Windows 8 Hybrid Devices Could Exceed iPad Battery Life

[Guest]

Can Intel's Clover Trail turn tablets into iPad killers?

Windows 8 Hybrid Devices Could Exceed iPad Battery Life : Read more

 

[A Bad Day]

What hardware are they putting into those devices? Because they have to be pretty darn efficient because 1.5lb doesn't leave much battery capacity.

 

[kcorp2003]

it does sound nice. i want a tablet myself but waiting for win8 release.

 

[huntx23]

That must be a really thin but large battery or they have very very efficient components

 

[Kamab]

The most power consuming item in a tablet is the LCD. Even if the processor was twice as efficient that wouldn't translate to 2x battery life.

 

[huntx23]

true which makes these stats even more baffling

 

[pedro_mann]

"Windows 8 Hybrid Devices Could Exceed iPad Battery Life"

Yeah because instead of listening to consumers, they ripped out all the code for the desktop that we like so much (and are ergonomically adjusted too). Didn't know that their iPad killer, needed to be a PC and enterprise killer as well. Way to blow it, MS.

Of course, a smarter design decision would be to let us decide which interface we like. Metro or Aero could be defaulted based on hardware detection of touch interface. Of course, letting us switch on the fly. But, no, they are gonna bet the farm on forcing us all into their retarded app store. This ain't gonna work on the desktop or business use. Not forced anyhow.

 

[chuckydb]

Damn title...
I tought they were about to talk about android/Win 8 tablet....

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

This is all good and well... until Apple releases the iPad 4 with increased battery life. It's a shame companies keep looking to emulate or match Apple's design and technical achievements instead of doing their own thing and excelling at that instead.

 

[Shin-san]

If the tablet is x86, it might be able to run old Windows applications. That would make Windows 8 on tablet very deadly

 

[TheBigTroll]

intel is probably doing this by using its 22nm process or 32nm. or, to get even more battery, just put a little solar panel on the bezel of the tablet or the back.

 

[math1337]

All they need to do is include a non-retina display, and better battery life is almost a given.

 

[CaedenV]

[citation][nom]Kamab[/nom]The most power consuming item in a tablet is the LCD. Even if the processor was twice as efficient that wouldn't translate to 2x battery life.[/citation]
A few resons make this possible:
1) not having a retna display means a lot less pixles, which means a much less power hungry GPU, and much less power hungry display. I'll be the first to say that retna is pretty damn amazing, but for everyday use I do not really feel a huge difference between it and a normal high res display.
2)Intel's approach of having massive amounts of high power use to chew through a work load, and then go to a near 0W idle is extremely effective for mobile applications, and the A5 chips simply do not work that way. It would not be so good in a high CPU useage enviornment like heavy gaming, or video editing, but you simply do not see those types of loads on a tablet, so it is not an issue.
3) Win8 is extremely lightweight. The OS size is ~1/2 of win7 on disc alone. Removing the effects of the Aero interface makes the interface extremely efficient from a processing standpoint. Syncing when applicaitons access the internet for updates means much more down time for components like your CPU and wireless. Even in my netbook I was a near 1/3 increase in battery life (~4hrs to now a bit more than 5 hours), so the OS has a lot to do with battery life. And lets face it... OSX and iOS are not exactly 'light weight' operating systems anymore. As proved on this website, win7 (installed on a mac) runs measurably faster than OSX, and win8 will take that further, and faster means things get done quicker, and hardware can idle sooner.
4) Lastly we need to look at the simple difference between ARM and x86. ARM can be built smaller (much smaller), and thus use less wattage (much less wattage) when under load, but if it takes longer to do the same task then it is not only the wattage of the CPU that drains the battery, but also the wattage of the GPU, wireless, northbridge, ram, etc. By shutting down sooner it saves power on the overall platform, not just the CPU.


Will it 'kill the iPad'? Not likely. But it will expand the market to people like myself who are not exactly big apple users. Maybe expand the market enough to take the crown... but to kill the ipad you need something more potent than this. I use apple products on a regular basis, but Windows is what I am use to working with, and quite frankly it is (at least at the moment) the better OS. But the iPad has so many other incentives for schools, and such a good app base in place for many work places, which are 2 huge areas that win8 is missing, and will have a hard time catching up in to really kill apple off even if they do take the bulk of the single user market.

 

[TheBigTroll]

yep. Apple stuff has turned my whole school into fanboys (except for the people who believe in android)

 

[shafe88]

[citation][nom]kcorp2003[/nom]it does sound nice. i want a tablet myself but waiting for win8 release.[/citation]You can have your windows 8, I'll just sit back and wait till windows 9 comes out.

 

[boiler1990]

Intel is preparing the new platform, which promises hybrid notebook/tablet devices with more than nine hours of battery life, about 30 days of standby, a weight of less than 1.5 pounds and form factors that are less than 9 mm thin.

It had better be more than 9 hours. The new iPad gets 9-10 hours with LTE and the better screen. I love it since I can use LTE all day at work without having to charge it.

 

[chewy1963]

[citation][nom]shafe88[/nom]You can have your windows 8, I'll just sit back and wait till windows 9 comes out.[/citation]

Windows 8 will do great in tablet/phone applications. That is what Metro was made for. The mistake M$ is making is forcing desktop users to use Metro as well. I personally have no intention of buying a tablet so I will be waiting for Win 9 but if you want a tablet, Win 8 is looking to be really good, especially in x86 platforms like this.

 

[TheBigTroll]

windows 8 also makes some sense in netbooks where the screen is resonably small and combine that with a touchscreen, it could make a pretty good pc/tablet

 

[coldtortilla]

I wonder if the standard resolution of will still remain 1366x768 for these new win8 tablets that are going to hit the market.

 

[redeye]

when a real product can be tested, get back to me..

seriously, a vapourware press release?... what OS is this going to run?... windows 8? and all the power savings gone! due to flash! running on the tablet.

 

[AntiZig]

Since this article doesn't state anything specific I'm failing to understand what is preventing Apple from putting same components into the next iPad

 

[Zingam_Duo]

How much gasoline do they use per hour these hybrids? I bet their maintenance won't be cheap. Gasoline is so expensive these days.

 

[Zingam_Duo]

[citation][nom]chewy1963[/nom]Windows 8 will do great in tablet/phone applications. That is what Metro was made for. The mistake M$ is making is forcing desktop users to use Metro as well. I personally have no intention of buying a tablet so I will be waiting for Win 9 but if you want a tablet, Win 8 is looking to be really good, especially in x86 platforms like this.[/citation]


And of course that's nothing but propaganda coz if it was true... Windows Phone 7.5 would have crushed Apple by now.

 

[lradunovic77]

Windows 8 won't live for not even a year before whole thing goes into flames.

 

[eddieroolz]

[citation][nom]chuckydb[/nom]Damn title...I tought they were about to talk about android/Win 8 tablet....[/citation]

Why on earth will OEMs continue turning to a tablet OS that has fallen flat on its face?