Six key messages Microsoft is sending to Windows 8 developers

Steve Ballmer looked relaxed on stage. Dressed down in a short sleeve shirt and pants, he smiled, he cracked jokes, and he energetically rallied the 2000-strong crowd of developers at the opening keynote to Microsoft's Build conference on the company's leafy Redmond, Washington campus.

It was a very different Ballmer on stage than we saw at other events in the past year, including last week's stiff and formal Windows 8 launch event in New York City. The energetic tenor of Ballmer's keynote and the second, Windows Phone 8-focused keynote, reflected the conference's underlying theme of building out the Windows app ecosystem.

"In case it's not clear, we're all in with Windows 8," Ballmer enthused during Tuesday's Build opener. "Every group in Microsoft has contributed something that's optimized for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 and touch."

Tuesday's keynote was clearly aimed at its audience of attending developers. But six trends and takeaways emerged from the talk that paint a clear picture of Microsoft's view of the world.

Windows 8 has huge potential for apps

Ballmer opened things up Tuesday by noting that Microsoft has sold 4 million Windows 8 upgrades since the operating system went on sale three days ago. (For context, 670 million Windows 7 PCs have the potential to run Windows 8.) And current estimates are that some 400 million new devices will soon be shipping that developers can target.

"Our industry is rebuilding itself around new devices and services," Ballmer noted before he called on developers to rise to the occasion. This new universe represents an opportunity for app developers to make one app for all PC forms. "It's an unprecedented market. Hundreds of millions of users are dying to buy your application."

Throughout the morning, Ballmer energetically rallied the troops. "This is a market in which you can do your best work, most innovative work, most creative work. Whatever you do as a developer, Windows 8 is the best opp for software developers today.

"I guarantee you this will be the best opportunity software developers will see."

The apps are coming

At last week's Windows 8 launch event, I was disappointed to hear so little about Windows 8 apps. During Tuesday's keynote, Microsoft showed off more app icons on-screen, though it was unclear from how they were presented which ones were shipping now and which were coming soon.

The big news was that Ballmer announced that SAP, Dropbox, and Twitter have all announced plans for Windows 8 apps. This is exactly the kind of app development commitment consumers need to hear about and see more of in the coming weeks if people are to get excited about the modern interface in Windows. It's a pity we didn't hear this last week—a time when consumers were paying attention.

I still wish that that Microsoft could be more specific about the number of apps, and which apps are coming. To say that Windows 8 has more apps than other platforms' app stores did at launch isn't enough: The market has changed since those other App Stores debuted. And consumers want to know more what they're buying into up front if they're to have confidence in what Microsoft's building.

Opportunities for new and more personal apps are huge

"Your application will be the most personal [it can be] if you choose to marry the opportunities in the system [with the software]," Ballmer told Build attendees. He emphasized the easy sharing between phone and PC, the ubiquity of various Windows experiences like search and share, and the strength of integrating with a Microsoft account and leveraging SkyDrive cloud storage.

"Search, share, live tiles, live activity—these are all things you can also do with your apps," Ballmer said.

Perhaps Steven Guggenheimer, Microsoft's corporate vice president of developer and platform evangelism, put it best: "The thing about the hardware ecosystem is that it doesn't come to life without the software. It's about the marriage of hardware and software—and services, in some cases."

The reality check here is that what Guggenheimer espouses isn't new. In fact, it's what we've known for years now, and have seen epitomized by Apple's iPhone hardware and its integration with the iOS app ecosystem.

The difference now is that we're hearing this from stodgy old Microsoft—the company that arguably has the most vibrant and daringly different touch interface of any operating system today. It's refreshing to hear, because it's an admission that means Microsoft does indeed get what it needs to do to succeed in this brave new mobile world.

Businesses are interested in Windows 8

Before Tuesday, the signs around how enterprise's interest in Windows were tepid at best. And that's not surprising, given IT departments' traditional reticence to jump on a major Windows upgrade.

But Ballmer announced Tuesday that Microsoft had sold some 10 million units of Windows 8 into the enterprise market. While no mention was made of when those unit might be deployed into the field, it still highlights burgeoning interest in the new operating system within the business world.

Even better: In talking with developers here at the event, it sounds like businesses are investigating how to make the jump to the new platform. One developer, Anthony Handley of Magenic, noted, "We have a lot of enterprise clients that are interested in taking their internal line-of-business applications to Windows 8."

Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 have a lot in common, as this slide from Tuesday's Build conference keynote suggests.

Windows app development tools are robust, but not perfect

Before this event, I heard praise for Microsoft's development environment. By comparison to what mobile tablet and phone developers are used to with Google's Android, in particular, I've heard some waxing poetic in casual conversation about working with Microsoft's tools. I've also heard grousing that Microsoft didn't do enough to unify development for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, but on the whole, the vibe has been more positive than what I hear about Android.

Magenic's Handley is a cross-platform developer for iOS, Android, and Windows. "Obviously there's a good story around iOS," he said. "But as a designer working with Microsoft tools, they've come a long way in the past couple of years. Designers can work in Blend, and developers can work in Visual Studio, and the two can be melded in the end. Underneath the covers, we're working on the same code. So there's a lot of things to be excited about."

We saw a glimpse of why the tools matter in action during the Windows Phone 8 portion of the keynote. Tony Garcia of Unity showed off the first demo of the Unity platform on Windows Phone 8. He emphasized during his demo how the Shadowgun sample being shown off was really easy to develop and debug on the PC. And the visuals looked great.

Build conference attendees saw the first demo of the Unity platform on Windows Phone 8 Tuesday.

Also during the Windows Phone 8 keynote, we got a picture of Microsoft as a company that was being responsive to its developers' needs to create compelling app experiences. Microsoft said it has delivered 90 percent of the top developer requests. That doesn't say how many requests the company received, mind you, but it does show Microsoft is listening and responding.

Among the additions highlighted here: NFC support, SD card access, voice commands and navigation, in-app purchasing, peer-to peer networking, advanced networking, Bluetooth data transfers,text-to-speech, better multitasking, support for VOIP and video chat, and new proximity requests. Microsoft has also added deeper integration with native phone experiences; for example,it opened up access to its camera.

Microsoft is backing its developers

Every developer attending Build will walk away from this year's conference with a 32GB Microsoft Surface RT tablet, 100GB of SkyDrive storage, and a Nokia Lumia 920 phone. The idea, of course, is to stimulate excitement and energy among developers for creating new apps for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8.

Giving out new hardware to developers is common at developer-centric events like this: Google and RIM have done the same thing at their events. But this is a notable shift for Microsoft, and Ballmer's plea after announcing the Surface giveaway to "please go out and build lots of apps" underscores that the company recognizes it needs to generate enthusiasm in its developer community around making apps.

Contrast that with the mood at last year's Build conference in Anaheim. That's when Ballmer and Steven Sinofsky held their big Windows 8 unveiling, and developers were gaping open-mouthed at the implications of the vast software changes.

This year, Microsoft shifted its attention from simply introducing Windows 8 to focusing on getting developers to create apps for its new platforms across desktop, laptop, tablet, and phone. And this time, we had real, shipping hardware to spark app developers' creativity.

"I think the creativity of your app is not just a function of what we build in [the software] but also of the hardware it sits on," Ballmer told developers.

In the end, one of Ballmer's lines particularly underscored that Microsoft's success rides on more than what the company itself can control. "We need your support. Need your commitment [to building apps]," said Ballmer.

That right there sums up Microsoft's Windows 8 "if you build it they will come" gamble. Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 are here. Now all Microsoft—and us consumers—need is for developers to come and build out the ecosystem.

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Ballmer pitches Windows Phone 8 live tiles in video ad

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Sandy slams mobile, wired and cable networks as far west as Michigan

Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy knocked out mobile, phone and cable service in many parts of the eastern U.S. on Monday, with about one in four cell sites affected in the hardest-hit band of the country between Virginia and Massachusetts, according to an FCC estimate.

About 25 percent of the cell sites in the 10-state area were out of service at 10 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission estimated. Due to the floods, high winds and snow brought by the storm, there were reports of outages as far west as Michigan, the agency said. The situation could become worse in some areas as backup power supplies for affected cell sites run out, it warned.

A small number of 911 call centers went out of service, and calls to them were redirected to other 911 facilities, an FCC representative said on Tuesday. Some of those redirected calls came across without location information, and the FCC is investigating that problem, the representative said.

Service providers were still evaluating the effects of the wide-ranging storm late Tuesday.

Verizon Communications said more than 200 of its wireline facilities were running on backup power. "Although we will be working with all available resources to restore service for our customers, some pockets of damage are extensive and could take up to a week or more to fully restore," Bob Mudge, president of Verizon's Consumer and Mass Business division, said in a press release.

Verizon Wireless said 94 percent of its cell sites in the Northeast were up and running and all its switching and data centers were functioning normally. But extensive flooding in the hardest-hit areas, including Lower Manhattan and parts of New Jersey, caused problems for both wireline and wireless carriers. Power outages also affected service, and in some cases carriers were waiting for electric utility crews to finish their work.

"The storm surge from Hurricane Sandy has resulted in flooding at several Verizon Central Offices in Lower Manhattan, Queens, and Long Island causing power failures and rendering back-up power systems at these sites inoperable," Verizon Communications said in the release. "While these sites are currently on battery power, the inevitable loss of power requires that all equipment at these sites be powered down to prevent damage." Customers served by those central offices lost all FiOS, DSL (digital subscriber line) and wireline voice service, Verizon said.

"We're still largely in assessment mode," Verizon Communications spokesman Alberto Canal said. In Lower Manhattan, "We can't get in there to do work until the power companies do their work. ... It's still very early," he said.

Sandy affected Sprint Nextel service mostly in the New York tri-state area (New York, Connecticut and New Jersey) and in Pennsylvania and parts of New England, spokeswoman Crystal Davis said. Flooding, debris, and failure of commercial power and the wired links to cell sites were major causes of outages, she said.

"Some of our strike-team crews are out, and they are working to restore service where they can get access," Davis said. "Right now, it's basically a safety and an access issue."

Sandy affected most of the East Coast, all the way from North Carolina north to Maine and Canada. Service in some areas may be restored more quickly than those in the band hit hardest by the storm.

"Every area has different impacts and different damage, so it's too early for us to tell when we're going to have everything up and running for every part of the country that's been affected," Sprint's Davis said.

AT&T also said its network had problems in areas hit heavily by the storm.

"We are in the initial stages of performing an on-the-ground assessment of our network for damage, and crews will be working around the clock to restore service. We are deploying personnel and equipment as soon as it is safe to do so," the carrier said in a statement. T-Mobile USA also said some of its customers might experience service disruptions in some areas and its engineers were assessing the situation as quickly as possible.

Cable service was also hit. "At this time it appears most issues are directly related to commercial power outages, and for the majority of people, their Comcast service should be restored as power comes back on to their homes," Comcast said in a statement.

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Teardown finds Microsoft Surface RT tough to get into, with modular options inside

Microsoft's Surface RT may be handicapped with the new RT version of Windows 8, but should it break, is it more likely to wind up in a repair shop or a landfill?

As is its custom whenever a new mobile product hits the market, repair site iFixit has delved into the guts of the Surface RT, taking a look at the parts and repairability of Microsoft's tablet. The basic gist of iFixit's findings? Surface RT is difficult to enter, but once inside, you'll find a number of approachable repair opportunities.

Do not cross

As with Apple's iPad, the Surface RT takes some time and skills to break into, making it painfully obvious that getting into the device is not encouraged. The tough-to-remove camera cover hides seven crucial Torx screws on top of another ten placed throughout the device.

After removing the screws you'll have the break the "Surface" tamper-evident seal to get inside. Bye, bye warranty!

ifixit.comRemoving the camera cover

Modular love

Luckily the 7.4 V, 31.5 Wh battery is much easier to remove than the one powering the iPad. It's lightly glued down but with the help of the trusty spudgerand a couple minutes of patience, it's out.

If your speakers die out, you'll be happy to know those are modular, too. Just a little more prying and they come right out, leaving the Surface soundless.

Other odds and ends are easy to remove, such as the Surface's headphone jack and volume buttons that share the same ribbon cable. The front- and rear-facing cameras are easy to remove, but only after the motherboard is taken out to reveal the plastic bezel that pins them down.

ifixit.comRemoving the cameras

Screen fusion

When a tablet needs repairs, chances are it's the screen. In the Surface's case, iFixit notes that the LCD and the glass plane are fused together, making separate repairs of the parts impossible. That drives up the cost.

Even if you do want to go ahead with the screen replacement, it will require a heat gun and a saint's patience to get to it. Long story short: don't break the screen.

ifixit.comUsing guitar picks to separate the screen from the VaporMG frame

The takeaway

The Microsoft Surface RT may take after Fort Knox by being a pain to break into it. But once inside, iFixit found plenty of removable and replaceable modular parts. However, that stops as soon as you reach the LCD and glass pane screen. The fused components will need to be replaced for a hefty price if you aren't careful with your tablet.

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Goodbye and farewell to Ubuntu Linux 11.04 'Natty Narwhal'

For longtime users of Ubuntu Linux, it may feel like just yesterday that Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" first came out.

It's a particularly memorable release, of course, because it was the first desktop version of Canonical's popular Linux distribution to use the controversial Unity desktop by default.

Well, on Sunday, hard on the heels of the recent release of Ubuntu 12.10 "Quantal Quetzal," Canonical announced that the relatively venerable Natty Narwhal has now reached its end of life.

Next up: Oneiric Ocelot

"The support period for Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) formally ends on October 28, 2012, and Ubuntu Security Notices no longer includes information or updated packages for Ubuntu 11.04," wrote Ubuntu Release Manager Kate Stewart in the official announcement on Sunday.

Users of Ubuntu 11.04 should now upgrade, but they need to do it in stepwise fashion, Stewart noted, beginning with a move to Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot." Instructions for that first upgrade are available on the Ubuntu site.

Both Ubuntu 11.10 and Ubuntu 12.04 "Precise Pangolin"--the next step along the way--are still actively supported with security updates and select high-impact bug fixes, Stewart said. Ubuntu 12.04, moreover, is a Long Term Support release as well, making it particularly attractive for business users.

A world of choice

Then, too, of course, there's the newly launched Quantal Quetzal, which incorporates a raft of new features including full-disk encryption and a revamped update manager as well as the integration of online search and Web apps.

Outside the Ubuntu realm, meanwhile, there's a whole world of other Linux distributions that are free for you to test and try out at will.

The bottom line, though, is that if you're still on Natty Narwhal, it's time to find something new. Fortunately for you, in the world of Linux, there's never any shortage of choice.

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Yahoo to ignore Microsoft's 'Do Not Track' signal from IE10

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Phishing is getting tougher to spot

I don't know if cybercriminals are trying to boost their revenue-streams for early Christmas shopping, but cyberbombs have been landing in e-mail in-boxes and flying onto smartphones via SMS lately.

Ironically, the scariest e-mail of all was recently received by a friend and it didn't come from a Romanian scam-artist or an AFF (Advance Fee Fraud) creep in Nigeria.

It came from his health insurance provider.

This is a well known UK-based firm that has handled his health insurance (and processed his credit card payments) for almost a decade. He deals solely with his Hong Kong agent—a reputable insurance-broker that handles a number of insurance-providers.

My friend had never received an e-mail directly from the insurance firm, so he was surprised to find this message in his in-box. "Dear XXX," said the e-mail, misspelling his first name. So much for first-impressions. As they sell my friend an expensive annual policy covering emergency medical evacuation across the globe, you would think they'd have his name in their database.

The e-mail explained that when they'd tried to process his credit card, it had expired. This was true—my friend no longer uses that credit card. He forwarded the e-mail to me for my opinion.

A few thoughts, which I dashed off in a response to my friend: Attempting to process a payment on your card without your prior approval (which, if they attempted to run it on an expired card, clearly they did not have) is not good business practice. If they were selling Hello Kitty mobile phone-cases, well, maybe not such a big deal. But you're trusting these people with your credit-card information AND your health insurance. Surely there's an expectation of better business practices.

Worse, they included this in the e-mail:
"Alternatively, you can pay online at our website http://www.HTTP.com/X/Y.php"

Take another look at that payment-gateway URL. Notice the http address, rather than the https (including a Secure Socket Layer) that you would expect?

Alarm bells were ringing loudly by now, so I asked someone who's good at analyzing online security to check this URL. That person said: "That URL they gave you is fine. It redirects immediately to an SSL site, and the encryption on the SSL site is good."

"However, the SSL certificate on the site you are redirected to is highly suspect," cautioned the person I asked to check the URL. "Although this CLAIMS to be [firm name redacted], the site URL and SSL certificate are for 'secured-url.com'."

"The purpose of the SSL cert is mutual authentication," said my source. "So, while the "http://" is a red herring, I would still not put my card into this site because the certificate gives no information about, or confidence in, who owns the site."

"I could register '[bogus URL redacted]' and get a valid SSL certificate for it and then use
it to pretend to be anybody," said my source. "It'd take about an hour and cost slightly less than US$40."

Knowing this source, while they have the knowledge, they would never do such a thing. They're pointing out what can be achieved through poor online security-practices.

Also, the firm in question is reputable. My friend has never experienced less-than-professional service from this health-insurance firm.

The point: a professional firm can lapse into bad security-practices with ease. Simply fail to keep up with the cyberthreat-landscape and your entire customer-database can be at risk.

And what can happen then? How bad can it get? How about this:

Citigroup acknowledged that in a hack attack in May 2011, about US$2.7 million was stolen from about 3,400 customers' credit card accounts—this article explains:
http://money.cnn.com/2011/06/27/technology/citi_credit_card/index.htm

In 2011, Sony said it believes an "unauthorized person" obtained access to all PlayStation Network account information and passwords, and may have the credit card numbers of the service's 70 million users—this article explains:
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/04/playstation-network-hacked/

Sony's estimated loss from the security-intrusion: 14 billion yen (US$171 million) following the PlayStation Network outage—this article explains:
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/05/sony-psn-hack-losses/

Sony has spent over US$170 million in response to the hacking intrusion. These funds went to rebuilding the network, providing identity protection coverage, investigating the attacks, free game time, and customer support—this article explains:
http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/05/23/sony-loses-3-2b-spends-170m-in-r...

Enterprises taking customer-data, especially payment-information, MUST harden their weak points. The potential consequences for them, and their customers, are dire.

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Lab strives to keep tech accessible to all users

October 17, 2012, 1:31 PM —

When the first iPhone came out in 2007, as we all know, it created a quite a buzz and a whole lot of excitement - except for one group: the blind. "The blind community was very upset," said Larry Goldberg, the director of the National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM), a research and development group in Boston devoted to improving the accessibility of media and new technologies for people with disabilities. The original iPhone's glass screen, single button and - most importantly - lack of accessibility features, such as screen reader integration, made it all but impossible for visually impaired people to use.

However, thanks to input from the blind community and NCAM as well as Apple's dedication to making their products accessible, by 2009 the iPhone 3GS had VoiceOver, Apple's screen reading technology, fully integrated and today the iPhone is, "the most popular phone with the blind community," says Goldberg. Apple, he said, "bought in."

[ For more information on accessibility issues, read Phil's recent stories "For visually impaired users, the iPhone is the only way to go", "DOJ reports on federal IT accessibility" and "Making Breaking Bad accessible to all". ]

ITworld/Phil Johnson

The iPhone example illustrates an important issue in this day of lightning fast technological development, when, seemingly, new smartphones, tablets and laptops (not to mention associated apps) are introduced daily: Who makes sure that hardware manufacturers, software and app developers and content creators are ensuring that people with vision problems, hearing difficulties, or other disabilities can enjoy of all the new media and technology most of us take for granted? NCAM is one of the most important players filling this role, which is only getting more challenging as technology advances. "It's always a game of catch-up," says Goldberg. 

I recently had the chance to visit the NCAM offices and lab to learn more about their history and mission and their view on the future of accessible media and technology. I also learned about a system they recently developed, Media Access Mobile, which may soon be coming to a museum (or theater) near you.

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Firefox update fixes security flaws

Several security vulnerabilities in Firefox 16 are being addressed in an update of the browser software released by the Mozilla Foundation. This is the second time in the last two weeks that the browser has had to be updated to address security problems.

All the security issues are related to the "Location" object in the software. One of the flaws, when combined with some plug-ins, could be exploited to perform cross-site scripting attacks on users. Those attacks typically are used to infect Web applications at trusted websites and push malicious code to unsuspecting visitors of those sites.

Another vulnerability involves the CheckURL function in the browser's code, which could be forced to return a wrong value. Mozilla said this could be exploited in a cross-site scripting attack, or be used to execute arbitrary code to a browser add-on that interacts with the content on a page.

A third defect addressed by the update allowed the security wrapper on the Location object to be bypassed by a hacker.

Mozilla also pushed out an update of its Thunderbird email client to address to fix similar flaws in that program. It explained in a blog on the update that the Location vulnerabilities addressed by the new release would have less impact on Thunderbird because it uses those functions only through RSS feeds and extensions that load Web content.

When Firefox 16 was released on October 9, it addressed vulnerabilities outlined in 14 security advisories, 11 of them "critical." Within 24 hours of that release, Mozilla halted downloads of the software because of security concerns. To address those concerns, Mozilla released version 16.0.1 of its browser. That release plugged the hole that allowed malicious websites to read the browsing history of visitors to those sites.

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US East Coast tech centers brace for Hurricane Sandy

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Hurricane Sandy shuts down Google's Android event

Sorry, Android fans, looks like you'll have to wait a little longer to hear more about the Nexus 4 and the Nexus 10. Google has cancelled its Monday morning event in New York City because of safety concerns related to Hurricane Sandy, which is expected to hit the island in the next few days.

On Friday New York Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency, and the venue where Google had scheduled the event is now an evacuation zone.

Google alerted event invitees of the cancellation with a brief message on Saturday afternoon, urging them to stay safe and dry and that the company would update them later. Google was expected to take the wraps off several new pieces of hardware on Monday, as well as an updated version of Android, but it seems Mother Nature had other plans.

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Microsoft Windows Phone 8: What we know so far

Microsoft has released Windows 8 and its Surface RT tablets are now in stores but more is on the way. On Monday, October 29, the company is expected to release Windows Phone 8, which includes some impressive changes.

For instance, the new start screen lets you resize app tiles based on importance, so if you care a lot about email or social network alerts, you can stretch out the appropriate tile to make it stand out.

Windows Phone 8 is enterprise-ready and gives IT administrators all sorts of ways to better manage employee devices. The OS will encrypt your data and Internet Explorer 10 is the default browser, which brings a major performance boost for handling JavaScript and HTML5, plus built-in phishing protection. Companies will be able to create their own hubs through which they can send alerts to employees, recommend apps, and display relevant news.

The camera software also is markedly better. Windows Phone 8 lets you to take panoramic photos and includes a new self-timer so you can take self-portraits without having to use the front-facing camera. It also includes a cool new feature called Smart Group Shot, which takes a burst of pictures and uses an algorithm to combine the photos into a composite that has the best qualities of all the pictures taken.

Near Field Communications (NFC) is also big in Windows Phone 8—you can use it to send data from one Windows Phone 8 device to another simply by tapping them together. The OS also has a Wallet hub that works much like Apple's Passbook in iOS 6 in that it contains data about your credit and debit cards, as well as coupons, frequent flyer information, and loyalty cards.

As for maps, Microsoft has opted to use Nokia's mapping software over its own, finally giving all Windows Phone users turn-by-turn navigation and support for offline maps.

And if you were wondering what would replace the Zune desktop app that let you sync your media files from a PC to the phone, it will be a new Xbox Music service.

On Monday, carriers are expected to announce pricing, availability, and pre-order details for the first round of Windows Phone 8 devices. Here's what we know so far.

Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820

Nokia Lumia 920

The Nokia Lumia 920, which will be exclusive to AT&T, is Nokia's flagship device and has a 4.5-inch curved glass display with 1280-pixel-by-768-pixel resolution, a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, built-in wireless charging, and NFC support.  It has a powerful PureView camera with "floating-lens" technology for image stabilization as well as interesting software such as Smart Shoot, which scans for unwanted people passing through photos, and can remove them from the image. Cinemagraph can add a touch of motion to parts of an image, such as a flag waving in the background.

The Maps app will include an augmented reality feature called City Lens that lets you hold up the phone's camera to your surroundings and see information on nearby businesses.

To take advantage of new screen-resolution possibilities in Windows Phone 8, the Lumia 920 has a "Pure Motion HD+" display. Nokia says the screen offers blur-free scrolling and enhancements to sunlight readability, so the phone can react to minimize sunlight glare. The screen also works through gloved fingers, so there's no need to buy special smartphone gloves.

As for the Nokia Lumia 820, it's a mid-range phone with 4.3-inch, 800-pixel-by-480-pixel resolution display (without curved glass), a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics (not PureView), a VGA front-facing camera, 8GB of storage, and a microSD card slot.

AT&T is expected to release the Nokia Lumia 920 on November 11, according to speculation BGR is floating.

HTC Windows Phone 8X, 8S

HTC announced the Windows Phone 8X and Windows Phone 8S in September.

HTC Windows Phone 8 selection

Of the pair, HTC's Windows Phone 8X is the flagship. It has a 4.3-inch, 720p display, a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage and NFC. For the phone's 8-megapixel, f/2.0 aperture rear-facing camera, HTC is bringing along the ImageSense sensor found in the company's high-end Android handsets. The 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera supports 1080p video chat and an 88-degree wide-angle lens that can get four people in the frame at once.

The HTC Windows Phone 8S is a mid-range device with a 4-inch, 800-by-480 resolution display. Other specs include a 1GHz dual-core processor Snapdragon S4 processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage, a MicroSD card slot and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and a front-facing camera. It does not support NFC.

Both devices come with Beats Audio software, but only the 8X has additional amplifiers inside.

AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile will all sell the Windows Phone 8X and 8S but you can already pre-order the AT&T version at Best Buy for $99 on contract. In total, the phones will be available on more than 150 carriers across 50 countries starting in November, which will help amp adoption of Windows Phone 8.

T-Mobile

T-Mobile will get an exclusive Windows Phone 8 handset from Nokia, the mid-range Lumia 810.

Nokia Lumia 810

It has a 4.3-inch, 800-pixel-by-480-pixel resolution display, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera. The Lumia 810 will include wireless charging as well as 8GB of storage that can be expanded through a microSD card.

The Lumia 810 doesn't make use of the PureView technology found in Nokia's Lumia 920, so the built-in camera won't have any added image stabilization or low-light enhancements. However, the camera does include the Group Shoot feature as well as a Cinemagraph feature that creates animated GIF files.

Rumors Remain

Industry speculation is that Sprint has no plans to carry Windows Phone 8 devices. According to what's supposedly a leaked Sprint training document posted on WinSource, the company said, "Right now there's buzz about this platform, which includes PCs, tablets, and a Windows 8 phone. Currently, we're evaluating this new OS and working with Microsoft on potential opportunities. However, we have no announcements regarding Windows 8 devices at this time."

As for Verizon, documents leaked on Wednesday indicate the carrier will release its Windows Phones on November 12. According to a Minimum Advertised Price listing, Verizon will offer the Nokia Lumia 822 for $100 with a two-year contract, as well as the HTC 8X for $200, also on contract. Note that the rumored price is $100 more than what the HTC 8X is going for now at Best Buy.

However, on Friday WPCentral said a tipster supplied photos of the HTC 8X and leaked prices. The source said the Lumia 822 will be $99 on contract and the HTC 8X will sell for $199.

We don't have much word on the Samsung ATIV S, which has a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED display, is 8.7 millimeters thick with NFC integrated, runs on a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and has HSPA 42 connectivity. Who knows how someone pulled it off, but here's a three-minute video of the elusive Windows Phone 8 handset.

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Microsoft Surface goes on sale to cheering crowds

Microsoft's Surface debuted to crowds of early adopters across the U.S. Friday, as the Windows RT-powered tablet went on sale.

About 100 people waited outside Boston's Microsoft Store to buy the Surface tablet, which runs a new version of Windows.

Unlike previous versions of the operating system, Windows RT runs on an ARM processor, typically found in mobile devices, instead of an x86 processor, which is used in traditional desktops and laptops. One of the major drawbacks of Windows RT is that it won't run any old software. All applications will need to be downloaded from the Windows Store, but that didn't deter some Boston customers.

"It has Microsoft Office, which is the most important reason I'm upgrading from my iPad," said Joshua Jasper, a veterinary hospital manager who was waiting to buy the tablet. "My biggest concern is app selection, but I know that will grow over time."

Martyn Williams/IDGNSCustomers try out the Surface at a Microsoft store in Palo Alto, Calif.

IDC analyst Bob O'Donnell shared Jasper's concerns. "When I looked in the Windows Store I thought, 'Wow, there's not much there,'" said O'Donnell. "There were a lot of cheesy phone-like games in the store, but of course Office is huge," he said.

"My biggest concern is that people are going to get these tablets, realize their limitations and then return them in droves," he said. He said that the biggest challenge for Microsoft is explaining the difference between Windows 8 and Windows RT to consumers "because they are very different."

O'Donnell predicts about 10 percent of buyers in the PC and tablet markets want a PC-tablet hybrid.

Martyn Williams/IDGNSA sign in the window lets Palo Alto customers know that the Surface has landed.

Across the country in Palo Alto, Calif., the surface attracted a line of about 100 people outside the Microsoft Store in the Stanford Shopping Center, the closest Microsoft-run full-time retail outlet to San Francisco. The line began forming about six hours before the store's opening.

First in line was Matthew Dien, who said he made a two-hour journey from Sacramento to be among the first on the U.S. West Coast to buy the tablet computer.

"I'm very excited about it," he said. "It's Microsoft's very first hardware and they are coming up against Apple. I've always liked Windows products and so I was very excited when I heard they were coming out with hardware."

Dien left the store about 30 minutes after it opened with a new Surface in his hands.

Most of those in line appeared to be waiting for the Surface and not Windows 8, which also went on sale Friday. There's less buzz for the new operating system, likely because many would-be users can download copies from Microsoft.

Microsoft offered a sweetener to those willing to queue: a yearlong subscription to the Xbox Music Pass worth $100 for the first 100 customers who made a purchase.

Back at the Microsoft Store in Boston, about two dozen Surface tablets were available to try out. The interface was fluid and responsive for the most part. The screen was bright and vibrant and text was very easy to read. Some of the apps took longer to launch than expected, though. For example, it took the Xbox Games app about 10 seconds to fully load.

One of the accessories available for Surface is a keyboard that doubles as a cover. It costs $100 when purchased along with the tablet. It will likely take some getting used to as there's no tactile feedback when a key is pressed. The cover is surprisingly thin and clips securely onto the tablet. There were no wires or pairing needed for the keyboard to work.

The first customer in line at the Boston store wanted to buy the Surface because he thinks Microsoft's ecosystem is broader than Apple's.

"I had a MacBook Pro for a while, but I switched back to Microsoft," said Mounir Koussa. "I can have a desktop, a laptop, a phone, a tablet and [the Zune] music service all in one."

O'Donnell said that there will be "huge sales and lots of confusion" in the tablet market in the coming months. He thinks that Amazon's Kindle Fire HD and Google's Nexus 7 have good chances at capturing some of the market, but he believes that Apple will continue to dominate.

The Surface has a 10.6-inch display and weighs 1.5 pounds (680 grams). It starts at $499 with 32GB of storage.

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Microsoft starts $40 Windows 8 upgrade sales

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For a beginner-friendly distro, try Linux Lite 1.0.0

For all the media attention that goes to Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora, and the other leading Linux distributions, casual observers would have to be forgiven if they have no idea that hundreds of other distributions are out there as well, each with a particular purpose and target audience in mind.

New ones pop up regularly, too, offering yet another fresh twist on the desktop Linux theme.

Case in point: On the same day Microsoft's widely trumpeted Windows 8 made its debut, so, too, did Linux Lite 1.0.0, a brand-new Ubuntu-based distribution targeted at Linux newcomers.

'Created for three reasons'

"This distro was created for three reasons," wrote Jerry Bezencon in the official announcement on Friday. "One, to show people just how easy it can be to use a Linux-based operating system--to dispel myths about how scary Linux operating systems are; two, to help create awareness about Linux-based operating systems; and three, to help promote this community."

Linux Lite is particularly suitable for people who are new to Linux, Bezencon added.

Intrigued? Here's a quick rundown of what you'll find.

1. Five years of support

Ubuntu Linux 12.04 "Precise Pangolin" is a Long Term Support (LTS) release, making it a popular choice among business users, in particular. Same now goes for Linux Lite 1.0.0, code-named "Amethyst," which is based on that Ubuntu release.

2. The Xfce 4.8 desktop

Xfce is a very popular and lightweight Linux desktop environment, as I've noted before, and Linux Lite 1.0.0 includes Xfce 4.8, which includes a raft of powerful features.

3. A battery of apps

Among the many apps bundled in Linux Lite are GParted, LibreOffice Writer, LibreOffice Calc, Firefox, Thunderbird for email, GIMP, the XFBurn CD/DVD burner, the VLC Media Player, OpenJDK Java v6, Mumble Voice Chat, the XChat IRC Client, the Leafpad Text Editor, and Xarchiver. Many more packages can be installed in one click by going to Menu, System, and Install Additional Software.

4. Easy Updates

Aiming to make system updates something that can be accomplished in a single click, Linux Lite lets users simply choose Menu and then Install Updates.

5. Help with Drivers

Because installing drivers can be an issue particularly for those coming from the Windows environment, Linux Lite offers a simple solution: Menu, Settings, and then Install Drivers.

Linux Lite is now available as a free download in a 32-bit version with PAE support; a 64-bit version may come in the future, the project says. If you decide to give this new distro a try, please leave your reactions in the comments.

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Sprint hits delays in LTE rollout

Sprint Nextel's deployment of its ambitious Network Vision infrastructure, which includes the gradual rollout of 4G LTE technology, is about three months behind schedule due to several factors, the company said during its financial results call on Thursday.

Network Vision is an infrastructure that allows Sprint to run multiple network technologies and host multiple spectrum bands at the same set of sites. As it's deployed, Sprint is installing LTE as well as upgrading its 3G CDMA system, while phasing out the narrowband iDEN network originally used by Nextel. Sprint had said it expected the Network Vision deployment to reach 12,000 cell sites this year.

"While we're encouraged by the momentum of the project, we have been seeing some delays from our vendors, largely related to logistics execution and material shortages as well as some delays related to the hurricanes in the third quarter. And now, we believe, we're approximately one quarter behind in hitting the 12,000 target," said Steven Elfman, president of network operations and wholesale, on a conference call with financial analysts.

However, he said the delay "has not meaningfully delayed" Sprint's forecast for the overall project's timing or cost. Sprint expects Network Vision to be largely complete by the end of next year.

Sprint lags behind the two largest U.S. operators, Verizon Wireless and AT&T, in LTE deployment. It offers LTE in 32 cities, while Verizon has it in more than 400 cities and AT&T expects to reach 100 cities by the end of this year.

On the call, CEO Dan Hesse acknowledged a disadvantage on LTE availability versus bigger rivals but said: "Our network position, we believe, is temporary and we plan to catch up." Sprint said recently it would roll out LTE in 115 more markets in the coming months, without being more specific.

The planned majority investment in Sprint by Japan's Softbank, announced earlier this month and still awaiting shareholder and regulatory approval, should help the carrier gain the scale to better compete, Hesse said. He said Sprint's smaller scale caused it to be late to LTE and to offering Apple's iPhone and iPad.

"We've constantly been playing catch-up. We are good at playing catch-up, we close the gap very quickly, but we believe with additional financial resources that we can do that much more effectively," he said. Hesse declined to comment on Sprint's partnership with Clearwire, which supplies its current WiMax service and is intended to be part of its LTE offering, other than to cite the companies' current arrangements and say they continue to work together.

Sprint lost $767 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, wider than its $301 million loss in last year's third quarter. But total revenue was up 5 percent to $8.76 billion. The company said wireless services revenue grew 14 percent to almost $7.3 billion.

The carrier posted a net gain of about 900,000 subscribers on its Sprint platform, reaching nearly 53 million prepaid and postpaid customers. The Nextel platform, which Sprint expects to phase out by the middle of next year, lost about 866,000 subscribers. But Sprint said it has been successful at drawing the former Nextel customers to its platform. In the third quarter, 59 percent of the postpaid subscribers leaving Nextel became Sprint customers, the company said.

Sprint is focusing most of its marketing efforts on recapturing Nextel subscribers and doesn't foresee any upcoming changes in its rate plans, Hesse said.

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How Microsoft blew its Windows 8 launch keynote

Microsoft's Windows 8 launch event Thursday could have been a barn burner. The locale, Pier 57 in New York City, is grand, if cavernous. And the occasion itself came preloaded with import: Microsoft would be publicly unveiling its most important operating system since Windows 95.

And yet, Microsoft's big day to shine—one year in the making—fell flat.

That's not a reflection on Windows 8, Microsoft's biggest OS refresh since 1995. Nor is it a referendum on Surface RT, the first piece of computing hardware that Microsoft has ever developed, manufactured, and branded on its own. No, the launch party fell flat because Microsoft shared so little new information about Windows 8 and its greater, sweeping ecosystem.

We saw hardware, but no hardware surprises. We saw apps, but no new titles. We came for drama, but received something more akin to an infomercial.

Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft

Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows and Windows Live Division at Microsoft, opened the launch event, positively giddy that the new Windows era was finally upon us. The dramatic changes inside Windows 8—with its live-tile, touch-friendly interface—make the new OS a very different computing experience. And the gravity of up-ending the basic Windows experience wasn't lost on Sinofsky. "So many rely on Windows in so many ways," he said. "We're humbled by that responsibility."

The changes are so dramatic that later in the event, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer noted that "Windows 8 should leave no doubt that we've shattered your perception of what a PC is, and how alive they all are with activity."

That's a heady statement. But Thursday's event was short on data that could add fresh perspective to the same-old, same-old we've been hearing about Windows 8 since Microsoft showed off the consumer preview in February at Mobile World Congress. This time around, we needed to see less splashy video, and more details about how Microsoft expects consumers to adapt to the sweeping changes introduced in Windows 8. We needed to see evidence of how Microsoft plans to educate consumers on the new touch gestures, and, most important, what we should reasonably expect from the new Windows Store, the single purchasing point for new Windows 8 apps.

The event was full of self-congratulatatory statistical data, that embarrassing staple of all Apple keynotes. We heard, for example, how more than half of enterprises have deployed Windows 7. But we were given no insight on how quickly Microsoft's business base plans to embrace Windows 8. Traditionally, business is slow to adopt a new Microsoft operating system. But even so, given the radical change that Windows 8 represents, this is a question that you'd think Microsoft would want to get ahead of.

During the event, Sinofsky emphasized that "Windows 8 was designed to work equally as well with existing PCs and new PCs with touch." That's been an oft-repeated promise ever since Windows 8 was first revealed. And Sinofsky may be right, but demos during the keynote didn't go far enough in showing the world exactly how touch and mouse-and-keyboard navigation peacefully coexist in the same OS.

Julie Larson-Green, left, and Michael Angiulo delivered a virtual infomercial for new Windows 8 hardware

Microsoft's Julie Larson-Green and Michael Angiulo demonstrated Windows 8's operation, but most of what was shown seemed familiar. In fact, the most useful information dispensed at the event wasn't part of any of the presentations at all: Microsoft supplied attending media with a handy guide to gestures, keyboard shortcuts, and basic Windows 8 navigation. Want to snap an app to the left using your keyboard? No problem: Tap the Windows key + Shift +, and you'll have two apps on your screen, side-by-side.

One of the most critical questions that's been hanging over Windows 8 concerns Windows Store apps—and the lack thereof. Apps have been integral to the success of Apple's iPad, and they're a primary reason why the iPad continues to gain momentum while Android tablets receive relatively little consumer love.

So we wanted to hear a big story about apps during Microsoft's keynote. We wanted to hear announcements about new app partnerships. Which critical, popular apps already available in other tablet ecosystems will consumers be able to download at launch? And how quickly will that selection grow?

Microsoft, sadly, glossed right over all of that. In fact, all we heard was a de-emphasis on the number of available apps. Ballmer said, "Some might rush to count apps or look for their favorite apps to arrive in the store" in a dismissal of critics who assign apps too much importance. Microsoft's head honcho also told a tale of developers flocking to Windows 8, but gave no word on big new titles (we already knew Netflix was coming, and the same with Hulu Plus).

Gaming apps? We were told that there's been much activity among developers, but received no specifics. And this from Microsoft, the same company that makes Xbox.

Perhaps more news about apps will be forthcoming at BUILD, Microsoft's developer event that's being held in Seattle next week. But this Thursday was Microsoft's huge opportunity to get the word out that the apps are here, with more coming soon. This news would be especially relevant to would-be buyers of Windows-based tablets. Without a clearer view of the app story, consumers may be reticent to open their wallets to Microsoft's new OS.

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In search of the sub-$300 Windows RT tablet

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SportsSynch makes syncing radio and TV broadcasts easy

For me, it started with Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football. Listening to a radio broadcast while the game was televised was fun and the two broadcasts meshed nicely. But nowadays, it's difficult to get that experience because of the lag between radio and TV broadcasts. Enter SportsSynch ($15, thirty-day free trial), a clever little utility that takes your PCs audio output and delays it 1 to 24 seconds so it matches up with the TV broadcast.

All you need to do is run your radio broadcast through your PC's audio input, delay it with SportsSynch and voila! Local broadcast nirvana. The only trick is getting the audio out of your radio device. Basically, you need an adapter cable that runs from your radio device to the mini-stereo jack that most PCs use for audio input.

Installing and using SportsSynch is easy. Run the install routine, run the program and delay the audio using the slider control. It doesn't get much simpler than that.

SportsSynch is free for 30 days. After that, you'll need the $15 key to continue with an anything longer than a one-second delay.

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Businesses must evaluate Windows 8 now, experts say

Businesses should be looking at Windows 8 even if they are dead certain it won't be their operating system of choice for years to come, experts say.

That's because of widespread bring-your-own-device programs that will inevitably bring Windows 8 tablets into the workplace and IT departments will have to give them a thumbs up or thumbs down.

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That means buying Windows 8 devices, working with them in the IT department, testing them in laboratory-simulated work environments and running limited pilot deployments among likely users, says David Johnson, an analyst with Forrester.

Gartner analyst Steve Kleynhans says IT staff should take all of 2013 to look at Windows 8 to evaluate it as the eventual standard for their company's use, but also to determine how to handle it as a BYOD candidate, which will likely come up as an issue much sooner, he says. "It could take off quickly like the iPad and have a lot of users demanding to use it," he says.

Johnson says he thinks the chances of that are slim. "We don't think there will be a huge influx of Windows 8 devices," he says, citing Forrester research that says interest in Android and iOS devices is stronger among workers. "They have a large influence in choosing work tablets," he says.

Forrester research also indicates less interest in Windows 8 overall compared to interest in Windows 7 when it was about to launch. In 2012, 47% of respondents to a Forrester survey say they haven't looked at Windows 8 yet. Back in 2009 near the launch of Windows 7, that number was just 27%.

Just 24% say today that they expect to migrate to Windows 8 but have no specific plans while in 2009 49% expected to migrate to Windows 7. That leads Forrester to conclude that Windows 8 will largely be skipped as an IT standard.

That still leaves the question of dealing with Windows 8 being brought into work environments as personal devices. On the BYOD front, Johnson says one class of portable Windows 8 devices weighs in heavier than competing devices and because one version of Windows 8 runs on x86 processors, they don't have the battery life of portables such as iPads. Those factors may blunt the proliferation of Windows 8 machines as BYOD devices.

The tablet version of Windows 8, Windows RT, is lighter and has longer battery life but doesn't support traditional business applications. It may someday, but not initially, he says. Still it may present itself as a BYOD alternative.

Klyenhans notes that Windows 8 with its dual user interface - the touch interface called modern and the traditional desktop - mean that it will be sold on hybrid and convergable devices that include at touchscreen and a keyboard. "They may be very applicable to certain types of users," he says.

More than just evaluating the devices, IT departments should determine which employees are likely good candidates for using them based on what their job is and how sophisticated they are technologically.

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Microsoft's Windows 8 event webcast: What we need to see and hear

If you're looking for a way to describe Windows 8 to your less tech-literate friends and family, you might direct them to Microsoft's website Thursday morning, 11:15 am Eastern time. The company will be webcasting the first hour of a nearly day-long event celebrating—and hopefully explaining—its new operating system and Surface RT tablet.

The event invite.

Members of the press received invites to the event in early October. Bearing little more than an embedded image, the message read, "You're invited to celebrate Windows 8, including a Microsoft Surface reception."

Hmmm. Nothing about the invite suggests a real news-gathering opportunity. Nothing suggests a grand product unveiling a la what we've come to expect from an Apple or Google shindig. And let's not forget that Windows 8 has been public since the middle of August as a "release to manufacturing" build, and various members of the technology press (myself included) spent a day at Microsoft's corporate headquarters last week, learning more than we could possibly absorb about the new Surface RT tablet.

So what can Microsoft possibly show us Thursday morning that we don't already know? I will argue with almost metaphysical certainty that you won't see Mr. Ballmer pull a rabbit out of his hat in the form of new, yet-to-be-announced, Microsoft-branded hardware.

Certainly, that kind of dramatic reveal would be welcome, if only to reward so many people who are making travel arrangements and juggling their schedules to attend an event that has all the trappings of a pure PR blitz. (Note: I won't be attending, but another PCWorld editor will.)

Surface RT: Mighty pretty, but not completely simple to use.

And a grand product unveiling would serve Microsoft well in its efforts to become just as publicly dramatic and showy as Apple, which has perfected the highly choreographed, "we've got a secret to tell" product announcement format. But Thursday morning is not the time to confuse the public with yet a third Microsoft product that defies easy explanation to mainstream consumers.

Windows 8 is not a simple, turnkey operating system that a typical, non-nerd computer user can start using with complete authority without any training. Surface RT is not a computer—err, tablet... no make that computer!—that perfectly explains itself the very first time you start using it. So Microsoft needs to use its Thursday morning shindig to get the world up to speed on its existing products. To successfully complete this mission, it will need to touch the following bases.

Show us the difference between Windows 8 and Windows RT

Windows 8 is the new operating system that will run on desktop PCs, Ultrabooks, hybrids, all-in-ones and almost all tablets—basically any hardware stuffed with x86 silicon. Windows RT is the system that runs on low-cost, ARM processor-based tablets, of which only a small handful have been announced.

I don't expect that RT devices will sell very well, but because Surface RT is loaded with Windows RT, and because Surface RT is currently the subject of a massive marketing blitz, Thursday's webcast-viewing public needs a clear explanation of what Windows RT can and cannot do.

For example, Windows RT can't run traditional Windows apps, like Photoshop and PC games. And Windows RT won't necessarily run all "modern" Windows 8 apps sold in the Windows Store. And machines running Windows RT will contain a weird, empty ghost world called the "desktop" that will seem to be there for a reason, but is actually just there because removing it, or hiding it, or covering it in pretty decorations, was apparently too much trouble.

This is the desktop in Surface RT. Looks familiar, but don't get too comfy.

Windows RT: It needs some words of explanation—and even support. Yes, Microsoft should go all in and tell us why Windows RT is better than Windows 8!

Show us some gestures

Windows 8 and Windows RT are packed with marvelous, powerful, almost addictive touch gestures. All these actions make the operating systems a joy to use—and I don't even like the word joy; it's not a word I use casually. But the new gestures are not intuitive, and I have yet to test a new Windows device (including Surface RT) that includes a full primer on how to navigate this exciting new operating system with taps and finger swipes.

So make a stir about system navigation, Microsoft. Don't make the mistake of thinking a certain degree of freshman orientation isn't necessary—because evidence suggests otherwise. The world is very familiar with typical Windows desktop behaviors, but Windows 8 touch behaviors flip everything upside down.

In other words: Let's see a video with fewer people dancing, and more people tapping, squeezing and swiping. If Microsoft doesn't quickly get people up to speed on how the new Windows touch actions work, it will have a much greater headache than simply worrying about its lack of traction in the mobile hardware space.

Show us some apps

I write this less than 48 hours away from the official launch of Windows 8, yet Microsoft's Windows Store, the only location to parse and purchase the new Windows 8 apps, has that desolate, picked-over vibe of a Halloween party supply store on November 1. There's not much on store shelves, and what is available is all sort of jenky.

As I write this, there are no official apps for Facebook, CNN, YouTube or IMDB. There's no official Twitter app, and the third-party Twitter clients the Store does include are crap. There are no apps for Hulu, Dropbox or ESPN. And there are no big-name, high-profile gaming apps, save Cut the Rope.

We wait patiently for an official Twitter app.

The apps situation looks dire, but when I discuss the Thursday Windows 8 event with my high-tech media cohorts, we all agree that Microsoft will probably use the opportunity to unveil key additions to the Windows Store. The conventional wisdom is that many high-profile apps are being saved for launch day, and that Microsoft will borrow a page from Apple's playbook, and wheel out key app developers for an on-stage dog and pony show.

Plus, the company needs something new and special and fancy and shiny to show at Thursday's event. Some big-name software partnership announcements would be helpful in delivering just that kind of sizzle.

Please tune in to PCWorld tomorrow. We'll have the full report on just how well Microsoft executes the requests I make above.

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Touch Cover vs. Type Cover: Empirical test data doesn’t lie!

If you're going to throw down for Microsoft's new Surface RT tablet, you absolutely must get either the Touch Cover or the Type Cover along with it. Without one of these keyboard accessories, the tablet's greater productivity package isn't complete. But which keyboard cover offers the better value for the money? Which one actually performs better under the scrutiny of empirical testing?

The Type Cover features real keys with real key travel.

In my review of Surface RT, I chose the Type Cover, hands-down. The Touch Cover costs less at $120. It's also incredibly thin (just 3mm) and even spill-resistant. But because it relies on pressure sensors to record finger taps, and not actual keys, I found that using it resulted in way too many typing mistakes. The Type Cover, meanwhile, allowed me to hit typing speeds much closer to what I regularly achieve on full-size desktop keyboards. And why shouldn't it? It's an actual keyboard with actual keys and key travel. It costs $130 and is thicker at 5.5mm, but I think those are easy trade-offs to make.

Still, I wanted opinions from other PCWorld editors—touch typists who could challenge the two keyboards with ferocious flurries of fingerwork. I'm a two-finger hunt-and-pecker, and I wanted to make sure that my personal conclusions weren't anomalous.

To test the keyboard covers, I asked three of my coworkers to record their typing speeds with the tests available on Learn2Type.com. Each test evaluates one's ability to retype a short but challenging paragraph, and spits back three nuggets of data: your recorded typing speed, the number of errors you've made, and your adjusted typing speed (the recorded speed minus errors). We all acknowledged that retyping written text is a slower affair than composing original ideas. Still, the online tests provided an effective, consistent way to evaluate Microsoft's covers.

Image: Robert cardinThe Touch Cover looks great and is impossibly thin, but it features no physical keys.

We ran each test only a few times per person. And according to Microsoft, performance on the Touch Cover improves with frequent use, so consider that when you're interpreting the data. We recorded baseline typing performance on each editor's personal desktop keyboard.

Two final notes before we get started: The online typing test will not report any words-per-minute stats if you make too many mistakes, and in the interest of brevity I report only adjusted typing speeds in the text below.

Alex Wawro, Associate Editor

Baseline desktop typing speed: 84 wpm

Touch Cover: The Touch Cover is a light, compact, poor excuse for a keyboard. I spent the lion's share of my (admittedly brief) time using the Touch Cover simply relearning how to type without peeking at my fingers. Using Surface RT with a Touch Cover is doable, but it isn't enjoyable. Since the keys don't have any real depth, I couldn't easily feel where one key ended and the next began, forcing me to look down at my hands, or make a mistake roughly every third keystroke.

Here's a quick tip for typing better on the Touch Cover: Just hold down the Shift key at all times. You'll write like the Hulk (if you don't turn on Caps Lock), but keeping one finger on a known key at all times will help you mentally map out the cramped keyboard more quickly, and ease your transition to Touch Cover typing.

Touch Cover results: Unknown due to excessive errors

Type Cover: The Type Cover is much easier to type on than the Touch Cover because the keys have some travel and thus you can feel exactly where your fingers are on the keyboard without having to glance down. Although it's just as compact as the Touch Cover (my gorilla-size hands started to cramp after typing on the two covers for roughly 15 minutes each), I had no trouble adjusting from my desktop keyboard to the Type Cover, and I had no mistypes or frustrating mistakes. In fact, according to our typing tests, I typed faster with the Type Cover than I did on my PC.

Type Cover result: 91 wpm

Melissa Riofrio, Senior Editor

Baseline desktop typing speed: 73 wpm (Adds Melissa: "When I'm really on a roll, I can type in the mid- to high 80s. Not that I'm competitive or anything.")

Touch Cover: Touchscreen typing can be frustrating for speed demons like me; it can't keep up. However, I recently spent a week typing on a tablet, and I became willing to trade off some speed for the relief from physical pounding. But the Touch Cover was harder for me to use than a virtual touchscreen keyboard. It is softly textured, like a freshly rubbed eraser. It felt great, but I think that slight friction caused my fingers to catch for just a nanosecond longer on the keys. It also seemed to impede dragging and clicking on the touchpad.

The lack of tactile feedback most affected my attempts to use the Shift key to capitalize. I found myself pounding the board to create my own feedback, much to the repetitive-strain dismay of my fingers. I made three to four times more mistakes than I did on either the Type Cover or my traditional keyboard.

Touch Cover result: 45 wpm

Type Cover: The Type Cover managed to replicate the traditional keyboard well enough that I experienced basically no slowdown compared with using a traditional keyboard. The keys are broad, which is nice. The travel was extremely short—I would have to train my fingers not to pound quite so hard—but it was enough to reassure me that I was hitting my mark. The touchpad worked smoothly; the clicking action on the touchpad was very subtle, but still easier than on the Touch Cover.

After all this, I actually prefer typing on a touchscreen. But if I had to choose one of these two keyboards, I'd pick the Type Cover, which offers the easier learning curve.

Type Cover result: 73 wpm

Melissa Perenson, Senior Editor

Baseline desktop typing speed: 61 wpm

Touch Cover: I'm a touch typist. My fingers instinctively fly by feel over a keyboard, if not always at the fastest clip. Furthermore, I don't pound the keys; my touch is more middle-of-the road. For these reasons, my time with the Touch Cover proved to be a mixed experience. I had no issue with the key placement or finding my position on the keyboard—in spite of the flat, pressure-sensitive keys and the ever-so-minute key definition. However, I did tend to skip letters. Frequently. The more I typed, the more it became clear that I wasn't pressing firmly enough.

Image: Robert Cardin

I found that my accuracy improved over the short time I used the Touch Cover, as I learned to slow down my typing speed, and to vary my pressure to increase the likelihood that I actually struck the keys. That said, I also felt my hands tire more quickly than they would on a physical keyboard. I felt the fatigue even as I dragged my finger over the integrated touchpad, which is made of the same textured material as the rest of the keyboard case. My typing speed reflected the need to adjust: My first take on the Touch Cover was 32 wpm, with one mistake, but when I really concentrated on the pressure I applied to the keys, I came in at 49 wpm.

Touch Cover result: 49 wpm

Type Cover: My experience with the Type Cover was just the opposite. Everything about this keyboard lends itself to touch typing. The surface of the keyboard is a soft-touch, rubberized paint that my fingers could just glide over. And the keys felt well defined. I wasn't error-free on this keyboard, either, but my accuracy was better from the get-go thanks to the physical hardware's feedback.

More important, I found that I didn't need to be conscious of the pressure I applied to strike the keys. Nor did my hands tire as quickly as with the Touch Cover. I also preferred the touchpad on the Type Cover: The smooth surface made navigation seamless, as did the physical feedback from the touchpad's left and right mouse buttons (integrated into the bottom of the touchpad, clickpad-style).

My one gripe: The keyboard itself flexed as I typed, particularly in the center part. Still, for my dollar, I'd pay the little bit extra and go for the Type Cover. The difference, for me, was just that tangible. And my typing speed was more comparable to what I achieved on my desktop.

Type Cover result: 57 wpm

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Review: Surface RT, Microsoft's bid for a 'thing' of its own

Microsoft desperately needs a "thing"—a big thing that transcends the nerdy world of consumer electronics and achieves hero status among mobile-hardware wonks and civilians alike. The iPad is a thing. The Kindle Fire is a thing. Each tablet is a shared cultural experience that's practically effervescent in mainstream consumer appeal.

And now, with its Surface RT tablet, Microsoft is trying to create a thing of its own.

Surface RT must fulfill Microsoft's bid for relevance in a world gone hopelessly mobile. Surface RT must demonstrate that Microsoft can compete with Apple, Amazon, and Google in marrying hardware to software to credit card numbers in perfectly stacked ecosystems. And Surface RT must validate a splendiferous marketing spend, estimated by Forbes in excess of $1.5 billion, every dollar dedicated to making people really, really excited about, oh my God, have you seen this, it's Surface RT!

When Surface RT was unveiled in June, hands-on reports were unanimous in their praise of the tablet's hardware innovations. With a magnesium chassis, an integrated kickstand, and clever keyboard accessories, Surface RT flouts the standard rules of tablet design and defiantly declares, "There's a better way to build these things. The other guys have it all wrong. We have made things right."

The unveiling was four months ago. Today, Surface RT must prove itself against a barrage of new questions: Just how difficult are the Windows touch gestures? Just how competent is Windows RT, the feature-limited version of Windows 8 that gives Surface its name? And what about the $499 price tag of the entry-level Surface RT offering? Is it low enough to compete with the iPad, let alone other Windows tablets?

I've been using Surface RT every day for the past week, and I can testify that it's a fresh, fun reinterpretation of the basic tablet experience. But does Surface RT have enough, and do enough, to reach "thing" transcendence? Let's dig in deep to find out.

Industrial design

Most tablets are simple slabs of glass and aluminum devoid of moving parts. But not Surface RT, which dares to explore its own physicality in a very showy, public way.

Image: Robert CardinSurface RT's integrated kickstand looks great. It even sounds great. But it's not adjustable. And notice how the Touch Cover lacks actual keys.

The integrated rear kickstand props up the tablet at 22 degrees. That's just the right angle for some viewing positions, but the kickstand is not adjustable, and I often found myself drifting out of the angle's sweet spot depending on my table height. Made of the same injection-molded magnesium that's employed throughout the Surface chassis (Microsoft calls the material "VaporMg"), the kickstand opens with a faint metallic ting and closes with a confident click. Both audio cues are satisfying—and they better be, considering that Microsoft specifically engineered the kickstand to not just work but also sound good.

The point of the kickstand, of course, is to turn Surface RT into an effective productivity machine, and to varying degrees that promise is fulfilled via the system's Touch Cover and Type Cover keyboard accessories. Regrettably, neither cover is included in the tablet's entry-level package, but all Surface RT versions are preloaded with a soph-frosh version of Microsoft Office that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, helping users realize the tablet's productivity promise.

At 3mm thick, the Touch Cover lacks physical keys, and instead uses pressure-sensitive touch pads to record keystrokes. The Type Cover features real keys with actual key travel, but extends the thickness to 5.5mm. Can the Touch Cover possibly offer rewarding typing? I answer that question in the section titled "Surface RT as a workstation" below. For now, I can share that the tablet's keyboard docking system is as sweet as Microsoft wants everyone to believe.

You never need to worry about aligning finicky connection points. In fact, you don't even need to look at the tablet and keyboard when snapping them together. Just move them toward each other, and magnetic attraction will attach the two sides—perfectly, every time. The connection interface also provides the data link between tablet and keyboard, and just like the kickstand, it comes with its own mechanical soundtrack that Microsoft expressly designed to push emotional buttons.

Image: Robert CardinYou must carefully finagle the proprietary power connector into the side of the beveled chassis.

The build quality throughout Surface RT is sturdy and confident, and exudes the same kind of austere precision we find in German performance cars. VaporMg is silky to the touch, yet inflexible when torqued. And at 0.37 inch thick and 1.5 pounds, Surface RT is essentially identical to the iPad in thickness and weight—this despite the fact that it supports a slightly larger, 10.6-inch, widescreen display.

Quibbles? I frequently worried that the kickstand would scratch wooden tables, and I found the proprietary power connector difficult to insert. But overall I became a quick fan of Microsoft's take on industrial design. The magnesium chassis really does feel like something special, and it's a welcome change from the standard combinations of aluminum and plastic we see throughout the tablet competition. Surface RT is a manifestly tactile device, from its generous (if initially confusing) catalog of touch gestures to its actual moving parts.

Display

I won't mince words: Surface RT's 10.6-inch, 1366-by-768-pixel display doesn't match the clarity and beauty of the iPad's so-called Retina display. Microsoft has provided excruciatingly detailed data that explains why a great tablet display doesn't need a resolution of 2048 by 1536, but my eyes don't lie.

Image: Robert CardinSurface RT's image clarity can't match that of the iPad, but you'll appreciate its widescreen aspect ratio when you're running two apps side by side.

In side-by-side comparisons, the Surface RT suffers from a tangible degree of pixel blur, whereas the iPad makes all content look like a continuous-tone photographic print. The difference in resolution is particularly noticeable in text rendering, despite Microsoft's use of ClearType (a technology that enlists a display's subpixels to smooth out character edges) and optical bonding (a manufacturing process that provides for greater visual clarity and reduces screen reflection).

That said, within the context of the greater tablet market, the Surface RT's display is actually quite nice. With a 16:9 aspect ratio, the 10.6-inch screen provides an HD video window that's 42 percent larger than what you'll see on the iPad's 4:3, 9.7-inch display. The Surface's widescreen proportions also accommodate Windows' new "snap screen" multitasking feature, which lets you run two apps side by side.

As for color reproduction, the Surface RT screen doesn't quite have the richness and accuracy of the iPad, but this drawback is noticeable only during A/B comparisons, and I don't think it's a big problem for Microsoft. The company is positioning Surface RT as a consumer-grade tablet that's great for the more pedestrian aspects of productivity: writing long email messages, setting up monthly calendars, creating documents in Word and Excel, that sort of thing. I would never use Surface RT for serious image editing, and that's just fine since the tablet currently doesn't support any apps for serious image editing (though that's a problem in and of itself).

Performance

No news is good news when it comes to any discussion of mobile device performance. In other words, a tablet or smartphone should just work, delivering a user experience that never, ever reminds you a processor is locked inside, chewing up its gears to keep pace with what's happening on screen.

The Surface RT's 1.4GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor and 2GB of system memory handle their workloads without drama. Gesturing through the OS itself is fast and fluid. Ditto browsing in Internet Explorer. Websites load extremely quickly, and when you scroll rapidly down pages, screen redraws have no trouble keeping up.

During benchmarking, Surface RT more than held its own against other tablets in the 10-inch hardware class. With a frame rate of 6.9 frames per second, it took first place in our run of the WebVizBench HTML5 benchmark, besting the Asus VivoTab RT (another Windows RT tablet), which achieved a rate of 4.8 fps. And in posting a time of 10.4 seconds in PCWorld's own punishing webpage loading test, Microsoft's tablet trounced the VivoTab RT (which required 23.3 seconds to load the same page) and even squeaked past the iPad (which clocked in at 10.8 seconds).

Behold! The Windows RT desktop. You can use it for Office apps and file management... but not much else.

Surface RT meets the demands of modern Web browsing, but what about performance in more hard-core applications? It's almost impossible to tell, because the Tegra 3 is an ARM processor, and our full PC benchmarking suite runs only on x86-based silicon. When working in the preinstalled Office apps, I never encountered any bad hiccups or undue lag, but these programs have already been tuned—or perhaps the more accurate word would be detuned—to work within the limitations of ARM processors.

Regardless, performance in hard-core applications probably won't even matter, because the Windows RT desktop is locked down: You will never be able to install Photoshop, traditional PC games, or any other code we typically define as "PC software."

As for the new Windows 8 apps you purchase in Microsoft's Windows Store, they'll be vetted and qualified to run on Windows RT and ARM (last week, Gizmodo reported that 6 percent of all apps in the greater Windows Store inventory lack Windows RT certification). Will the more processor-intensive apps perform without fits and starts on Surface RT, or will they make you wish your first Windows tablet was running Clover Trail or a Core-class CPU? That's the big question, and it should have a direct bearing on what type of Windows device you buy.

But I'll end the performance report on a happy note: In probably our most important tablet benchmark, PCWorld's custom-designed battery-life test, Surface RT came in second to the iPad, playing a looping HD video for more than 9 hours before pooping out entirely. If nothing else, Nvidia's processor is kind to battery life.

Surface RT as a tablet

With the Surface's full-size USB port, you can side-load movies and music directly into the Windows RT desktop.

Playing with Surface RT for a week is like eating Spanish tapas for the first time after a lifetime consuming only American food (iOS gear) or east-Asian fare (Android gear). Surface RT—and the Windows RT system it taps into—is zesty, zippy, playful, and different. But it also takes some getting used to, especially if you're not adventuresome.

The system is rife with powerful touch gestures, but none of them are immediately obvious if you pick up the tablet without any training. To evoke the Charms bar (a centralized control panel that taps into search, sharing, and settings functions, among others), you swipe inward from the right bezel. That gesture is easy enough, especially because it's explained when you first start up the device.

But what about the gesture that brings up the snap screen for side-by-side multitasking? Or the gesture that lets you cycle through open apps with a finger swipe? Or the gesture that produces all your Favorites in Internet Explorer?

These and other touch controls aren't self-evident. They're a blast to use once you know the full repertoire, and within a few hours of activating Surface, I found myself way more engaged with Windows RT than I've ever been with iOS or Android. Still, Microsoft doesn't include a freshman-orientation packet in the hardware box, and I suspect that many newbies will never take the time to do their homework. These are the people who will slander Surface RT as a confusing mess.

In addition to all the new touch controls, I appreciated Surface RT's ability to side-load media content through the preinstalled SkyDrive app and full-size USB 2.0 port. This arrangement is vastly more user-friendly than going through the kludge of iTunes just to get music or video onto one's tablet. Indeed, moving files in and out of Surface RT is a breeze because the tablet still employs a full Windows file system, complete with folder hierarchies on its desktop side. And it's nice to see something happening on the Windows RT desktop, which is otherwise a ghost town in terms of the software it runs.

Surface RT as a workstation

Between the kickstand, the keyboard covers, and the inclusion of a light version of Microsoft Office, Surface RT really does transform into a serviceable desktop PC.

A dearth of apps limits its full potential, but the workstation design—the size of the screen, the width of the key layout—isn't that compromised relative to, say, what you'll find in a small Ultrabook. Other tablets offer optional keyboard accessories to fulfill that elusive productivity promise, but they're nowhere near as elegant or lightweight, or so well integrated with the greater tablet package.

Image: Robert CardinThe Type Cover provides actual moving keys with key travel—and much faster typing speeds.

The Touch Cover is so thin, it feels like the sturdy cardstock cover of a high-end paper notebook. Sadly, though, it's the less rewarding of the two keyboard options. Lacking physical keys, this quasi-keyboard doesn't offer any tactile feedback, and throughout my testing I struggled to type with the right amount of finger pressure.

Now, granted, I'm not a touch typist. I'm an inveterate hunt-and-pecker who can type 52 words per minute on a full-size desktop keyboard. But every time I used the Touch Cover, I struggled to recalibrate my finger pressure to the sensitivity of its sensors. The end result was a lot of words with missing characters. To wit: On the Touch Cover, testing over a seven-day period proved that I could achieve an average typing speed of 30 words per minute, which is considerably slower than my admittedly gimpy average.

The Touch Cover is insanely light. It's spill-proof. It's also the cheaper of the two cover options at $120, and typing on it is faster and more natural than on any on-screen virtual keyboard I've ever used. But the Touch Cover is nowhere near as competent as the Type Cover, which is the better value for only $10 more.

The Type Cover's key action is lighter and shallower than what I look for in a full-size keyboard, and its thicker profile doesn't match the cool factor of the Touch Cover. But, you know what? The Type Cover is a keyboard. It's a real keyboard with real, moving parts. And it yielded considerably faster typing speeds, helping me achieve an average of 39 words per minute across a week's worth of typing tests. I also found the touchpad on the Type Cover to be vastly more accurate and manageable than the one on the Touch Cover, which oftentimes was frustrating to the point of uselessness.

And I'm not the only one who performed dramatically better on the Type Cover. For first-hand reports from real touch typists, check out our full test results here.

Image: Robert CardinYou can dangle, and even gently swing, Surface RT by its keyboard covers, and the magnetic connector won't fail you. Or at least it didn't fail PCWorld.

When you're typing in Word, or using any of the other Office apps, you're exiled to Windows RT's spooky, barren version of the traditional Windows desktop. Nothing is happening here. You can use the desktop to shuttle files hither and yon, and it's also the locus of various system settings and tools. But because you can't install (let alone use) any legacy Windows programs, you're constantly reminded that Surface RT's productivity story begins and ends with Office, plus the scant selection of low-ambition-level productivity apps available in the Windows Store.

A rather un-appy conclusion

The Windows Store inventory is alarmingly short of high-profile apps. The U.S. version of the Store is still well below the magic 5000-app plateau, and at this point you won't find official apps for CNN, Dropbox, Facebook, Hulu, IMDb, Twitter, and YouTube, among numerous other big-name stalwarts of the mobile world.

This isn't just a problem because Microsoft needs a busy, buzzing software marketplace if it's to realize its greater goals. It's a problem because the features and operation of so many preinstalled Windows RT apps will make you yearn for third-party alternatives.

The Music app gives you access to a huge catalog of free, streaming music, and for some people it may eliminate the desire to download Rdio or Spotify (neither of which is available in the Windows Store, by the way). But as a file-management tool for your own music collection, the Music app is light on features and customization options, and inscrutable in how it works. At first glance it looks like a wrapper for Xbox Music, and users might take a while to grasp that it's Surface RT's only built-in music player.

The new Music app provides a killer catalog of free, streaming music, but as a file-management app for personal music collections, it's a confusing proposition.

And then there's the People app, a central depository for all social media associations. The app invites you to connect to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other buckets of humanity, but once all your social media is thrown together, it's disorienting to see your disparate contacts sharing the same space. Even worse, as a Twitter client, People is precious in design but completely lacking in power—at least as far as I can tell.

Can I tweet an image? Unclear. Can I get a collapsed, more space-efficient view of the tweets of all my follows? Unclear. Do I have a way to remove Facebook updates from my "What's new" stream without hiding Facebook friends in my contacts list? It's impossible to tell.

And that's the problem with many of the preinstalled apps: They seem to lack many standard features, but you're never quite sure if they're actually dumbed-down, or if you just haven't stumbled upon the feature you're looking for.

I synced Calendar with my Google account, but Microsoft's app doesn't show individual calendars that have been shared with me. Can I add those views? If so, the operation isn't immediately obvious. Similarly, the Mail app wouldn't let me add my Gmail account. Is this because my account requires two-factor identification, and Windows RT doesn't recognize that? I don't know. The app simply reports, "That email address or password didn't work."

Bottom line

Microsoft desperately needs a hardware phenom to put a physical face on the ethereal trappings of its new Windows software. Hence Surface RT, the first personal computing device the company has ever created in its nearly 40-year history. But you can't simply buy your way into the "thing" club. You need to make a sexy, groundbreaking product that actually works—and then consumers assign it "thing" status through swarm intelligence, via social media and word of mouth.

Surface RT definitely covers the bases on the industrial-design front. When you set up your workstation at the local café—kickstand kicked, Type Cover snapped—your hardware will strike a pose unlike any other in the tablet space. And in many important ways, Surface RT does successfully redefine what a tablet can be. Its touch gestures rock (once you surmount the learning curve), and its built-in productivity features eclipse anything that the iPad or the Android competition offers.

Image: Robert CardinSimple. Elegant. But also a work in progress.

But Surface RT may not be the best new Windows device to purchase in the short term, and Windows RT definitely isn't the version of Windows you want to invest in. I doubt that any other tablet will be able to match the light weight and slim profile of the Surface RT/Touch Cover combo, but many people will be better served by waiting for a tablet that runs the full version of Windows 8 on x86 silicon. Such competing devices won't be quite as portable as Surface RT, and they'll almost always cost more. But they will grant access to the full Windows software experience, and battery life in Clover Trail tablets should even match the longevity of Surface RT.

One exciting option is Surface Pro. It's the big-kid version of Surface RT, and it should go on sale in three months. It will be slightly thicker than Microsoft's RT tablet, and about a half-pound heavier. But it will carry an Intel Core i5 processor, boast a 1920-by-1080-pixel display, and support the full breadth of Windows software, from desktop applications to every new Windows 8 app. All this, plus the Pro version supports the Touch and Type covers, and delivers all the other elements of Microsoft's nifty industrial design.

Is Surface RT a total nonstarter? No, it's definitely packed with utility, and that's why it earns 3.5 stars. In business-travel situations where I need only to write articles and respond to email, I can see throwing Surface RT and the Type Cover into my backpack, and leaving my Ultrabook (and iPad) at home.

But is this tablet a full-fledged "thing"? No, not yet. It's supposed to answer a host of problems, but instead it poses too many questions of its own.

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