With Windows Blue just around the corner, Dell has now indicated that it is planning to refresh its Windows 8 lineup of PCs later this year, particularly when it comes to tablets.
While I have stressed many, many times the importance of going after smaller-sized tablets, apparently Dell has a different strategy in mind. Dell vice-president Steve Lalla indicates the company is exploring design for Windows tablets that are larger than any of the 10-inch models they currently possess.
Lalla also states that Dell will offer some new Windows notebooks and convertibles that will be thinner and lighter than their current products and that they are also still working on Windows RT-based products, though they didn’t shed many details on that.
The last bit is probably most significant as of late. With several Windows RT devices slashing prices and continued rumors indicating that Windows RT is dying, the fact that Dell went out of its way to mention RT means that not all vendors feel that RT isn’t worth the effort.
It is worth noting that Dell didn’t specifically mention Blue or call it out as such, but considering the timeframe, it seems pretty obvious that their next big Windows 8 push is timed to take advantage of the new hype and changes coming to Windows Blue (aka Windows 8.1).
Generally PC makers show off their next-gen devices at the Computex trade show in Taiwan, which takes place from June 4-8. That said, this is before the BUILD 2013 conference that will further reveal more detailed plans for Windows 8.1, so it is very possibly that the first demonstrations of Dell’s 2013 PC plans might simply be running on Windows 8 – though don’t expect them to launch that way.
What do you think, do you like the idea of larger-display tablets (like 11.6-inch+), or do you feel that this is a limited market and that the company would be better focused on 7 to 10-inch devices? Share your thoughts below.
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I think their current 12.5″ convertible (the one with the rotating screen) is excellent, aside from the battery life, weight and lack of gps and a bit gimpy GPU. Haswell will undoubtably fix the GPU and battery life, so throw in a GPS and I could live with the weight, because of the construction quality and material.