Redmond is struggling to bring more affordable devices to the market

Jul 29, 2014 07:21 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft is trying really hard to bring cheaper Windows tablets to shelves, and the company announced at the Worldwide Partner Conference 2014 earlier this month that it was working with partners to bring $250 (€185) and $99 (€73) tablets to the market.

Microsoft's Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner explained that Redmond wanted Windows to be running on as many devices as possible, thus indicating that all those rumors claiming that Chinese manufacturers, famous for building devices that cost only a few bucks, could step into the Windows tablet market are indeed accurate.

It turns out that several companies have already prepared devices that are available for less than $100 (€73), and more are obviously expected to be released in the coming months.

First of all, there’s the Emdoor I8080 tablet featuring an 8-inch screen that’s expected to be available for only $100, but up to this point, there are no specifics available on any release date or availability.

The Emdoor comes with an 8-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1280x800 px, a quad-core Intel Atom Z3735E processor with a maximum speed of 1.33 GHz and 1.83 GHz in turbo mode, 1 GB of RAM, and 16 GB of internal storage.

Now another manufacturer has prepared a cheap Windows 8.1 tablet that has at least decent hardware specifications and promises to become the perfect companion if you’d like to access your favorite apps on the go. The KingSing W8 is the first Windows tablet developed by the Chinese company, which has until now focused on Android devices exclusively.

Here are the technical specifications of this new tablet as provided by GizmoChina:

Screen: 8-inch, 800 x 1280 resolution IPS LCD with 5-point capacitive touch Processor: quad-core Intel Baytrail-T processor (1.8GHz) and Intel HD graphics Memory/Storage: 1GB of DDR3L RAM, 16GB storage + SDHC/SDXC card expandability Cameras: 2MP front and back Network: 802.11b/g/n + BT 4.0 and 3G (WCDMA/EVDO/TD-SCDMA) Connections: microUSB data/charging, HDMI port Battery: 4500mAh Li-ion for 6-8 hours of usage time Size: 207.5mm x 122.6 x 10mm OS: Windows 8.1

As you can see, these tablets do not excel in terms of hardware specifications, but at least they come as a very affordable alternative to the standard Android units that are already experiencing impressive sales all over the world, especially in emerging markets.

That’s exactly what Microsoft is hoping to do: compete with Android in developing markets and offer buyers cheap Windows tablets that could spur the adoption of its modern operating system and convince more buyers to migrate from other platforms to Windows.

Both the Emdoor I8080 and the KingSing W8 are set to arrive on the market in the coming months, and Microsoft promises that this is just the beginning of a much more ambitious plan that would bring tens of affordable devices to users from all over the world.

The tablet is expected to retail for less than $100
The tablet is expected to retail for less than $100
It will debut in the coming weeks in China and then worldwide
It will debut in the coming weeks in China and then worldwide
The tablet is optimized to run the full version of Windows 8.1
The tablet is optimized to run the full version of Windows 8.1
Wi-Fi capabilities will also be provided to browse the web at high speeds
Wi-Fi capabilities will also be provided to browse the web at high speeds
The tablet comes by default with 1GB of RAM
The tablet comes by default with 1GB of RAM

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KingSing W8 is expected to debut in the coming weeks
The tablet is expected to retail for less than $100It will debut in the coming weeks in China and then worldwide
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