As Microsoft definitely gets into IP, high-def movie downloads, content on your PC and your Xbox and all these different Microsoft hardware platforms, how are rulings on net neutrality and net neutrality law going to affect Microsoft's business?
It looks like it is going to be a great Christmas fro Apple, and a not-so-good one for Microsoft and its hardware partners.
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Some of Microsoft's hardware partners were indeed annoyed by the announcement, since Surface could compete with their products, people familiar with the matter said.
They're quickly going to find that as Microsoft flexes its hardware muscles, their space in the tent is going to shrink with nowhere else to go.
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We also see Win 8 as somewhat of a threat but conflicting reviews, less-than-stellar developer feedback, and a desire by Microsoft to make hardware directly make Win 8.
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Microsoft partnered with hardware companies but never owned them.
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Assuming that the increased sales of Windows Phone 8 devices that Steve Ballmer is promoting holds up during 2013, Microsoft and the hardware manufacturers need to be shouting about numbers as much as possible.
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"Microsoft and the hardware vendors seem to have had a hard time positioning these kinds of devices and articulating their value, " says Michael McGuire, principal analyst for mobile computing at Dataquest, a San Jose market research firm.
Oh, and about Microsoft's hardware partners.
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Microsoft's hardware partners in the venture-- Philips Electronics ( PHG) , Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people) and Mitsubishi--are working on new WebTV units that run Windows CE and, like palmtop computers, can run stripped down versions of Microsoft Excel and Word.
Working very closely with Nokia will provide Microsoft a more holistic software-hardware design platform and give Microsoft a fair chance to come up with a decent, iPad-level tablet.
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Perhaps Microsoft will make this hardware push a trilogy with their own Windows Phone 8?
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But while Microsoft held to its hardware-free promise, the company had something else up its sleeve.
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Along with new software and hardware, Microsoft is making sure the tools are in place as well.
That is a win for Microsoft, which wants hardware manufacturers that use its software to remain strong and competitive.
Indeed, most of the agenda-setting for the future of the PC occurs at Microsoft's Windows Hardware Engineering Conference and the Intel Developer Forum.
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Maybe its time for Microsoft to start building hardware and even more tightly integrating its products, though my sense is the time for that is long past.
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The upcoming release of Windows 8 this year cannot come quickly enough for Microsoft, so its hardware partners can start competing more effectively in the tablet space.
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The computer industry is split down the middle over support for Microsoft, with many hardware makers backing the company's campaign against the government, while many rival software firms are calling for a break-up.
It's been a long time since we've taken a look at any of Philips Streamium wireless products, and in that time, companies like Roku, Sonos and Slim Devices (not to mention Microsoft and its various hardware partners) have taken a big chunk of the home streaming market.
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Having used Windows 8 on a number of hardware platforms, I do believe that if the operating system has a chance of success, Microsoft needs to be working with hardware partners to get as many touchscreen devices out to market as possible.
While Apple under Steve Jobs focused on its Macintosh closed system of hardware, software, and applications, Microsoft built an open market system on Windows: any hardware, any application, many ways to make money.
Update: Among other things, Elop flatly denied rumors that the company might sell its hardware unit to Microsoft.
For example, all handsets will be multi-touch and will come with a dedicated hardware button for Microsoft's search engine Bing.
And with exciting portable hardware like the Microsoft Surface, Dell XPS Duo 12, and ASUS Taichi in the pipeline, you can expect Windows 8 tablet sales to soar.
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Microsoft is looking for three hardware engineers.
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The piece also states supposedly final retail hardware specs for Microsoft's next game console, including a 64-bit D3D11.x 800MHz GPU, an 8-core x64 1.6GHz 4MB L2 CPU, 8GB DDR3 RAM, 500GB of on-board memory, USB 3.0, HDMI-out, and an optical drive for 50GB discs.
The piece also states supposedly final retail hardware specs for Microsoft's next game console, including a 64-bit D3D11.x 800GHz GPU, an 8-core x64 1.6GHz 4MB L2 GPU, 8GB DDR3 RAM, 500GB of on-board memory, USB 3.0, HDMI-out, and an optical drive for 50GB discs.
Microsoft sets parameters for all the hardware companies that utilize its operating system, including Nokia.
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For Apple, the endgame, of course, is selling more hardware, not dislodging Microsoft as a software monopoly.
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