Kurt Shintaku's Blog

The first “ad” we produced for Surface had some pretty thunderous music accompanying it.  Here’s the video, in case you missed it:

That music is now available for download.

• DOWNLOAD: Keith Rivers Films – SRFC in C Minor
  http://soundcloud.com/microsoftsurface/keith-rivers-films-srfc-in-c

WUT.

The ASUS Taichi 21-DH71 11.6-Inch Convertible Touch Ultrabook is available for pre-order on Amazon for release on October 26th fro $1599.

Why Taichi?  It comes with a dual facing screens, one 11.6” HD-LED screen as well as an 11.6” LED touch screen.  It has an Intel Core i7 processor, 256 Gb SSD, and 4Gb of memory.

• ASUS Taichi 21-DH71 11.6-Inch Convertible Touch Ultrabook
  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009F1II54/

This is an really awesome article on the Surface division at Microsoft that Sam Biddle at Gizmodo wrote.  Even as an employee, this is the first time I’ve seen shots of the team dev room. 

I highly recommend reading this.

…

In a pretend Microsoft retail store in a nondescript Redmond shopping compound, masked from the outside world and cordoned off by corporate paramilitary forces—I had to attach a labeled sticky note to my phone and surrender it before entering—is a prototype of what every Microsoft store will look like when Surface launches. "Store Zero," they call it. It’s a fake store, but the idea is very real: All Surface Everything. The word is everywhere. Almost half the joint is covered with slate samples. And in the back, on a very large screen, we were treated to a preview of the first ad for Microsoft’s wunderkomputer, a one minute dance montage directed by the guy who brought us Step Up 2 and one of the G.I. Joe movies. It’s sixty seconds of people whirling around with impeccable matte Surfaces, clicking the keyboards into place, spinning into each others’ arms, grinning, winking, spinning more, twirling upside down—an orgiastic tablet frenzy, a perfect hybrid of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and late-season Glee.

Microsoft presents Surface with the pride parents would ascribe to a drumming, overachieving baby. Its creators actually refer to it as "baby" on multiple occasions.

Absent from the ad is any mention of how you actually use the computer, or why you should. Which is odd, because Microsoft gave me a meticulously guided tour of its hermetically sealed R&D facilities just to impress upon me how much thought it put into the Surface as a super-slim ultra-computer of the current millennium, not a musical dance prop. And there’s no reason to doubt it: Microsoft poured an unprecedented amount of dedication and consideration into Surface, easily (ostensibly) equaling Apple’s recent design fanaticism with the iPhone 5. It shines with thoughtfulness. The size of the screen was agonized over, oscillating between fractions of an inch to reach ideal proportions for Windows 8’s multitasking. It uses a proprietary fusion technique that Microsoft gives it a better overall picture quality against the Retina iPad, even with a fraction of the resolution—it certainly does look good. It had to feel exactly like a book, spine and all. The kickstand, project leaders explained to us, was carefully tweaked so that it would sound exactly perfect when it snaps shut. The extent to which this click was obsessed over during the design process seems like marketing hot air, then insanity, and then after you keep hearing them talk about it, you realize it’s just a company truly giving a damn about making something beautiful and nearly perfect.

…

Read more at:
http://gizmodo.com/5952078/inside-surface-microsofts-insane-quest-for-gadget-perfection

OMG.  Panos Panay, father of Microsoft Surface, did a REDDIT AMA.
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/11kyja/
iam_panos_panay_gm_of_microsoft_surface_amaa_ask/

There is so much in there that I’m going to try to cull it down:

• STORAGE: 
  After all is said and done, there is 20GB of free space left on the 32GB model of Surface
• NFC: 
  Not included due to the bar they set for quality antenna design & complications involving case enclosure, the VaporMg enclosure, etc.
• DISPLAY RESOLUTION: 
  Hey this is Stevie. Screen resolution is one component of perceived detail. The true measure of resolvability of a screen called Modulation Transfer Function (MTF), not Pixels. MTF is a combination of both contrast and resolution. There are over a dozen subsystems that effect this MTF number.. Most folks just focus on one number out of dozens that effect perceived detail. Without good contrast resolution decreases. Check out contrast sensitivity of the human eye graph (http://www.telescope-optics.net/images/eye_contrast.PNG) and if you want more see the links below. Basically, as resolution/DPI increases the eye has becomes less sensitive. So as a result, the amount of light in a room and the reflections off the screen have a huge effect on the contrast of the display. In fact, a small amount of reflection can greatly reduce contrast and thus the perceived resolution of the display. With the ClearType Display technology we took a 3 pronged approach to maximize that perceived resolution and optimize for battery life, weight, and thickness. First prong, Microsoft has the best pixel rendering technology in the industry (cleartype 1.0 and 2.0) .. these are exclusive and unique to Windows, it smooths text regardless of pixel count. Second, we designed a custom 10.6” high-contrast wide-angle screen LCD screen. Lastly we optically bonded the screen with the thinnest optical stack anywhere on the market.. something which is more commonly done on phones we are doing on Surface. While this is not official, our current Cleartype measurements on the amount of light reflected off the screen is around 5.5%-6.2%, the new IPad has a measurement of 9.9% mirror reflections (see the displaymate link: http://www.displaymate.com/iPad_ShootOut_1.htm). Doing a side by side with the new iPad in a consistently lit room, we have had many people see more detail on Surface RT than on the Ipad with more resolution.
  Some more links to share if you want to know more… (http://www.normankoren.com/Tutorials/MTF.html)… Also This is a great book to read if you really want to get into it: http://www.amazon.com/Contrast-Sensitivity-Effects-Quality-Monograph/dp/0819434965 or more here http://alexandria.tue.nl/extra2/9901043.pdf
• COVER DISABLING:
  Both TouchCover and TypeCover have sensors that understand orientation relative to Surface… in fact the Type and Touch Covers talk to Surface to figure out their relative position no matter the orientation of gravity of the device (pretty neat!). There are 3 positions modes: Closed (keys and mouse are off), Open to 180 degrees (keyboard and mousepad on), beyond 180 degrees to the back (keys and mouse off). That way you can flip back the covers and feel secure you are not pressing keys by mistake.
• XBOX 360 CONTROLLERS:
  They work when connected via USB to Surface.
• TYPE or TOUCH COVER:
  It depends on how you type. I have been using both for a while, and love them both. I love the sleekness of Touch Cover. Touch Cover has a very special digitizer that we invented.. it senses the impact force of your key presses. We designed super-fast electronics and smart algorithm in the keyboard so that Touch Cover can profile your key press down to a 1ms (1000 times a second). Using that information Touch Cover can infer if the user meant to press the key or not.. It is a smart key. So even though there is no key travel, the user can rest their hands on top of the keyboard and find home position without accidentally triggering keys.. pretty cool! The first time I typed on a full working version of Touch Cover, I typed just as fast as I do on a normal keyboard. I am confident you will be able to type significantly faster on Touch Cover than an onscreen keyboard. And with a little practice you will even do better (maybe even faster!) For folks who really love and really need keys that have travel, then Type Cover is one of the best keyboards I have ever used (desktop or other). It has a super awesome snappy key mechanism that feels great (has a strong hysteresis curve). Honestly both are great… try them both, actually get them both.
• 3G/4G – WHY NOT?:
  We made what we feel is World Class WiFi connectivity. For 3G/4G we looked at several elements when deciding on what features to include. We knew that the primary use was going to be in the home, we looked at tablet sales data 2/3 WiFi, 1/3 Mobile Broadband. Of the 1/3 sold, 1/2 were activated. Phone hotspot / tethering use was also a consideration.
• NON-ENGLISH KEYBOARDS:
  Of the primary launch Markets we are launching in, we have keyboards specific to those languages.  We are not announcing any new markets beyond what we said today. However, we will for sure be expanding to more markets in the future.
• microSDXC:
  Yes, Surface for Windows RT will support microSDXC, contrary to prior announcements which stated microSD only.  It is behind the kickstand, and hidden.
• USB DEVICE SUPPORT:
  Numerous reports of 100’s of millions existing USB devices supported. Printers, Keyboards, Cameras.  And phones can be charged on the USB port.
• GPS:
  There is no GPS in Surface for Windows RT.  We use WiFi Location based services.
• BLUETOOTH:
  Surface supports Bluetooth 4.0 and will work with Bluetooth headsets. We have built-in dual digital mics, stereo speakers in the device and front/rear facing HD cameras. You can also plug-in USB conferencing peripherals. Surface RT can certainly be used for video and audio calls with wife/family.

A quick 1:37 overview of all the key features of Surface for Windows RT.  Yay!

• Sleek light durable – VaporMg casing
• Flip out kickstand built in
• Capacitive touch display
• Music, movies, games
• Touch cover keyboard – thin, touch sensitive cover
• Type cover – scissor switch based just like classic keyboards
• Office 2013 Home & Student built-in
• MicroHDMI display port
• Full size USB 2.0 port
• Expand storage with microSD slot
• Front & back LifeCam 720p video cameras
  • Rear camera is angled to record at kickstand tilt
• Skype supported
• Xbox Companion – Control movie playback on television

Oops.  That was fast.  Surface unit pre-orders are gone.  Hope you got one while you could?  If not, oh well.

• MICROSOFT NEWS: First shipment of 32 GB Surface RT tablets sell out, now on 3 weeks back order
  http://microsoft-news.com/first-shipment-of-32-gb-surface-rt-tablets-sell-out-now-on-3-weeks-back-order/

If you want the 64GB model, there might still be a few.  Then again, maybe not.

Microsoft Announces New Surface Details
Surface for Windows RT…  Available for pre-order today starting at $499.

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 16, 2012 — Microsoft Corp. today released new details about its highly anticipated Microsoft Surface, a tablet PC designed to be the ultimate stage for Windows. In addition to pricing and market availability, the company announced a special limited-quantity pre-order for Surface with Windows RT available 9 a.m. PDT. Those who want to learn more or pre-order can visit http://www.Surface.com.

Surface delivers the power of amazing software and the feel of premium hardware in one exciting experience. Originally unveiled in June, Surface with Windows RT will initially be available in three SKUs: a 32GB version priced at US$499, a 32GB version bundled with a black Touch Cover priced at US$599, and a 64GB version bundled with a black Touch Cover priced at US$699.

A variety of accessories will also be available, including Touch Covers in five vibrant colors — black, white, magenta, cyan and red — priced at US$119.99 so customers can express their personal style (1). Customers will also have the option to purchase a Type Cover in black for US$129.99, which adds moving keys for a more traditional typing feel.

…

Read more at:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/Press/2012/Oct12/10-16announcementPR.aspx

Wow. Are you interested in archiving your last tier storage to the cloud and saving a TON of budget on archival costs?  Y’all just got yourself a REALLY inexpensive solution.

REDMOND, Wash., and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Oct. 16, 2012 — Microsoft Corp. and StorSimple Inc. today announced that Microsoft has reached a definitive agreement to acquire StorSimple, a leader in Cloud-integrated Storage (CiS) solutions. The addition of CiS will advance Microsoft’s Cloud OS vision and help customers more efficiently embrace hybrid cloud computing.

“Customers faced with explosive growth in data are looking to the cloud to help them store, manage and archive that data. But, to be effective, cloud storage needs to integrate with IT’s current investments,” said Michael Park, corporate vice president, Server and Tools Division for Microsoft. “StorSimple’s approach helps customers seamlessly integrate on-premises storage with cloud storage through intelligent automation and management.”

…

• NEWS: Microsoft Reaches Agreement to Acquire StorSimple
  http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/Press/2012/Oct12/10-16CloudPR.aspx

Get a more in-depth view of the making of Microsoft Surface.

Pre-order now. http://surface.com

Pre-order now.  http://surface.com