Microsoft has announced plans to make the Surface RT tablet available at additional retailers as early as mid-December. It has also announced the extension of the Microsoft holiday stores, including the transition of several of the stores into permanent Microsoft retail outlets. SiliconANGLE Contributing Editor John Casaretto attributed these announcements to Microsoft wanting to have more presence and be more pervasive with the Surface RT. Best Buy and Staples are confirmed to be two of the additional retail outlets where the Surface RT can be found.

Microsoft still has plans to release the Surface Pro in January. When asked about how the Surface Pro would fare against the Surface RT, Casaretto said, “I think the price point for [the Surface Pro] might be too high for the general public. This would be along the lines of professionals looking at the device.”

Apple has rejected an update to Microsoft’s SkyDrive app for iOS following a disagreement between the two companies over whether Apple is owed a thirty percent cut from in-app purchases it typically demands. Apple is also trying to maintain that same cut in the Office 365 subscriptions, but Microsoft feels entitled to a discount. Casaretto predicted, “This is significant in that we expect to see a huge uptake into iOS . . . and the people who are looking to add office functionality to their iPads. This is something that will be . . . contended all the way through.”

With so much money at stake, Casaretto believes the two companies will have to find a way to work things out. The bottom line, he said, is that they need each other. See the entire segment with Kristin Feledy and John Casaretto on the Morning NewsDesk Show.