Product Summary

Windows 8 is still months away, but there’s a significant challenge that Microsoft faces when it comes to attracting developers of popular tablet apps to its platform and besides convincing the makers of iOS or Android tablet apps that it’s worth the investment of their time to turn them into Metro apps for Windows 8 tablets. Remote desktop software maker Splashtop is opening up its new iOS app, the rather clunkily named Win8 Metro Testbed, which will allow app developers to test their apps before the official launch in a Windows 8 environment on an iPad and on the target Windows 8 system, you download and install the small (15.7 MB) streamer file, making the connection requires that you set up an alphanumeric passcode of at least 8 characters and after you tap the computer name on the iPad and enter the passcode, you can get to work. Splashtop’s Win8Metro Testbed isn’t cheap by App Store standards: The regular price is $49.99, though it will be discounted for a limited time at $24.99, but it’s certainly more affordable than a new piece of hardware.



Splashtop Inc., the worldwide leader in cross-device computing released "Win8 Metro Testbed – powered by Splashtop," a remote desktop app that allows software developers and technology enthusiasts to simulate a Windows 8 environment on an iPad. By using Win8 Metro Testbed, developers can test native Metro UI touch gestures on an iPad as they code and compile new apps on their Windows PC. On March 1, 2012, Microsoft tweeted that its Consumer Preview of Windows 8 was downloaded one million times in just 24 hours, and since then millions more have been downloaded. Now with the "Win8 Metro Testbed – powered by Splashtop," a Windows 8 app developer who has an iPad can avoid incurring the extra cost of a Windows tablet, which can run upwards of $1,000. "Since Apple's App Store generates over 80% of all tablet app revenue, nearly every software developer that writes apps for tablets has an iPad," noted Mark Lee, Splashtop CEO and co-founder. "With Windows 8 Metro expected to ship on over 400 million new PCs and tablets annually, these developers have high expectations for an enormous new market. Splashtop lets them turn their iPad into a development testbed to evaluate touch gestures and functionality of their app in a Windows 8 environment." Win8 Metro Testbed can be downloaded for a special launch promotion price of $24.99 USD (regular price of $49.99 USD) from the iTunes App Store at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/win8-metro-testbed-powered/id514878988?ls=1&mt=8

The Win8 Metro Testbed enables native Windows 8 Metro touch gestures, including the ability to:

• Swipe from the right to view the Charms menu
• Swipe from the left to switch apps
• Swipe left/right in Internet Explorer to move between pages
• Swipe down to bring up additional menus
• Swipe down on an item to select it
• Pull down from the top to close an app
• Swipe slowly from the left to run two apps side-by-side ("snapping")
• Swipe from left-and-back to show running apps
• Pinch to navigate files, folders, apps and data with Semantic Zoom and more!

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