Posts
Dell, Lenovo and Samsung have joined Asus (and Microsoft) in
the list of companies that are confirmed to have Windows RT systems in the
pipeline. News of the confirmed manufacturers comes directly from Microsoft
although as The Verge points out, HP’s name is glaringly missing among the
other PC builders.
Following the introduction of Microsoft’s Surface tablets in
June, HP told Bloomberg they will initially only be building Intel-based
business notebooks, citing input from their customers. They feel that the
established x86 platform provides the best customer experience at this time and
in the immediate future.
Microsoft points out that it won’t just be ARM-friendly
tablets coming from these manufacturers. Some will be producing full-sized
notebooks complete with keyboard and track pads, according to Redmond.
We also are now hearing some of the early battery estimates
that we can expect to see with Windows RT devices. Systems with 10.1-inch to
11.6-inch displays and 25 to 42 Whr batteries have been good for between eight
to 13 hours of runtime. Tests were conducted running full-screen HD video while
the system was synched to a single e-mail account. Microsoft also notes that in
a “connected standby” mode, systems were able to achieve between 320 and 409
hours of battery life.
As for performance, we are hearing that Windows RT systems
are capable of 60fps during operating system animations and that touchpad
gestures are now supported natively in the firmware. The OS has now hit the RTM
build so it’s only a matter of time before we’ll start to see some early
systems show up.
