Win8 and Co. branding dilemma. Win at end for MS

If you follow the news for the last one year. A company that has gone on a rampage to change the branding of most of its product lineups has been Microsoft. The changes have come in different flavors. Be it the Logo, the Name of the product or the complete omission of the naming conventions like "Metro".

If you really look at the history of Microsoft, they have been a company that was very rigid in their branding and had some really confusing naming for all their product lineups. Suddenly come the year 2012-2013 and they seem like a really cool company and are really capitalizing on their strengths. And by strength i mean the X-BOX brand and the Office brand and to some extent the Windows brand. These have been the winners for Microsoft for many years now and most of the revenue comes from them.

They are starting to simplify the things before the big launch of the Windows 8 OS. They want all things windows, office and X-box. This was recently evident when there were rumors of the Windows Phone marketplace being renamed as the Windows Phone Store. Sounds simple to me. Call the Windows OS store as Windows 8 Store , phones store as Windows Phone Store and so on. Consistency generally reduces confusion.
What this has done for Microsoft is that people are much more aware of the parent brands being referred here. I mean who in the US doesn't know the X-BOX these days?
The fate of many upcoming products from Microsoft is riding on these carrier branding. For example the X-BOX SmartGlass that is slated to be launced this fall takes advantage of the X-BOX brand name even though it might be implemented in Windows 8 and Windows Phone. Similarly music and video hubs are renamed to Xbox music and Xbox video. At least the array of these product portfolios in the future will be a little easier to differentiate and choose form.

5 Reasons you should consider waiting for Microsoft Surface

When Microsoft in a surprise event announced about the Microsoft Surface, we all thought it was such a pathetic name and today it has become a buzzword(At least everyone knows about it more than the windows phone).
The iPad no doubt rules the roost with its ever increasing demand but suddenly Microsoft Surface has got the people thinking, "Oh why not wait and see a few months what that cool looking device from MS has to offer". After a long and hard effort by the Android manufacturers with the likes of the Transformer line, there never seemed to be a viable alternative that even came close to the best in class prowess of the iPad. Enter the Surface !


Windows 8 is out and its coming faster than anticipated
Microsoft has already stated that the Windows 8 has reached its gold stage. That means it is coming fast and they are on track for a timely delivery. They promised us earlier that the Surface(RT) will be available in time of the GA for Windows 8 and it was confirmed recently by one of the Microsoft's SEC Filing.

Having used the iPad, people could never achieve real productivity and were always left wanting for more. They have a chance with Windows 8 to make that dream come true with the combination of Surface and Windows 8 with a device as light as people could think of i.e. the iPad and productivity of a normal windows PC that we are all are familiar with.

Only Microsoft could do Justice with Windows 8 by a complementing hardware

The hardware is indigenously built by MS, it knows its software and has built the hardware that they think could work best with Windows 8. I among others was surprised when they revealed plans for the Surface after having such a bad history with hardware but in my opinion they have nailed it the half way and hoping the consumers do the rest. With the CES and Computex  MS would have seen that no hardware vendor was bringing a device that  stood out of the crowd. So they set out making the device. It is even believed that the device was built in a bunker with access to the core team only.

Surface is a true innovation after a long time

It is truly a great innovation, hardware wise. It takes the traditional device out of its boundaries. The touch keyboard, the kick stand and the touch screen, all those are nothing short of a true innovation. People have always dreamed of such a device. They would say, "Oh, i love the iPad but get me office and the windows apps in it and take my money". There you are ! I can take my touch screen slate and watch a movie at one point in time and the next second i may be effortlessly connected to my office network with just click of the magnetic keyboard.

Integrates best with the WinPhone and Xbox being a MS product

I certainly believe that Microsoft would certainly release certain number of perks with Windows Phone that would be exclusive to the Surface. It can be in any form. It could be a Surface and Windows Phone 8 bundle, or even a WinPhone, Surface and a Xbox bundle some exclusive apps or even combined discounts.  We will have to wait and watch but this cannot be ruled out for sure.

Can you guys give me a compelling enough 5th reason ?