Microsoft has launched a new ad-free search product, Bing for Schools, with an incentive program that rewards schools with free Surface RT tablets, ZDNet reports. The new pilot program, currently for the US only, offers schools a search engine tailored for education, and to encourage interest in joining it, Microsoft is integrating its incentive program, Bing Rewards, which will let schools earn Surface RTs. Given the dissatisfaction that older Windows users seem to have with RTs lack of backwards compatibility, younger students may be one group that have fewer objections to its limitations, and give Microsoft a chance to put its spare Surface RT inventory to good use…
…Read MorePodcast Series: Innovations in Education
Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.
Microsoft making more Surface products
Despite tepid reviews of Microsoft’s new Surface Pro Windows 8 tablet last week, the company says it has seen solid demand since it went on sale Saturday in the United States. The company says the Surface line is just getting started, ABC News reports. Many stores reported that they sold out of the initial stock of the 128GB 10.6-inch Surface Pro tablet, which comes with a stylus and can be bought with a $100 attachable keyboard. The tablet starts at $899 with 64GB of storage; the 128GB version begins at $999. Microsoft stores and Staples reportedly sold out of the first batch of tablets. Microsoft would not disclose the number of tablets sold or the number in the initial stock batch.
“We are pleased that the demand for the Surface Pro is so great. Our focus is to get ordered Surface units delivered to our customers as quickly as possible,” Microsoft said in a statement today…
Microsoft Surface to officially surface on October 26th
Just in time for Halloween (and the launch of Windows 8), Microsoft (MSFT) has revealed that it plans on releasing its first Surface tablets on October 26th, BGR reports. Microsoft buried the Surface release date in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week, where it told the SEC that “on October 26th… we will begin selling the Surface, a series of Microsoft-designed and manufactured hardware devices.”
…Read MoreGoogle unveils $199 tablet, challenges Kindle Fire
Google on June 27 said it will sell a 7-inch, $199 tablet computer bearing its brand in a challenge to Amazon’s Kindle Fire.
The Nexus 7 is designed specifically for Google Play, the online store that sells movies, music, books, apps, and other content—the things Amazon.com Inc. also sells for its tablet computer.
Google’s announcement that it’s putting its brand on a tablet comes a week after Microsoft Corp. said the same thing. Both moves risk alienating Google’s and Microsoft’s hardware partners. Those companies, in turn, could be less inclined to work closely with Google and Microsoft.…Read More
Microsoft’s ‘Surface’ tablet aims for productivity
Microsoft has unveiled a new tablet computer, Surface, that attempts to take advantage of one of the few criticisms of Apple’s iPad, particularly among educators—that it is better for consuming content than creating it.
The software maker said June 18 that its device will attach to a removable rubberized keyboard that also acts like a book cover. CEO Steve Ballmer said Surface will be an entertainment and media consumption device “without compromising the productivity that PCs are uniquely known for.”
Microsoft Corp.’s broadside against the iPad is a dramatic step to ensure that its Windows software plays a major role in the increasingly important mobile computing market.…Read More