14 DAY TRIAL // Much to the world's dismay, Microsoft is pulling all the stops in its quest to milk the Windows 8 launch for all it's worth, and, unfortunately, this means potentially crippling licensing fees, as seen in the ASUS Vivo Tab RT.
Hearing that pre-orders have started for an ARM-powered tablet running Windows RT would normally be a cause for celebration.
The enthusiasm at hearing the news may be dampened quite a bit because of the price of the device though.
Various retailers have begun accepting pre-orders for the Vivo Tab RT, but the prices are high, of $600 to $630, or 600 to 630 Euro.
One might argue that the sums are actually decent, compared to the ones demanded by Windows 8 on x86 (which even analysts condemn).
The argument falls flat when considering that the ASUS Transformer Prime, comparable in hardware, ships for $100 / 100 Euro less.
Microsoft's licensing fee for its new operating system has to be the main culprit behind this problem (Android is licensed for free). We will have to wait and see if the software proves enriching enough to offset this downside.
Here are the tech specs of the Vivo Tab RT, for those interested in such things: a 1.3 GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, 2 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal NAND Flash storage space and a 10.1-inch touchscreen LCD.
The Transformer Prime is identical but has only 1 GB of random access memory, which doesn't account for the full price difference.
At this point, Windows RT slates and Android-loaded models seem to have even odds at capturing the interest of customers. Both use similar hardware and have well-established operating systems. The latter even has the advantage of a longer-running app store (Google Apps). Obviously, Microsoft intends to match/outmatch its competition even there, but it will take time and, possibly, a price cut or two.