New Windows 8 hardware specs hint at 7-inch tablets and a Microsoft Reader
Summary: A quiet change in the logo requirements for new Windows 8 devices allows Microsoft's hardware partners to build new devices that would compete with popular 7- and 8-inch tablets like the iPad Mini, Kindle Fire HD, and Google Nexus 7.
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft's Windows 8 hardware program has been built around larger slates so far: Intel published its tablet checklist for Windows 8 certification in April 2012, and HP's x86 slate work surfaced the same month via a leaked render. The ecosystem that formed around those requirements — HP, Samsung and others pulled into Intel's Windows 8 tablet push by September 2012 — was sized against Apple's full-size iPad, whose maker had signaled as far back as December 2011 that it saw no need for a 7-inch iPad.
The quiet relaxation of the logo requirements changes that framing: partners can now ship certified 7- and 8-inch Windows devices aimed at the iPad Mini, Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7. A rumored Microsoft Reader device remains unconfirmed, but the spec change alone explains why eight outlets from The Register to PC World picked the story up on the same day — it reopens a screen-size tier Microsoft's own rules had effectively closed.
First-order effects
- Microsoft's hardware partners gain immediate clearance to design certified 7- and 8-inch Windows 8 tablets, ending the logo-program constraint that had kept their lineups at larger sizes.
Second-order effects
- HP, Samsung and the other OEMs recruited into the Windows 8 tablet effort must now decide whether to split engineering resources between large slates and a new small-tablet tier competing on price against the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, Windows hardware certification becomes a lever Microsoft adjusts per market segment rather than a fixed standard — letting the ecosystem chase whatever form factor rivals validate first.
The trend: PC-era platform owners are loosening their own hardware standards to let OEM ecosystems follow Apple, Amazon and Google into the small-tablet segment.