Microsoft confirmed Monday that three long-rumored manufacturers are joining the Windows RT party.
Lenovo, Dell and Samsung are all jumping in to produce PCs compatible with the operating system, joining Asus' Tablet 600 and Microsoft's Surface. No word yet on what exactly those products will be.
While speculation circled for awhile about nearly all companies producing ARM-friendly tablets, Microsoft also let it be known that laptops, complete with keyboards and trackpads, are also part of the production package.
Microsoft kept a lid on the third-party Windows RT guest list, only allowing three major ARM chip makers - Nvidida, Texas Instruments and Qualcomm - to select two manufacturers a piece to build their first RT tablets.
Noticeably absent from the hardware manufactures is the No. 1 PC producer in the world, HP. The company said it's avoiding ARM tablets in order to focus on an Intel tablet.
Battery life estimates
While TechRadar reported that Lenovo's IdeaPad Yoga Windows 8 tablet/laptop hybrid will boast double the battery life, early testing for 10.1- to 11.6-inch screens and 25 to 42 Whr batteries, running on full-screen HD video while synced to a single email account, achieved eight to 13 hours of juice.
Those numbers skyrocketed when the models were taken down to "connected standby," a low-power standby state that's "always on and always connected."
Here, the devices lasted between 320 and 409 hours.
Predicted performance specs also show Windows RT computers reach 60fps during the OS's animations. Touchpad gestures are reportedly natively supported in the firmware as well.
Released to manufacturing
Though there's still no date pinned down for the first Windows RT PCs to hit the market. We do know Microsoft has taken the OS to the release to manufacturing build.
Like Windows 8 itself, which reached RTM August 1, the fact that Windows RT is in the RTM stage is likely a sign it'll reach completion soon.
Of course, Windows 8 is making its public debut October 26, so we anticipate seeing these devices on or near this date. Stay tuned.
Via The Verge
