“Microsoft’s temporary, or “pop-up,” stores will open Oct. 26 and will sell the Surface tablet, according to the company’s website,” Gregg Keizer reports for Computerworld.
“And in all but a few cases, Microsoft will go toe-to-toe with Apple: 29 of the 32 stores are located in the same mall or shopping center that houses an Apple retail store,” Keizer reports. “The 32 stores in the U.S. and Canada were first announced last month. The temporary outlets will be open only during the holiday season, and are not permanent locations like the two-dozen brick-and-mortar Microsoft retail stores already in operation. Although Microsoft has not come out and put it plainly, it looks like the pop-ups will push the Surface tablet; each of the 32 stores’ detailed pages highlight the Windows RT-based device.”
Keizer reports, “The biggest unanswered question about the Surface RT tablet is its price; Microsoft has not yet revealed that, although CEO Steve Ballmer has hinted at numbers between $300 and $800… Ballmer also promised that Microsoft would unveil pricing before the Oct. 26 ship date, but would not say how long before. It could be as late as a day earlier, as Microsoft has set a New York City launch event for Oct. 25.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Temporary kiosks selling an untested tablet with no ecosystem from the company that brought the world the Kin – and then promptly discontinued it 48 days later.
Buy with confidence now, ya hear?!
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Frank Boecherer” for the heads up.]
