter version of Windows 8 built for tablets. Prices go up to $599 for a 32 GB model that includes a cover with a built-in keyboard, and up to $699 for a 64 GB version with the keyboard cover, according to the pricing page. Additionally, covers can be purchased separately starting at $119.99 for a touch keyboard cover, $129.99 for a type cover. The type cover includes real keys and is built for quicker typing, while the touch cover comes in five color options.
DAMIAN DOVARGANES/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Microsoft’s Surface tablet is 9.3 millimeters thick.
The Redmond, Wash., company announced the pricing of the Surface on the same day that Apple sent invitations to an Oct. 23 event where it is widely expected to announce an iPad Mini tablet.
When Microsoft revealed the Surface, the company promised it would sell the tablet at competitive prices, and the tech giant has delivered. By comparison, the 9.7-inch Apple iPad also starts at $499, albeit for a 16 GB model. A 32 GB model costs $599, and that’s without a cover or keyboard.
The Surface features a 10.6-inch display with a 1,366-by-768 resolution. The tablet features two 720p HD cameras. The body is 9.3 millimeters thick and comes with a kickstand. The Surface also features two microphones and includes ports for microSD cards, USB and HD video out.
The Surface will go on sale alongside Windows 8 on Oct. 26.
Besides unveiling prices, Microsoft also uploaded its first commercial for the tablet to YouTube on Monday night.
As far as Microsoft Surface is concerned.. looks like Microsoft is positioning it to enterprise customers with enterprise discounts which usually can be any where from 40-60%. Or some real fool/idiot is sitting in their pricing who is thinking that people will pay same price as iPad just because we are adding physical keyboard in cover of surface tablet. or... I am too dumb to understand great Microsoft strategy.. but whatever I know.. in my view this price will make surface DOA (dead on arrival). Even if it 10 times better than iPad.. perception is that iPad is gold standard and you can only raise price later on if your product was successful. Lot of people have tried it out.. Motorola I know tried with docking station kind of nonsense.. but nobody even remember Motorola's tablet's name..
TECHNOLOGY GIANTS THINK SMALL
Apple expected to lift curtain on iPad Mini
Oct. 23 event is set for San Jose’s California Theatre
By Jeremy C. Owens
jowens@mercurynews.com
SAN JOSE — Apple sent out a media invite Tuesday to an event on Oct. 23, expected to be the introduction of a longrumored smaller iPad to compete with Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Google’s Nexus 7. The invite, brightly colored with the top of an Apple logo, simply says “We’ve got a little more to show you” and invites media members to an event at the historic California Theatre in downtown San Jose. Apple last introduced a new product at the theater in 2005, when late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs showed off the company’s first video iPod and the debut of television shows on iTunes; the iPod U2 Special Edition was also introduced there in 2004.
Apple expected to lift curtain on iPad Mini
Oct. 23 event is set for San Jose’s California Theatre
By Jeremy C. Owens
jowens@mercurynews.com
SAN JOSE — Apple sent out a media invite Tuesday to an event on Oct. 23, expected to be the introduction of a longrumored smaller iPad to compete with Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Google’s Nexus 7. The invite, brightly colored with the top of an Apple logo, simply says “We’ve got a little more to show you” and invites media members to an event at the historic California Theatre in downtown San Jose. Apple last introduced a new product at the theater in 2005, when late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs showed off the company’s first video iPod and the debut of television shows on iTunes; the iPod U2 Special Edition was also introduced there in 2004.
APPLE
Above is the e-mailed invitation sent to journalists Tuesday, advising them of Apple’s Oct. 23 event presumably to introduce the new iPad Mini.
A smaller and less expensive iPad would be a logical step by the Cupertino company to thwart sales of similar tablets by Google, Microsoft and Amazon. Rumors have focused on a screen size of about 7.85 inches diagonally for the so-called iPad Mini, notably smaller than the standard iPad’s 9.7-inch screen. Smaller devices are easier to carry in a purse or suit pocket and cost about $200, far more affordable than the latest version of the iPad, which starts at $499. An “iPad Mini” would allow Apple to protect its retail flank, experts have said, effectively corralling off that lower price point from its rivals.
Analyst Shaw Wu with Sterne Agee told Bloomberg News last week that while “these competitors have a tough enough time competing against the 10-inch iPad,” a smaller, less expensive iPad Mini “will make the competition even tougher. It tells you how hard it is to beat Apple. These other companies have to either lose money or break even on these products.”
Several news outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News and Reuters, have reported this month that Apple has already begun production of the device. Other reports have said that Apple will also introduce a 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display, smaller than the current 15-inch model.
Jobs famously denounced a smaller iPad model as late as 2010, when he said “One naturally thinks that a 7-inch screen would offer 70 percent of the benefits of a 10inch screen. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. … The reason we won’t make a 7-inch tablet isn’t because we don’t want to hit a lower price point, it’s because we think the screen is too small to express the software.”
However, business needs seem to have trumped the thinking of Jobs.
“Even though we all remember Steve Jobs saying you’d have to file down your fingers to use a 7-inch tablet, it sounds like it’s finally going to happen,” Needham analyst Charles Wolf told this newspaper earlier this month. “But while it’s been proven there’s a market for a smaller iPad, I think it’s the lower price point that Apple’s concerned with.”
Apple stock, struggling since the launch of the iPhone 5 led to concerns of production delays, shot up Tuesday, gaining 2.4 percent to close at $649.79. Before Tuesday’s gains, Apple — the most valuable U.S. company in terms of market capitalization — had fallen 9.4 percent on Wall Street since the launch of its newest smartphone on Sept. 21. Staff writer Pat May contributed to this report. Contact Jeremy C. Owens at 408-920-5876; follow him at Twitter.com/mercbizbreak.
======================
Enterprise version pricing? with 60 or 70% discount?
Microsoft Surface to start at $499 — same as iPad
By Salvador Rodriguez
Los Angeles Times
The long-awaited pricing of Microsoft’s Surface tablet has finally been revealed — four months after the product was first announced. Microsoft said Tuesday it was taking pre-orders for its tablet, which starts at $499 for the 32 GB model that runs Windows RT, a lighter version of Windows 8 built for tablets. Prices go up to $599 for a 32 GB model that includes a cover with a built-in keyboard, and up to $699 for a 64 GB version with the keyboard cover, according to the pricing page. Additionally, covers can be purchased separately starting at $119.99 for a touch keyboard cover, $129.99 for a type cover. The type cover includes real keys and is built for quicker typing, while the touch cover comes in five color options.
DAMIAN DOVARGANES/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Microsoft’s Surface tablet is 9.3 millimeters thick.
The Redmond, Wash., company announced the pricing of the Surface on the same day that Apple sent invitations to an Oct. 23 event where it is widely expected to announce an iPad Mini tablet.
When Microsoft revealed the Surface, the company promised it would sell the tablet at competitive prices, and the tech giant has delivered. By comparison, the 9.7-inch Apple iPad also starts at $499, albeit for a 16 GB model. A 32 GB model costs $599, and that’s without a cover or keyboard.
The Surface features a 10.6-inch display with a 1,366-by-768 resolution. The tablet features two 720p HD cameras. The body is 9.3 millimeters thick and comes with a kickstand. The Surface also features two microphones and includes ports for microSD cards, USB and HD video out.
The Surface will go on sale alongside Windows 8 on Oct. 26.
Besides unveiling prices, Microsoft also uploaded its first commercial for the tablet to YouTube on Monday night.
