The train just about made it to London with all the recent flooding causing havoc. Most of my fellow travellers were heading to Twickenham for what was to be the astonishing English defeat of New Zealand.
I was heading for the new Gadget Show Christmas exhibition at the Excel centre. Their annual show at the NEC obviously wasn't enough for true tech addicts. It's a smaller show but I found for the limited time I had, it was big enough!
I was keen to see the new Windows 8 and all its associated gadgets. Microsoft had the biggest stand at the show unsurprisingly, with their latest Surface tablet taking centre stage. They had the latest smartphones, hybrid laptops, ultrabooks and of course XBox all sporting some variant of Windows 8 and all with a reassuringly consistent feel.
Surface had a queue just to touch and feel it which must be very satisfying for Microsoft. These are the new tablets running Windows RT, a special version of Windows 8 designed to run on mobile devices. But it feels exactly the same as the full Windows 8 and runs very quickly with no delays flicking, scrolling or pinching! It comes with Microsoft Office 2013 which is a real bonus. Plus it will support many USB devices, so you can plug you USB memory stick in and continue working on that Word document you started on the laptop.
You will have seen all the Surface adverts with enthusiastic dancers attaching and the detaching the cover/keyboard. The tablet comes on its own from £399, or with a choice of two cover/keyboards. One thin keyboard (with no feedback but available in lots of colours). And one thicker keyboard in black with proper keys which would be my choice. The attachment mechanism is very nicely designed and the built in stand on the back of the tablet is well thought out. With this built in stand, proper keyboard and Microsoft Office, this really is a tablet that could comfortably replace your laptop in many situations.
Microsoft also had a number of interesting full Windows 8 hybrid laptop with flipping, swiveling and rotating screens, mostly with touch. I did find the range a little baffling and would like Microsoft to set some guidelines. Windows 8 does work a lot better with a touch screen or at the very least an advanced touchpad which supports the main touch gestures. However, some budget laptops have no touchscreen and limited touchpads which leaves you having to use the rather unintuitive mouse and keyboard controls.
The Asus Taichi had a double-sided screen which when closed acted as an (albeit fat) touchscreen tablet. Open it up and you had a standard laptop with no touch which I found myself contantly trying to touch!
The Windows Phone 8 smartphones were very appealing with their large bright and very responsive displays. Kids Corner is a nice feature that lets your children safely play with your phone with your choice of apps. But it doesn't stop it being slung across the room!
Moving on from the Microsoft stand and running out of time, I enjoyed a nice demonstration of a 3D printer from MakerBot. These are really coming down in price (£1500 + VAT) and I can see them being available at high street prices within 5 years.
I dashed around the rest of the show pausing to look at Sonos Wireless HiFi, Jacuzzis (!), far too many smartphone and tablet covers and loads of flying gadgets, before heading off home with hoards of drunken rugby fans.
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