Microsoft Surface creates a stir

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It’s not yet available for purchase, but Gateway Systems Ltd in Hamilton is the first retailer in Bermuda to get the new Microsoft Surface tablet.

Gateway’s G-Wiz store on Queen Street is one of the first on the Island to have access to the new device and has a few of the new tablets on display for people to see and test out.

John Kyle, managing director of Gateway Systems says they notified customers on Wednesday that they had the Surface and almost immediately, people were e-mailing and calling the store wanting to know more.

“Lots of people are interested,” he said. “We sent out an e-mail about it and got back about 50 replies that day — people wanting to see it. And the first question is — how much is it? We haven’t established a price because they are only selling it through the Microsoft store and Microsoft’s online store — Bermuda is not one of the authorised countries, but we’re working on that.”

Mr Kyle says they’re showing the technology and gauging interest. If enough people express interest in the Surface, then they’re hoping Microsoft will distribute to them directly. If not, the store will have to source the devices themselves, which will make them more expensive.

“We will be able to fulfill orders if we get enough, but obviously, it’s a question of the price point. If there isn’t a distribution and we have to buy them through the Microsoft store, then people will be paying a little bit more than they would should they travel to the US and buy one themselves.

“If we raise enough interest, we can pass that to our contacts and say, ‘look, there’s an interest here can we get an exception?’”

The Microsoft Surface’s display performed well in tests, topping the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and even beating the iPad 3 in some categories.

George Gobin, general manager for Microsoft West Indies & Bermuda, who is on the Island for the launch of Surface and Windows 8, gave The Royal Gazette a personal demo of Surface. He says the television advertisements are creating a lot of buzz, which should translate into great demand here in Bermuda.

“I think it should spur a lot of interest in coming in to touch and feel the device because we’ve done a good job with the ads,” Mr Gobin said. “So it’s generating a lot of interest. We get people saying, ‘does it do all the things you see it doing in the ad?’”

Mr Kyle says there’s a huge demand for tablets that run the same applications businesses are used to using in their day to day operations — things like Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.

“In the corporate world, which is the majority of our business in Bermuda, we’ve got a situation where other portable devices like this seem to be slightly alien to businesses. The adoption of competitive products like the iPad — there are many companies that say, ‘look, we don’t introduce iPads into the corporate world because it’s got it’s own problems, whereas a Microsoft device with Microsoft Office — with all of the standard business tools — make a lot of sense which is why we’re interested’. It’s using the latest technology and everybody is going tablet.”

Other features that appeal to business users are a real keyboard, which is built into the tablet’s cover; the kickstand, which allows the tablet to stand upright as you type; and the USB port — three things the iPad doesn’t have.

“We felt it was necessary to put a USB port on there because there are more than 400 million USB devices out there from disk drives to cameras — it was essential for us to build that level of connectivity into Surface.”

Surface seems user-friendly with a fast, fluid and intuitive interface. While an iPad makes you close one application to see another, the Surface displays them all right on home screen — allowing you to arrange the application tiles however you like. If you’re a business user, you can have your calendar, Outlook Word, Excel and PowerPoint tiles front and centre. For personal use, you can make your Hotmail, Facebook, Skype and photos a priority.

Another unique feature users might like is Microsoft’s new “picture password” which allows you to log into your device by touch. You can choose a photo or picture and pick certain points to touch in a certain order or manner. For example — you can tap your dogs in a certain order or slide your fingers along the outside of your house.

The tablet features an induction charger so you don’t have to plug it in. You can lay it down on a mat and the mat charges it. It also has a mini DVD port on the side, so if you want to connect your Surface to a projector, you can. Or you can connect it to a big-screen TV or another computer — a feature that can come in handy for both business types looking to project a PowerPoint presentation in a meeting or for personal us when you want to watch a movie you downloaded to your tablet on a bigger screen.

The keyboard, which doubles as a cover, attaches magnetically, much like that of the iPad 2, but the magnet on the Surface is much stronger. Mr Gobin demonstrated it for us. He said that once you hear the cover click into place, you can hold the device up by the cover and it will not separate from the tablet.

“You must hear that clicking sound that you’ve been hearing on the advertisements you’ve been seeing.”

Whilst the cover can be used as a keyboard, you can also fold it back behind the tablet to hold it with one hand and the keyboard function will automatically switch off.

In the US, the 32 GB version of Surface sells for $499 and it’s $699 for the 64 GB version. Both have a SD slot so you can add additional memory.

Just how much storage is available on the Surface is a controversial issue right now. A California lawyer has filed a lawsuit against Microsoft, claiming the tablet doesn’t have all the storage space the company claims it has.

Andrew Sokolowski claims he bought a 32 GB Surface last week, but quickly ran out of space after loading it with music and Microsoft Word documents. He claims a significant portion of the storage space was being used by the operating system and pre-installed apps like Word and Excel. He says only 16 GB were available for him to use.

However, it’s common for mobile devices to have less usable storage space than advertised. Typically, right off the bat, mobile devices, flash drives and regular hard drives provide about seven percent less usable memory than their labels say. Apple’s 16 GB iPad has an actual storage capacity that’s 11 percent lower than the one advertised: 14. 3 GB. The 64 GB model stores 57.2 GB.

Michael Gartenberg, research director for technology research firm Gartner Inc, said Microsoft has consistently said there would be less memory available than is advertised. He said it is “unsurprising” that its new operating system and near full-blown version of Office take up a big chunk of memory.

“I think they made it pretty clear to consumers what they’re getting,” he said.

Even if Microsoft’s base-model Surface only has 16 GB of memory available, that’s still slightly more than the 14.3 GB you get fro the latest Wi-Fi only iPad for the same price of $499.

Mr Gobin says the Surface price point is also appealing when you consider how much extra you have to pay to get the Microsoft Office suite loaded onto a laptop — it’s always an extra cost.

“It [Surface] comes with Office loaded. If you look at a standard other device and you realise that Office is $300-$500, and you get office with this — it becomes attractive.”

Mr Kyle thinks Surface is going to be a big hit and is encouraging Bermuda residents to stop in their store and “test-drive” the new technology.

“Surface is brand new, just released. We’re going to place an order if enough people are interested. We will do it. We can get them — it’s just a question of price.”

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