Free Xbox Music Pass to first 100 in line to buy Surface RT this Friday

[Shawn Knight]

Microsoft has announced a special promotion for those interested in buying a Surface RT tablet. The first 100 people in line at each Microsoft Store this Friday will receive a free one year subscription to Xbox Music Pass. The annual pass would otherwise set you back $99.

If you aren’t already aware, Microsoft has sold out of their pre-order stock for Surface RT tablets online. This means that the only way to get one on launch day is to wait in line at a retail Microsoft Store.

With a free year of Xbox Music on the line, it might not be a bad idea to set your alarm a few hours early granted you live within driving distance of one of the few Microsoft Stores across the country. Redmond will have about 60 stores up and running come October 26.

Xbox Music went live on the company’s 360 gaming console last week. It effectively replaces the Zune branding and Windows Media Player on the console with a catalog of 30 million songs worldwide. As has been mentioned before, you’ll need an Xbox Live Gold membership to take advantage of Xbox Music using the 360.

Microsoft also hints that there will be other free Xbox prizes on hand but stopped short of detailing what those might consist of. It’s worth reiterating that you’ll have to purchase a Surface tablet in order to get the free Xbox Music offer. Those that have already pre-ordered online are excluded from the promotion.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/50572-free-xbox-music-pass-to-first-100-in-line-to-buy-surface-rt-this-friday.html

 

[treeski]

I have high hopes that Microsoft's Surface will take off, but I do find it hard to believe that that many people will be lining up to pick one up.

 

[psycros]

I have high hopes that Microsoft's Surface will take off, but I do find it hard to believe that that many people will be lining up to pick one up.

Hence the bribery.

They'll be an initial surge from Microsoft zealots and those who must have the New Thing. After that I expect sales will be pretty Zune-like. Everyone is holding out for Windows 9, which means they automatically have no interest in Surface. Even if you could put Windows 7 on the thing, it would still be an ugly, overpriced netbook.

 

[treeski]

I have high hopes that Microsoft's Surface will take off, but I do find it hard to believe that that many people will be lining up to pick one up.

Hence the bribery.

They'll be an initial surge from Microsoft zealots and those who must have the New Thing. After that I expect sales will be pretty Zune-like. Everyone is holding out for Windows 9, which means they automatically have no interest in Surface. Even if you could put Windows 7 on the thing, it would still be an ugly, overpriced netbook.

A little too zealous in the hatin' there. Chillax...

 

[oldikes]

If only there were a microsoft store at my corner, I would so do this, I would buy a 500 dollar tablet for the xbox music. Spotify sucks, IT WOULD BE SO MUCH BETTER.
/sarcasm
What a lame promotion.

 

[inventix1136]

I am a software engineer that has for the last 10 years developed for the Microsoft platform and I will not buy the device due to the fact that it has virtually no apps and has a really crappy resolution for the price that they are asking. Reminds me of HP touchpad WebOS...

When they release the Surface Pro with the 1080p display then I might bite, but Surface RT can't even BEGIN to compete with iPad and the Asus Transformer Infinity, both of which are in the same price ranges (NOTE: the Asus definitely beats the iPad).

Device:
iPad: $450 for 16GB at Microcenter
Asus Transformer: $480 for 32GB
Surface: $499 for 32GB

Display --
iPad: 2048 x 1536 9.7"
Asus: 1920 x 1080 10.1"
Surface: 1366 x 768 10.1" (WTF??)

App stores:
iPad: 100's of 1000's
Asus: 100's of 1000's
Surface: What apps?

Camera:
iPad: 5 MP w. 1080p recording + VGA camera
Asus: 8 mp w 1080p + 2 mp
Surface: dual 720 HD cameras, can't do 1080p.

Weight:
iPad: 1.44 pounds
Asus: 1.32 pounds
Surface: 1.5 pounds

So to sum up, you get a device that has no apps, is the heaviest of any competitions offering, has subpar cameras, and has lowest resolution by far -- for about the same price as competition. Yeah, I can see this being a qualified success...

 

[Guest]

What lack of apps? You have bluestacks meaning you can run 90% of android apps as well as the rapid growth of apps in the MS store. Plus the screen uses sub pixels meaning that though the res is lower then some its actually a clearer image as you get much better contrast and brightness.

 

[inventix1136]

What lack of apps? You have bluestacks meaning you can run 90% of android apps as well as the rapid growth of apps in the MS store. Plus the screen uses sub pixels meaning that though the res is lower then some its actually a clearer image as you get much better contrast and brightness.

Bluestacks is for full blown Windows, NOT Windows RT. Sort of like saying that there is VMWare Fusion for virtualizing Window applications on Mac when you have an iPad. As for the apps in MS store, you have developers getting excited about new platform, which means that they are publishing, but you need to have consumers willing to pay for the apps for it to be sustained. WebOS also had rapid growth of apps but look where they are.

As for resolution, don't say that when reading a ebook or browsing a website, 1366x768 is comparable to a 1920x1080 display. It has to do with the amount of real-estate that you have on the display to view the content. A 5000 sq foot home will always be bigger than a 800 sq home with "optimizations".