Hey Microsoft, Surface 2 is great, but clear up something please

Surface 2 is a stellar piece of hardware, but Microsoft needs to be more open about where RT is headed.

(Credit: Microsoft)

It might be a good idea now for Microsoft to be more public about the direction of its tablet operating system so consumers know what they're buying into.

I like the Surface 2 and the Nokia Lumia 2520. A lot. As hardware, they're two of the best tabletsout there. Bar none (including iPads).

But Windows RT, as it stands now, is in no-man's-land. It's not the Windows 8.1 that comes on PCs and it's not Windows Phone 8.

And it's been that way too long -- since October 2012.

So far, the closest Microsoft has come to saying anything about what will become of RT are comments from Microsoft's head of devices, Julie Larson-Green, back in November.

We have the Windows Phone OS. We have Windows RT and we have full Windows. We're not going to have three. We do think there's a world where there is a more mobile operating system that doesn't have the risks to battery life, or the risks to security. But, it also comes at the cost of flexibility. So we believe in that vision and that direction and we're continuing down that path.

It's now three months later and, I would think, time to expand on this statement.

That's why I was hoping to hear more this week from Tami Reller, executive vice president, marketing, who spoke at a Goldman Sachs conference. But that didn't happen. Here's what she said.

Surface 2 -- we've been very pleased with the reception to that product. I would say that the customer satisfaction levels that we've seen in Surface 2 rival any other very popular tablet in the market. I think that's so important.

Terry Myerson and the OS group are really looking at how do we make sure we've got a world-class mobile operating system moving forward, and what will that mean for our tablet and mobile strategy? I think there's a lot of opportunities to do some things there that take that forward in an interesting way.

Pretty meaningless. And if you read the transcript (linked to above), you'll find that most of the responses were devoid of any real meaning (but then maybe Goldman Sachs is better at extracting meaning from corporate-speak than I am).

"Microsoft is expected to unveil an array of new mobile devices with display sizes below 8.5-inch running on an integrated OS derived from Windows RT and Windows Phone in June, according to makers in Taiwan's supply chain," the report read.But that doesn't mean the supply-chain rumor mill isn't trying to say something consequential. This week Digitimes ran a story with the headline, "Microsoft to unveil new mobile devices running on integrated OS, say sources."

Of course, this may simply be gossip circulating among suppliers, that ultimately won't pan out.

But there were other indications this week about Windows RT and Windows Phone 8 moving closer together.

If you put the above statements from Microsoft together with the rumors, you have at least something to latch onto (the alternative is to wait another month and a half for an answer from Redmond).

I would be much more comfortable buying a Nokia 2520, for instance, if I had some inkling by now that RT had major hooks into Windows Phone 8.1.

That's all I'm looking for.

Nokia Lumia 2520.

(Credit: Nokia)

Nokia takes a shot at iPad, touts its own Lumia 2520

The Lumia 2520 tablet.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

It's Nokia's turn to fire a potshot at Apple and the iPad.

In a Web video ad (which is admittedly pretty cheesy with the British narrator), Nokia whimsically attacks Apple's hit tablet by going after the lack of keyboard and weak battery life, and touts its own Lumia 2520 as the "right tablet."

The Lumia 2520 can be paired with a $150 keyboard accessory that also acts as a cover, a bulkier cousin to the Microsoft Surface's thin keyboard accessory.

The Lumia 2520 is Nokia's first attempt to breach the tablet business, where the iPad remains king. Still, the hot tablet segment is fragmenting, with Android steadily gaining market share.

Nokia's tablet is running on Windows 8.1 RT, a stripped down version of Windows 8.1 that doesn't run legacy applications. Windows RT is widely considered a flop, with the only other new product running the platform being Microsoft's own Surface 2. Microsoft has released its own attack ads against the iPad.

Nokia, which is set to merge its devices business with Microsoft, believes its Lumia 2520 can stand out -- even from the Surface 2 -- through an LTE connection and its trademark colorful design. The battery life and keyboard accessories are some of the other advantages it has staked a claim to, leading to a video depicting a user annoyed with a dying iPad who also needs to bring out his laptop to do real work.

The ad can be perplexing at times. It's not like an iPad user can't buy a keyboard accessory, with many third-party options out there. It seems Microsoft and Nokia both believe a first-party-built keyboard is the way to go.