Stefan Mileschin

Microsoft is getting some knock on effect from the fact that Apple copied its Surface design.

When Microsoft first announced the Surface Pro back in 2012 Apple fans mocked that it had a kickstand, but also an “odd” cover that doubled as a keyboard. And to top things off, the device made use of a stylus. The late Apple CEO Steve Jobs famously said in 2010, “If you see a stylus, they blew it.”

Now Apple has bought in all those things in its new iPad for an outrageous price, commentators are starting to wake up to the fact that the Surface is, and probably has been, rather good. As a result Microsoft’s announcement hardware event in New York on October 6 is attracting a lot of attention.

Since Apple is charging a fortune for what is essentially an out-of-date Surface, punters are keen to see what Microsoft will come up with that is much better.

Everyone is expecting an Intel Skylake processor lurking under the Surface Pro 4’s glass display and perhaps some movement on available RAM and storage capacities (the current Surface Pro 3 tops out with 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD). It will have, of course Windows 10.

Apple was not the only one copying the Surface. Lenovo introduced its ideapad MIIX 700, which incorporates its own kickstand and an Intel Skylake-based Core m7 processor. But when the Surface Pro 4 is out all competition bets will be off. Curiously it is Microsoft which is the innovation leader all of a sudden.

How on earth did that happen?

http://www.techeye.net/tablets-2/mic...ly-interesting