Apple iPhone 5 facing touch recognition issues

When Apple designed the iPhone 5, one major goal of the company was to make it extremely slim. It appears that this skinniness has come at a price. Various reports now claim that the iPhone 5 and iPod touch devices respond oddly to multiple and rapid diagonal swipes. 

A report by iMore states that on an iPhone 4S, one can rapidly swipe back and forth and the handset will keep up without any lag noticed even when some swipes are diagonal. However, on an iPhone 5, when one swipes rapidly diagonally at about 45 degrees, it appears that the gesture is not recognised. 

The author at iMore, Rene Ritchie states, "I was able to reproduce the behaviour on an iPhone 5 with Mail.app, Contacts.app, and Tweetbot (though a couple of times in Tweetbot rapid diagonal swiping worked fine for without any drop off), Brushes (paint strokes stopped appearing), the iMore app, and more. I was also able to reproduce the same behavior on an iPod touch 5 using the same apps. Various devices were running iOS 6, iOS 6.0.1, and iOS 6.1 beta. That means it's not restricted to one control, like UITableView, or one version of iOS 6." 

Ritchie tried the same gesture on an iPhone 4S, and a fourth generation iPad but the same issue did not arise.

This issue may be due to the in-cell technology used in Apple's new 4-inch devices along with the software. The report ends by stating, “Due to the angle, rapidity, and consistency needed to trigger the drop, it's not a problem most apps or developers will ever face. Games and game developers on the other hand, could well encounter it.”

This is not the first problem occuring in the handset. Another well documented problem is the purple haze issue that is seen in certain images captured with the iPhone 5's camera.

Low-cost Aakash 2 tablet launched in India at Rs 1,130

Datawind in association with the HRD Ministry has launched Aakash 2 - the new version of India\\'s low-cost tablet Aakash, which was trashed by both users and reviewers for its poor performance. The new Aakash 2 tablet is available at a subsidised price of Rs 1,130 for Indian students, while Datawind is delivering the tablet to the HRD Ministry at Rs 2,263. 

Compared to the previous version of the Aakash tablet, which proved to be a dud, the company has now upgraded some of the key features to enhance the user experience. 

The new Aakash 2 tablet comes engineered with a 1GHz Cortex A8 processor, while the original Aaaksh tablet was powered by a 366 MHz processor. The Aakash 2 tablet has a a 7-inch capacitive display with four multi-touch points. The screen has a resolution of 800×480 pixels. The previous version of Aakash had a 7-inch resistive touch screen. 

Besides, the upgraded Aakash runs Android 4.0 operating system, whereas its predecessor had Android 2.2 OS. The Aakash 2 sports a front-facing VGA camera, and has built in Wi-Fi connectivity. The new tablet has 512 MB RAM and internal memory of 4GB, which is expandable up to 32GB using a micro SD card. The tablet is said to offer around four hours of battery time. 

The commercial version of the Aakash 2 unit is branded as UbiSlate 7Ci, and is available for purchase on DataWind\\'s website at Rs 3,500.

The tablet \\'Aakash\\' was launched in October last year by the government to make available computing devices to students at subsidised rates. However, the project ran into controversy following IIT Rajasthan rejecting the devices manufactured by Datawind. Datawind had won the tender for making and supplying one lakh Aakash tablets for price of around $49 per unit.

Key specifications: Aakash 2

- 7-inch multi-touch capacitive screen

- 512 MB RAM

- 4GB (internal) flash memory, which is expandable up to 32GB using a micro SD card

- USB port

- 1 GHz Cortex A8 processor

- Front facing camera

- WiFi

The 41-megapixel Nokia 808 PureView now available for Rs 24,999

Nokia's 808 Pureview smartphone, which managed to grab many eyeballs because of its 41-megapixel camera, is now available for Rs 24,999 on Saholic.com, a reduction of Rs 8,900 from its earlier price of Rs 33,899. 

The company had launched the phone in India in June at Rs 33,899, however, the phone failed to entice customers to expend money because of its dated OS, heavy weight and high price. 

The phone sports a 41 megapixel camera sensor with Carl Zeiss optics. It lets users shoot photos at different resolutions, say 2 megapixel, 3 megapixel, 5 megapixel, high resolution 8 megapixel or full resolution. The maximum resolution that can be shot with the 808 PureView is 38 megapixels in 4:3 aspect ratio and 34 megapixels in 16:9 mode. 

The phone runs Nokia's Symbian Belle operating system. It has a 4-inch, ClearBlack AMOLED display underneath Gorilla Glass protection. Powered by a 1.3GHz processor, the smartphone has 16GB of internal memory, which is expandable up to 32GB using a microSD card. The device has 512MB RAM. 

Apple and HTC settle global patent battle

Apple Inc and HTC Corp announced on Saturday a global patent settlement and 10-year licensing agreement that ends one of the first major conflagrations of the smartphone patent wars. 

Apple sued HTC in 2010, accusing the Taiwanese handset company of infringing on the iPhone maker's patented technology. It was Apple's first major legal salvo against a manufacturer that used Google's Android operating system. 

Apple and HTC did not disclose specific terms of the deal. In a joint statement, Apple chief executive Tim Cook said he was glad to reach a settlement. 

"We will continue to stay laser focused on product innovation," Cook said. HTC chief executive Peter Chou said his company was pleased to resolve the dispute so it could "focus on innovation instead of litigation."

Since Apple first sued HTC, its smartphone patent war has engulfed competitors like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Google's Motorola Mobility unit. 

The iPhone maker won a $1.05 billion verdict against Samsung in August, while litigation against Motorola has failed to produce any decisive wins. 

However, Apple had the most success against HTC when it came to using litigation to actually disrupt the flow of products into the crucial US market. 

Late last year, the US International Trade Commission ruled that HTC had infringed upon one of four patents Apple had disputed and imposed a sales ban on some of the Taiwanese maker's phones. 

Though HTC said it had devised a technical workaround to Apple's patents, the company announced in May that shipments of its phones were being held up by US customs officials. 

Once one of the industry's high flyers, HTC has been badly hit by competition from Apple and Samsung. Last month HTC forecast a 14.5 per cent fall in revenue in the fourth quarter from the third, worse than analyst forecasts and the second straight quarterly decline this year.

Google's New Android OS On The Way: Key Lime Pie

Google hasn’t come up with any updates for its latest offering Jelly Bean yet, but rumors are already making rounds about a new Android OS with the name Key Lime Pie.

Jelly Bean has turned out to be an impressive OS, with no actual bugs found till now, so the big question will, is Key Lime Pie will be just an updated version of Jelly Bean or a complete fresher. 

However along with the Lime Pie rumors, there were talks about the Jelly Bean updates too.

Android Authority, the Android News blog dedicated to provide expert tips, news, reviews, Android Phones, Android Apps and much more, says that the site was several times visited by the devices running on Android 4.2, and the blog concludes that Google might have started building the new OS in mid-August. “We have thoroughly checked our own server logs and Google Analytics data and found several traces of devices running Android 4.2 and checking out Android Authority during tests,” the site writes.

“Android Police (a web blog dedicated to everything related to Android) makes some clever connections based on what is known of Google’s way of doing things, but nothing is official until Google sings. What’s clear though is that the next Android iteration is Android 4.2, and should come in the coming weeks,” says Andorid Authority about the release date of the new

The site says that the devices like Google Nexus 7, Galaxy Nexus, Sony Xperia Arc S and Samsung Galaxy Y visited the sites. Two more devices visited, running on Android 4.2, called as Occam and Manta, which are reportedly code names for new Motorola Phones.

There are also speculations that the new OS will have some special Nexus program, which suggests that there could be line of Nexus phone offering from Google.

10 Countries With Best Internet Speed In The World

Connectivity has so far moving from “wired” to “wireless.” In both ways, nothing brings more serenity to everyday life- be it at work or home- than a good internet speed. Whether attending an online video conference at office, watching videos on YouTube or uploading pictures to social networking site, the last thing we wish to see would be a slow connection.

While many countries, including the poorly ranked India, suffer from slow or deteriorating internet connections, certain countries across the world cherish the flair of ultra speed network connectivity even in their outskirts! With millions of web connections and multiple network service plans, here are the 10 countries that have the best internet speed in the world, according to the latest report from Akamai.

#10 Bulgaria

Internet Speed: 27.9 Mbps (Peak)

Year-to-year change: 17 per cent

Global rank: 10

Over 60 percent of internet consumers in this European country access the internet through LAN connections. The biggest Internet Service Providers in the country even offer fiber optic access carrying services ranging from IPTV to VOIP.

#9 Hungary
Internet Speed: 28.0 Mbps (Peak)
Year-to-year change: 15 per cent
Global rank: 9

91Percent of Hungary's internet connections has speeds above two Mbps. the country has several local Internet Service Providers who offers plans ranging from monthly fees of about $15 a month. Some of the Internet Service Providers offer packages which combine Internet, TV and telephone subscription.

#8 Singapore
Internet Speed: 28.3 Mbps (Peak)
Year-to-year change: 36 per cent
Global rank: 8

Internet access is readily available in Singapore with a connectivity rate of over 99 percent! The penetration of residential wired brodband in households was at 104.2 percent last year. The country in 2010 had launched its Next Gen Nationwide Broadband Network which is Singapore’s ultra-high speed fibre network. It offers pervasive, competitively priced broadband of high speeds at comparable prices to ADSL and cable connection. It was able to be deployed in 75% nationwide as of August 2011 and is on track to achieve its target of 95 per cent coverage by end of this year.

#7 Belgium
Internet Speed: 29.5 Mbps (Peak)
Quarter-to-quarter change: 1.1 per cent
Year-to-year change: 10 per cent
Global rank: 7

Flanders, a region in Belgium has recently declared EU leader in high-speed internet by the European commison. Internet connections with speeds of over 30 Megabits per second have a penetration rate of almost 10 per cent in Belgium. Even though the Belgians enjoy a good speed, the internet charges belong to the highest and least flexible in Europe.

#6 Switzerland
Internet Speed: 29.9 Mbps (Peak)
Year-to-year change: 25 per cent
Global rank: 6

Switzerland has one of the fastest connected population in the world with 88 percent of the residential consumers connecting at speeds greater than 2 Mbps and a 38 percent of them at speeds greater than 8 Mbps, according to a Nielsen survey. The country also has a strong growth in the wireless broadband sector.

#5 Latvia
Internet Speed: 33.5 Mbps (Peak)
Year-to-year change: 14 per cent
Global rank: 5

Internet, once an expensive commodity in Latvia, has had its prices fallen due to people refusing for taking the expensive home connections and instead accessing internet from their work place or from public areas.  

The average internet speed of the country was greater than 8 Mbps in the first quarter of this year. Lattelecom, the country’s largest internet service provider offers fiber optic bandwidth up to 500 Mbps, which is available to more than half of Latvian households.

#4 Romania
Internet Speed: 38.6 Mbps (Peak)
Year-to-year change: 15 per cent
Global rank: 4

More than half of the total internet connections in Romania are broadband. 40 percent of these connections are running at around 30 Mbps. Even though the country was dropped out of the world’s top 10 internet speeds in the first quarter, it has again made it to the list.

#3 Japan
Internet Speed: 40.5 Mbps (Peak)
Year-to-year change: 28 per cent
Global rank: 3

Japan has one of the best cost-to-performance internet services available in the world. The country started with 56 Kbps dialup connections in the early 90s. Towards the end of the decade cable operators started providing broad band connections of their own which became popular among the commoners. Japan has passed total network usage of more than 1 Tbps of data in 2010 as per the Ministry of Communications.

#2 South Korea
Internet Speed: 46.9 Mbps (Peak)
Year-to-year change: 31 per cent
Global rank: 2

Due to government’s policies and programs that facilitated a rapid expansion and use of broadband, South Koreans enjoy internet speeds as high as 200 times the United States. As early in 2005, more than 96% of mobile phones in South Korea had internet access and it was the first country to have completed dial-up to broadband network. Many public restaurants and firms in the country even offer free Wi-Fi internet in business hours.

#1 Hong Kong
Internet Speed: 49.2 Mbps (Peak)
Year-to-year change: 11 per cent
Global rank: 1

The people in Hong Kong enjoy astoundingly fast broadband at an astoundingly low price. The Hong Kong Broadband Network (HKBN), with its “Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH)” and “Fiber-To-The-Building (FTTB)” Technologies, offer services with speeds upto 1 Gbps, with a guarantee of atleast 80 percent of the advertised speed.

Since we saw the top 10 countries in the list, it is now time to see the position of U.S., a proclaimed tech leader and also the status of India.

United States
Global rank: 11
Internet Speed: 27.1 Mbps (Peak)
Year-to-year change: 24 per cent

The United States has a global ranking of 11 in fastest internet connection.

India
Global rank: 116
Internet Speed: 6.9 Mbps (Peak)
Year-to-year change: 21 per cent

India stands at a poor 116^th position in the list with average internet speeds touching just 1 Mbps, way far behind other Asia Pacific countries. Only 1.2 percent of connections in the country has speed of over 4Mbps.

RIM offers BlackBerry Curve 9220, 9320 with free BBM for 1 year

Research in Motion (RIM) has a huge base in India with its BlackBerry smartphone. In a bid to expand it further, the Canadian smartphone manufacturer, as a part of a Diwali offer is giving one year of free BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service with the purchase of a Curve 9220 or Curve 9320 on or before December 9, 2012. 

As per the announcement, though this may seem like a deal that is worth getting, there are certain conditions one will need to keep in mind before taking the plunge. This offer is meant only for those who purchase BlackBerry Curve 9220 or Curve 9320 between November 9 and December 9, 2012. Only new subscribers to Airtel and Vodafone can get the best of this offer. 

Research in Motion (RIM) has a huge base in India with its BlackBerry smartphone. In a bid to expand it further, the Canadian smartphone manufacturer, as a part of a Diwali offer is giving one year of free BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service with the purchase of a Curve 9220 or Curve 9320 on or before December 9, 2012. 

As per the announcement, though this may seem like a deal that is worth getting, there are certain conditions one will need to keep in mind before taking the plunge. This offer is meant only for those who purchase BlackBerry Curve 9220 or Curve 9320 between November 9 and December 9, 2012. Only new subscribers to Airtel and Vodafone can get the best of this offer. 

HTC's Windows Phone 8X now up for pre-order at Rs 35,032

The recently unveiled HTC Windows Phone 8X smartphone is now available for pre-order on Flipkart.com for Rs 35,032. According to the e-commerce website, the shipping will start by the third week of November. 

Available on Flipkart in two colours - black and blue, the smartphone runs Microsoft's latest Windows Phone 8 OS. The Windows Phone 8X is powered by Qualcomm's 1.5 GHz dual-core processor.

It features a 4.3-inch super LCD 2 touchscreen with HD 720p resolution. The phone will have a Gorilla Glass 2 screen. The Windows Phone 8X offers total storage of 16GB. It has 1GB RAM. 

The Windows Phone 8X sports an 8 megapixel camera with auto focus, LED flash, and BSI sensor. It also has a 2.1 megapixel front camera. The Windows Phone 8X includes an 1800 mAh battery. 

HTC had unveiled the Windows Phone 8X smartphone, along with the Windows Phone 8S, in September. HTC is under a lot of pressure to generate strong sales from its next round of smartphones as it has lost significant ground to Samsung Electronics and Apple.

The success of HTC and Nokia Windows Phone 8 devices this holiday shopping season will be crucial to Microsoft, which has been left far behind by Apple and Google in the smartphone software market in the last several years.

Defect found in Microsoft Surface tablet Touch Cover

One of the major features of Microsoft's Surface tablet, apart from the new operating system, is its key accessory, the Touch Cover, which features an integrated keyboard. However, early adopters of the tablet who have this accessory are facing some issues with the Touch Cover where it splits at the seams, exposing some of its internal wiring in the process.

A report by The Guardian states that early users of the Touch Cover of Microsoft's Surface tablet say one of the edges that magnetically connect to the device split at the seam, and this case has been witnessed by a number of users a few days after they started using it.

The report states that it is unclear whether the problems that people have encountered are due to a faulty batch or are a subtle problem that will become more apparent as more people use it for longer. The fact that users in the US and the UK have reported the problem suggests that it is not isolated to a single manufacturing batch. 

The report notes that Microsoft appears to be addressing this issue by offering replacements for these covers at no extra cost. However, with the Surface tablet aiming to make a mark for itself in the tablet segment, this may deter buyers from purchasing this accessory that can come in extremely handy while using this slate.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg sells $7.4 million in stock

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and two other executives at the social networking company sold millions of dollars worth of stock this week as restrictions on insider trading expired. Sandberg netted about $7.44 million by selling roughly 353,000 Facebook shares on Wednesday, according to a filing with the SEC on Friday. Sandberg still owns roughly 20 million vested shares of Facebook stock, including shares held in her trusts, according to the filing.

Facebook General Counsel Theodore Ullyot and Chief Accounting Officer David Spillane also sold millions of dollars worth of shares this week, according to filings. All the Facebook executives' sales were part of pre-arranged stock trading plans. The sales are the first by Facebook's senior management following the company's high-profile initial public offering in May.

The world's No. 1 online social network became the only US company to debut with a market value of more than $100 billion, but has seen its value plunge more than 40 per cent since then on concerns about its long-term money-making prospects. Shares of Facebook, which were priced at $38 in the IPO, closed Friday's regular session down 3 cents at $21.18. 

The flood of shares set to hit the market as insider trading "lock-up" provisions expire in several phases have added to the pressure on Facebook's stock. 

Roughly 230 million shares of Facebook became eligible for trading this week, as trading restrictions for employees expired. Another 800 million shares will be eligible for trading on November 14, significantly expanding the "float" of roughly 692 million Facebook shares that were available for trading as of September 30. 

Facebook's 28-year-old chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, has committed to not sell any shares before September 2013. Ullyot sold slightly more than 149,000 shares on Wednesday and Thursday, collecting $3.13 million. Ullyot has an additional 1.27 million in vested shares. 

Spillane sold 256,000 shares on Wednesday, more than half of his vested shares, for proceeds of $5.4 million. Spillane had more than 863,000 Facebook shares, including unvested shares, according to a filing in May.

Sony launches VPL-HW50ES 3D home cinema projector at Rs 2,59,900

Sony announced its latest full HD 3D home cinema projector - the VPL-HW50ES. The projector includes utilising an adapted version of Sony's 'Reality Creation' technology. According to the company, high brightness of 1,700 lumens has been achieved by improving the light efficiency of the lamp and optimising the optical block.

With a new Bright Cinema and Bright TV Mode, The VPL-HW50ES is claimed to achieve 30 per cent greater brightness than the previous model without any loss in colour reproduction. It is touted to have a dynamic contrast ratio of more than 100,000:1.

The contrast enhancer works by analysing each scene and then automatically optimising contrast in real-time by compensating for dark and bright parts of the image, said the company. 

The VPL-HW50ES also features functionality upgrades, which include a built-in 3D sync transmitter, a wider lens shift that makes its vertical shift range become +/- 71 per cent and whisper-quiet fan noise suppressed to a mere 21dB. The VPL-HW50ES is priced at Rs 2,59,900 and is available in black and white colour.

RIM says its new BlackBerry 10 devices in testing

Research In Motion said on Wednesday it has begun carrier testing of its new line of BlackBerry 10 devices, a crucial step ahead of next year's launch of the make-or-break line of smartphones. 

"In the last week, BlackBerry 10 achieved lab entry with more than 50 carriers, a key step in our preparedness for the launch of BlackBerry 10 in the first quarter of 2013," Chief Executive Thorsten Heins said in a brief statement.

RIM, which once commanded the lead in the smartphone market, has rapidly lost ground to Apple's iPhone and Samsung's line of Galaxy products, especially in North American and European markets, as customers abandon its aging BlackBerry devices. 

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM is trying to reinvent itself through the new smartphones that will run on the BlackBerry 10 operating system on which it has staked its future. It says the new devices offer a faster and smoother user interface and a better platform for the apps that are critical to a smartphone's success.
RIM, attempting to lure developers onto its platform, last month showed off the new devices to a large gathering of app creators in San Jose, California.

While the devices have so far been well received by the developer community, analysts say the test will be the reception from consumers in an ultra-competitive market dominated by the iPhone and devices that run on Google Inc's Android software.

Testing with carriers typically runs two to three months and lets telecom players test the compatibility of the new devices with their networks.

"This process will continue in the coming months as more carriers around the world formally evaluate the devices and our brand new software," said Heins.

"Our developer teams are continuing to generate momentum to bring a wealth of applications to BlackBerry 10, our enterprise teams have started to present BlackBerry 10 devices and services to our business customers, and our engineers are fully mobilized to ensure that BlackBerry 10 launches flawlessly in the first quarter of 2013."

Samsung's Galaxy Note II hits 3 million sales

Samsung Electronics Co. said it has sold more than 3 million Galaxy Note II smartphones in a little over a month after its launch, as the company vies to keep its lead over rivals during the crucial holiday quarter.

The South Korean firm, which was the world's largest maker of smartphones in the July-September quarter, said it took 37 days for the oversize smartphone to reach the sales figure.

The Note II was released first in South Korea in September and in the US and other countries in the following month. 

Samsung's Note category took off in the market, overcoming skepticism about its big size making it look awkward when held close to the face.

The Note was one of the few 5-inch smartphone in the market when the first model was unveiled last year, making some people believe it would become a "tweener" that is neither a tablet nor a smartphone.
But phone manufacturers began to expand screen sizes this year. Even Apple released a bigger iPhone this year.

The Note series is one of the two key mobile devices from Samsung on the high-end smartphone segment, along with flagship Galaxy S III smartphone, helping Samsung rake in profit for the business division that is responsible for more than 70 percent of the company's quarterly sales.
The latest iteration of the Note features a screen measuring 5.5 inches diagonally and a digital pen for note-taking.

The South Korean firm is pinning its hope on the Note II and the S III to maintain its market lead during the crucial fourth-quarter holiday season, when a number of new gadgets are vying for attention from consumers in the crowded market.

Research firm IDC said Samsung topped the global smartphone market in the July-September third quarter with 56.3 million sales, more than double Apple's 26.9 million iPhone sales. The two companies controlled combined 46 percent of the global smartphone market, according to IDC.

Android-iOS gap widens: Google's OS in 3 out of 4 smartphones

Three out of every four smartphones sold in the third quarter featured Google's Android mobile operating system, as the gap between Google and Apple-based phones widened further, according to a new research report.

Shipments of Android-based smartphones made by Samsung, HTC and other vendors nearly doubled in the third quarter, reaching 136 million units, according to industry research firm IDC. The strong sales boosted Android's share of the worldwide smartphone market to 75 per cent, from 57.5 per cent in the year-ago period.

Apple's share of the market increased to 14.9 per cent during the third quarter, from 13.8 per cent a year earlier. Apple's iPhone uses the company's iOS mobile software. 

While Android pulled further ahead of Apple's iOS, its gains have come mainly at the expense of rival operating systems Blackberry and Symbian, with shipments of phones running those systems declining significantly.

IDC analyst Kevin Restivo cited Android's close "tie-ins" to Google's broad array of online services, which include online search and maps, as an important asset that has helped Android grow.

"Google has a thriving, multi-faceted product portfolio. Many of its competitors, with weaker tie-ins to the mobile OS, do not," Restivo said in the IDC report, which was released on Thursday.

Google offers its Android operating system free to phone manufacturers, and primarily makes money from online advertising when consumers access its services on the devices.

Research in Motion's Blackberry operating system had 7.7 per cent share in the third quarter, compared with 9.5 per cent a year earlier.

Symbian, which had 14.6 per cent share a year ago, had a 4.1 per cent share in the third quarter. Smartphone maker Nokia still offers the Symbian software in some of its phones, but the company has largely shifted to Microsoft's software.

Mobile versions of Microsoft's software accounted for 3.6 per cent of the smartphone market in the third quarter. But IDC said that the recent launch of the new Microsoft Phone 8 operating system could improve its position in the fast-growing market.

Microsoft Surface review: The tablet is both addicting and useful

I've been conditioned just like any other consumer to expect certain things from certain companies. When it comes to tablets, I expect Apple's to look and feel amazing, Google's to seamlessly blend online services such as Gmail and search, and Amazon's to have easy access to its online store.

So when Microsoft came out with its first tablet computer, the Surface, I wanted and expected a machine that is good for work. After all, its Windows operating system runs most of the world's computers, particularly in corporate environments.

The Surface is Microsoft's first attempt at a general-purpose computer. In the past, it made the software and left it to other companies to make the machines. But to catch the tablet wave led by Apple's iPad, Microsoft felt it needed to make its own device. 

The Surface's price tag starts at $499, the same as the latest full-screen iPad, but if you are going to buy one, you'll want to spend the extra $100 or more for an optional cover that comes with a working keyboard.
After several days with it, I felt that Surface comes close to becoming a replacement for my work computer, but it doesn't make it all the way. Some elements designed for "play" make Surface surprisingly good, while others verge on being frustrating.

Interface
There's no doubt that Surface has a split personality, steeped in its very physical design. It's a tablet, but transforms into a personal computer with the keyboard cover, snapped on using its magnetic spine.

Trying hard to be both means compromises. For instance, a kickstand lets you prop up the screen on a flat surface so that it feels more like a laptop with the keyboard attached, but the setup is clumsy for typing on your lap. On the other hand, you can flip the keyboard cover upside down and use the kickstand to form a supportive triangle for the screen. In this position, the device is a comfy companion while watching TV on the couch.

A big aspect of the split personality comes in the software. Surface's start screen has a bunch of square tiles that represent apps - akin to the round icons on iPhones, iPads and Android devices. One touch, and an app opens full screen. But there's also a tile that takes you to a very different operating system called the desktop. Presumably, this is where the "work" begins.

Because the desktop interface takes on the old Windows style of boxes and icons, your suddenly big-seeming fingers become less well-suited to navigating. I had to give up on touch and use the keyboard cover with its trackpad (The pricier Type Cover with real keys is far easier for typing than the soft, flat Touch Cover, by the way). Swiping around on the cover's built-in trackpad quickly brings up the mouse pointer, whose precision you'll both need and appreciate in the desktop world.

Work
The Surface that went on sale October 26 comes with Windows RT, the slimmed-down version of Microsoft's newest operating system, Windows 8. While I understand the need for a slimmer OS to run on low-power chips that extend battery life, RT makes the device clearly not a PC.

Although the device has Microsoft's latest browser, Internet Explorer 10, third-party plug-ins that have helped power the Web for years don't work correctly. I couldn't get behind my company's firewall because a Juniper Networks plug-in couldn't be installed. IE 10 is meant to be plug-in free, but the Web hasn't caught up to it yet. Devices with the full version of Windows 8 won't have the same plug-in problem, Microsoft says. But a Surface with Windows 8 Pro isn't due out for a few months.

Surface gives you free copies of the Office programs Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, which is a big bonus. The RT versions of Office operate much like the full versions, but lack some meaningful conveniences such as the ability to email files as attachments with a couple of clicks. Microsoft says that's because Outlook isn't included in the package. Instead, Surface uses a program called Windows Mail, but it makes little sense to me why it can't be integrated with Office.

Still, in my testing I was able to save and access Word and OneNote documents on Microsoft's Internet-storage system, SkyDrive. As a result, I could access those files back on my office computer without the hassles of USB and other storage drives.

Play
Part of the "play" element of Surface should have been the joy of just getting around using the touch screen, but some things made it confusing. At first, I didn't have a problem with the need to swipe in from the edges to make certain options appear.

Swiping in from the right brings up several buttons including ones for searching, changing settings or returning to the start screen. When you first set up the device, an explanatory graphic pops up to walk you through it. You hold the device with both hands and the screen lengthwise, and you do the swiping with your thumbs. This is very different from the idea of holding the tablet with one hand and touching it with the other, which Apple's iPad seems to favour.

The problem is swiping in from the left. When you do so, it takes you back to the previous app you had open. I was impressed with how snappy the tablet was flipping between programs.

Also, if you swipe back through apps quickly, you can zip past the one you want, but you can't swipe forward to return to it. As a stopgap, you can swipe in slightly and then back out of the left side to get a list of previous apps. But this is not really intuitive and you have to be careful to touch the one you want when the list comes up.

 One other niggling complaint: Even though the screen size should make for perfect widescreen viewing in the 16:9 aspect ratio common for widescreen television, some Netflix movies with wider ratios continued to be shown with big black bars on top and bottom of the screen, wasting valuable screen space.

One big thing Microsoft got right was music. Xbox Music gives you a really clean interface, with beautiful moving graphics, and a "Smart DJ" feature, which plays entire songs in rotation in a genre - much like Pandora. You can also play songs or albums from a catalog of millions; it's free, with ads. In rare cases, you may get only 30-second previews because of licensing reasons, but those songs are also available for purchase from the app.

 Smart Glass, a feature that allows the Surface and other Windows devices to interact with the Xbox, was interesting but at times confusing. For instance, when I tried swiping through a menu of available videos, games and Xbox apps, I swiped right to left, but the menu on my TV screen went left to right. Same with up and down.

Microsoft says this configuration was intentional based on user research. But for me, it gave the impression that this was not, as CEO Steve Ballmer promised, a delightful product "right out of the box."

Conclusion
The software is far from flawless, but I'm hopeful it will get better over time as apps are developed and software bugs are discovered and fixed.

What's important is that Microsoft got the hardware right - creating a light portable computer that has an ample number of fun features and a decent work environment. That combination could make Surface as addicting and as useful for extending the work day as the BlackBerry once was.

About the Surface

The Surface costs $499 for a version with 32 gigabytes, though about half of it gets taken up by the operating system and pre-loaded software. A Touch Cover costs an extra $100 when purchased with the tablet (It's $120 separately). A Type Cover - with real keys - goes for $130.

For $699, you get the 64 GB version with a Touch Cover included. The Surface is available only at Microsoft's stores and website.