Microsoft reportedly to launch and sell Surface Pro on February 9th in US and Canada beginning at $899

The RT version of Microsoft Windows 8 Surface has gained great popularity since its release. Now, finally the official sales date of the Microsoft Windows 8 Surface Pro has been confirmed. Microsoft has set February 9^th to be the official sales date of Surface Pro in US and Canada. As for the pricing, it is reported that the new tablet would begin at $899 in these two countries for a 64GB model that comes with a Surface pen.

This new tablet runs on the Intel Core i5 processor instead of an ARM empowered processor on the Microsoft Surface RT.  Windows 8 is installed on the Microsoft Surface Pro making the device more like a laptop than a tablet although the Surface Pro does take its design cues straight from the Microsoft Surface RT.

Having said all that, the Microsoft Surface Pro will launch in the U.S and Canada on February 9th and pricing starts at $899 for a 64GB model that comes with a Surface pen. The pen includes technology that prevents an accidental palm touch from registering as an input on the screen. You can toss in another $119 for the soft Touch Cover that has the flat QWERTY keyboard and doubles as a protective cover, or for the same price you can obtain the Type Cover which has raised keys and acts more like the typical QWERTY that you might find on a desktop computer. This cover also protects your Microsoft Surface Pro tablet from harm and quickly attaches to your Surface Tablet.

The Microsoft Surface Pro will be available from Microsoftstore.com,, Best Buy, Staples and all of the retail outlets belonging to Microsoft. At the same time, Mr. Softy (as the company is known on Wall Street because of its ticker symbol-MSFT) has expanded the availability of the Microsoft Surface RT to other countries such as Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and others.

NEC released 12.8mm thick ultrabook Lavie X with 15.6" 1080P HD IPS screen display

Just now NEC released its thinnest Windows 8 Lavie ultrabook, the Lavie X, a 15.6" large screen notebook but only 12.8mm thick. Lavie X is currently the lightest ultrabook among those in the same size in Japan. Meanwhile, it is also the thinnest notebook among the world. This ultrabook adopts highly integrated components with only 3mm thick. But at the same time, NEC also paid attention to the importance of heat dissipation with two 5mm fans. The keyboard is also optimized to be only 1mm thick, but produces quite excellent hand control while inputting.

As to the specs and functions, the new Lavie X is much different from the previous Lavie Z. Lavie X comes with a large 15.6" IPS screen display with 1920X1080 pixels screen resolution, producing even better experience for HD movie enjoyment. Besides this, it also runs on 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U quad-core processor with 4GB RAM and 256GB SSD. Other specs include: 2 USB 3.09 ports, 802.11n Wi-Fi network connectivity, Bluetooth 4.0 + HS, HDMI output, card reader and 2MP front camera, Windows 8 OS.

The ultrabook would be on sale since December 27^th in Japan at $2078 for the 256GB SSD version. There’s also a 128GB SSD version of Lavie X priced at $1541.

Sony VAIO Duo 11 Windows 8 Notebook-Tablet Leaked with Multiple Pictures

As the approaching of Windows 8 official release, there’re more and more reports on Windows 8 devices. From the exclusive report of an unnamed PocketNow source, Sony is gearing up to give Microsoft Surface a run for its money with a new convertible tablet hybrid of its own running on Windows 8, reportedly named as Sony VAIO Duo 11. There’re some pictures regarding this new convertible notebook-tablet hybrid leaked online.

Though we couldn’t get very detailed and precise specs about this new tablet, the pictures leaked do show us some features of Sony VAIO Duo 11. First of all, PocketNow predicts that the new device is supposed to feature an 11" touchscreen with convertible keyboard and supporting stylus. We can also see Microsoft Office running on the tablet in one of the images. The keyboard also appears to be backlit, and PocketNow points out that the keyboard isn’t detachable – it’s on there for good. That, when coupled with the office setting of the images, leads us to believe that the VAIO Duo 11 will be aimed more at business people than mainstream consumers.

Another obvious thing is the use of stylus. We can see from the leaked pictures a stylus is attached. From the pictures leaked there, we may take a guess that the stylus might play a great role on the new notebook-tablet hybrid. But for the price and release date, the PocketNow source mentioned nothing. The following are two more pictures leaked:

October 26 will see the official release and fully features of Microsoft Windows 8

The official release date and fully features of Microsoft Windows 8 have long been one of the most important anticipations this year. Microsoft has released several different versions of Windows 8 as testing versions for the final official release, like the Windows 8 Release Preview. Now the official release date of Microsoft Windows 8 has been finally confirmed to be October 26^th. Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows division, made the announcement during the company's annual sales meeting, according to the Windows Team Blog. The availability of Windows 8 is also given to be late October by the company.

The release date applies to new Windows 8 PCs and to upgrades, which will cost $40 through January 31 for users running Windows XP or later. No specific launch day of hardware was mentioned, but Microsoft's Surface Windows RT tablet should be available around that time.

As the release date of Windows 8 has been officially confirmed, what remain to be unknown are the features of Windows 8. Of course, the full features of Windows 8 OS would be unveiled the day it’s released. But for curiosity, we may want to know some key features of Windows 8 beforehand, right? Here I have collected some wonderful features of Windows 8 that you may love.

Speedy Boot Time: The load and boot up speed has improved significantly over Windows’ predecessors. This is partly due to the better resource allocations to applications and the system. When compared to Windows 7 desktop CPU, Windows 8 has an even speedier boot time.

Innovative & Dynamic Desktop: The tiles-based interface, or the Metro UI, will be the first thing you see upon logging in to Windows 8. At first glance, the UI seems to go intuitively with touchscreen devices like tablets and smartphones. Indeed, in such devices, you tap on those apps to open them. The grid layout seems to facilitate such interactions. Needless to say, you can customize your grid by adding and arranging applications.

Improved Search Function: Windows 8 has no search box at the bottom of the Start menu. Heck, it doesn’t even have the trademark Start menu! That doesn’t mean that there’s no convenient search function available. All you need to do is to type anything, and a search box will appear from the right and give you the results. The search capability is even stronger this time, displaying all the matching apps and files instantaneously.

Windows To Go: Of the entire list here, this is one feature that offers the most convenience to users. Windows To Go allows users to make a copy of their OS complete with their settings, wallpapers, files and even apps, into a USB thumb drive. Plugged it into another computer with Windows 8 already installed, and you can boot up the PC and make it look exactly alike the OS you normally use, with all settings intact.

Windows Live Syncing: Similar to Windows To Go, the new Windows 8 will provide Windows Live syncing, such that users can login on any Windows 8 PC with ‘Live ID’ and get back their own personalized settings on it. The desktop will look the same every time the user login on a PC with their Windows Live account. Migrating to a new PC is probably made easier when the user has all the essential settings synced.

Microsoft Unveiled Windows Phone 8 with New Home Screen, Turn-by-Turn Navigation and Skype Integration

It’s been a very busy June for Microsoft, who not only revealed its own Windows 8 Surface tablets on an event in Los Angeles, but recently brought out Windows Phone 8, its next phone operating system at the event in San Francisco with abundant of new wonderful features. As the manager of the Windows Phone program, Joe Belfiore told readers in his blog that “Windows Phone 8 is based on the same core technologies that power Windows 8. As a result, Windows Phone 8 will unleash a new wave of features for consumers, developers, and businesses.” He said the next version of Windows Phone will share the same underlying technology of the Windows operating system that will run on tablets, laptops, and desktops.

Leading the additions to Windows Phone 8 include: New Start screen, turn-by-turn navigation and Skype integration. The home screen or Start Screen, which has rectangular tiles to represent apps, will now allow users to change the tile sizes if they're using the phone for many things at the same time.

Microsoft is making Windows Phone 8 even more personal, with a new palette of theme colors and three sizes of Live Tiles, all of which are under users’ control. As Live Tiles are one of the things current owners really love about their Windows Phones, Microsoft makes them even more flexible and unique. The bellow short video shows the new Start screen in action.

Microsoft is also putting its Skype acquisition to good use in the forthcoming software. Skype and other Voice Over IP (VoIP) services will integrate right into the phone dialer and People or contacts apps. Skype's CEO, Tony Bates, hinted that Skype would also be integrated into Windows 8.

And there's another partnership at work in Windows Phone 8 -- the one between Microsoft and Nokia. The two companies worked closely on Nokia's new Lumia handsets, including the Lumia 900; now they are bringing Nokia's mapping technology to the operating system, including offline maps and turn-by-turn navigation.

Other key features of Windows Phone 8:

* Multi-core processor support: As reviewers have noted, Windows Phone runs buttery smooth on phones with a single processor. But piggybacking on the Windows core provides support for multiple cores—so we’re ready for whatever hardware makers dream up.

* Bigger, sharper screens: Windows Phone 8 supports two new screen resolutions—1280x768 and 1280x720, opening the door to amazing new handsets with high-definition 720p displays. This would mean that users would have more flexible options to watch HD videos on Windows Phone 8 smartphones.

* More flexible storage: Windows Phone 8 supports removable MicroSD cards, so you can stuff your phone with extra photos, music, and whatever else is important to you, and then easily move it all onto your PC.

* NFC wireless sharing: If you haven’t heard the term “NFC” yet, I’m betting you soon will. This emerging wireless technology lets phones share things over short distances. In Windows Phone 8, it helps make sharing photos, Office docs, and contact info easier—just tap your phone another NFC-equipped device. How cool is that?

* Internet Explorer 10: The next version of Windows Phone comes with the same web browsing engine that’s headed for Window 8 PCs and tablets. IE10 is faster and more secure, with advanced anti-phishing features like SmartScreen Filter to block dangerous websites and malware.

* Wallet: Windows Phone 8’s new digital Wallet feature does two great things. It can keep debit and credit cards, coupons, boarding passes, and other important info right at your fingertips. And when paired with a secure SIM from your carrier, you can also pay for things with a tap of your phone at compatible checkout counters.

* Better maps and directions: Windows Phone 8 builds in Nokia mapping as part of the platform. Our partnership will provide more detailed maps and turn-by-turn directions in many countries, plus the ability to store maps offline on your phone so you can work with maps without a data connection.

* Cooler apps and games: Basing Windows Phone 8 on the Windows core will unleash a new wave of amazing apps and especially games, for reasons I’ll touch on in a moment.

Microsoft did not disclose when Windows Phone 8 would be available and start shipping on phones. It did say that those with Windows Phone devices now won't be able to upgrade to the new operating system. The first wave of Windows Phone 8 phones will be made by Nokia, Samsung, and HTC.