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Windows 8 tablets to have stringent minimum hardware requirements

By on January 17, 2012 at 1:45pm in Mobile News


The Windows 8 tablet is coming, and unlike the haphazard attempt to make Windows 7 into a touch-capable OS, its successor has been borne as such since day one.

Microsoft is also to ensure that there is no such thing as an underpowered Windows 8 tablet. To whit, they’ve detailed the minimum requirements for OEMs, and the specs are not too shabby. Firstly, the digitizer must support five touch points for excellent multitouch support.

There must be five hardware buttons on each tablet: Power, Rotation Lock, Windows Key, Volume Up, Volume Down. Not six, not four, but five. To that end, the new CTRL-ALT-DEL is now going to be WIN+Power, which makes sense, since you know the tablet is going to crash at some point.

All tablets with NFC technology (which is not mandatory) must have “touch marks,” or areas on the device that show exactly where the other tablet/phone/tag must come into contact to activate an NFC transfer. This is likely meant to prevent two tabs bashing into one another in an attempt to share a song.

In terms of internals, the hardware is pretty beefy, though no mention of minimum CPU requirements. Screen resolution must be at least 1366×768 (720p), while the tab must have at least 10GB free space out of the box (hopefully in an SSD). Camera must be 720p; there must be WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0; magnetometer, accelerometer, gyroscope; USB 2.0; UEFI firmware; Direct3D 10 device w/ WDDM 1.2 driver; ambient light sensor; speakers.

Finally, x86 hardware must resume within two seconds (yes, 2!) and installing new drivers (ugh) should not require a reboot (yay!).

The Windows 8 tablet will hopefully perform well and become a market competitor, since Microsoft is doing what it did with Windows Phone and outlining specific requirements for each device. In the end that is going to be better for consumers, but it also means that first-gen devices are not going to be cheap — you’re looking at a $499 minimum, at least.

Source: WithWindows
Via: The Verge

Related posts:

  1. Microsoft says more Windows Phone 7 devices with hardware keyboards coming to Canada
  2. BlueStacks App Player bringing over 400,000 Android apps to Windows 8
  3. Windows Mobile 6.5 officially announced
  4. Windows Mobile 6.5 being rebranded as “Windows Phones Classic”

Discussion

11 comments for “Windows 8 tablets to have stringent minimum hardware requirements”

  1. “since you know the tablet is going to crash at some point”

    Wow. Biased much?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 26 Thumb down 22

    Posted by Andrew | January 17, 2012, 1:57 pm
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    • Apple’s iPods, iPhones, and iPads also crash at times that require a reboot (I’ve seen it myself on a number of occasions). Their button combination is the same (power button and Home button at the same time for so many seconds). All computer devices crash at some point regardless of the OS installed.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 23 Thumb down 0

      Posted by CADDMan | January 17, 2012, 4:09 pm

  2. Every tablet crashes, same as every phone. Everything needs to be rebooted every once in a while. Stop being a douche.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 42 Thumb down 2

    Posted by RJay29 | January 17, 2012, 2:04 pm
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  3. “since you know the tablet is going to crash at some point”

    I really don’t think you would have written that about an Android tablet or an iPad…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 21 Thumb down 10

    Posted by Some Guy | January 17, 2012, 2:09 pm
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  4. Note they say resume in 2 seconds, not boot in 2 seconds.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 11 Thumb down 0

    Posted by GDub | January 17, 2012, 2:30 pm
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  5. My concern is price.
    If this goes the wrong way the price of these will be more than most laptops.

    I like the specs but it’s going to drive them out of the market in price.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 1

    Posted by groan | January 17, 2012, 2:37 pm
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    • considering these tablets are using x86 chips one has to assume these can run full desktop applications.

      another way to look at it is your buying the equivalent of a all-in-one computer that happens to have a touch screen and is portable. supply your own keyboard, mouse etc. if this is the case then a price over $500 sounds about right

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 1

      Posted by andy c | January 17, 2012, 3:56 pm

  6. [...] via Mobile Syrup [...]

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Posted by Windows 8 tablet hardware requirements set in stone | Tablet OS News and Info | January 17, 2012, 4:53 pm
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  7. “since you know the tablet is going to crash at some point”

    Obviously Daniel Bader is a tool.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 4

    Posted by TheOne-RajaBabu | January 17, 2012, 5:10 pm
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  8. so if i have a windows 7 laptop, i cant upgrade to windows 8?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 2

    Posted by aman bassi | January 17, 2012, 8:48 pm
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  9. x86 chip in these? I bet they get need fan cooling then. Not exactly tablet material.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1

    Posted by shoo | January 17, 2012, 8:59 pm
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