In an event at MWC14 Microsoft gave some details about changes coming in a Windows 8.1 update “later this Spring.”

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The Pen-wars are hotting-up! Wacom have been a leading light in the area of digitizers and active pen input for a while but N-Trig are working hard on making up the difference. The DuoSense solution on the newly launched Intel Education Tablet includes advanced palm rejection and 256 levels of pressure sensitivity.

Unfortunately for us here at Windows-focused UMPCPortal this ruggedized 10-inch tablet is running Android but as with the 12-inch Samsung Galaxy Note Pro it gives us something to think about. If you’re creating specialized software for a specialized audience, does it matter what the OS is as long as the software matches the requirements of the user?

The Intel Education Tablet runs on Android* 4.2 and has kid-friendly features such as rubber bumpers on the sides making it easier for small hands to hold, a power button that resists accidental pushes and a stylus with a realistic pen-like grip. Powered by a dual-core Intel® Atom™ processor Z2520, the 10-inch tablet has front- and rear-facing cameras and optional 3G support, and provides an average 12 hours of battery life² to keep up with student learning all through the day.

The press contact for N-Trig tells me that this new generation of their DuoSense technology can exceed that of a competitor in terms of “accuracy, pressure sensitivity, continuity, linearity and overall user experience” so naturally I’ve asked to be kept updated on upcoming products. DuoSense has already been seen on some Sony products and the Vaio Duo 13 we tested at Ultrabooknews was in general a pretty good experience.

Given the surprising popularity of our ASUS Vivotab Note 8 digitizer video it makes sense to keep you all updated on digitizers technology.

Source: N-Trig.

Looking for a tablet that just might be your favorite mobile productivity tool, as well as being a good sofa-side consumption device? The ASUS Vivotab Note 8 might be the one because of its digitizer and an all-round solid performance. Are there any major issues though and how does the ASUS Vivotab Note 8 performance compared to other 8-inch Windows tablets? We’ve picked up the 32GB version of the Vivotab Note 8 and the full review is available below.

I ran a last-minute Google Hangout this evening which worked out well because not only was I able to present 5 Windows 8.1 tablets, I was also able to answer questions from the viewers. During the session I recorded a higher quality video for YouTube and both videos are embedded in this article.

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The ASUS Vivotab Note 8 is now available in the US Microsoft Store [Update: Now out of stock] and that’s great news because the ASUS Vivotab Note 8 is turning out to be one of the best 8-inch Windows tablets there is.

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I’ve just unboxed two 8-inch Windows 8.1 tablets. The ASUS Vivotab Note 8 and Dell Venue Pro 8 both have digitizer layers but one has a Wacom layer and a pen compartment.

The Lenovo Miix 2 10 is a 2-in-1 Windows 8.1 tablet with a keyboard dock, not a laptop with detachable tablet! You’ll find out why in the detailed Lenovo Miix 2 10 review below along with details on performance, battery life, usability and quality. We’ve also included a comparison with the ASUS Transformer Book T100.

Baytrail-M is the platform that we’re generally expecting to see in low-cost touchscreen laptops but it’s just shown-up in a 10-inch low-cost tablet from ChiliGREEN. In Europe, the is now the lowest cost 10-inch Baytrail tablet available at just 329 Euro (Austria, 274 Euro before tax.)