As expected, Microsoft yesterday announced its foray into the tablet market with two devices dubbed Surface. One tablet device will be geared for ARM processors running Windows RT while the other will be geared for Intel processors and will run Windows 8 Pro.
As expected, Microsoft yesterday announced its foray into the tablet market with two devices dubbed Surface. One tablet device will be geared for ARM processors running Windows RT while the other will be geared for Intel processors and will run Windows 8 Pro.
Spec wise, the entry level Surface tablet is just 9.3 mm thick, weighs in at 1.5 lbs, has a 10.6-inch screen, and sports a casing made out of magnesium. And to facilitate video watching, both tablets come with a built-in kickstand. The Intel-based Surface tablet will have a thickness of 13.5mm and will weigh in at 1.9 lbs. The former will come in 32/64 GB flavors while the latter will come in 64/128 GB varieties.
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Now, there are no shortage of iPad competitors out on the market and none of them have really been able to give the iPad a run for its money. In large part, this is because iPad competitors are too focused on what Apple’s doing and don’t spend enough time trying to differentiate their products in original and creative ways.
That said, Microsoft’s offering is refreshing to the extent that it showcases Microsoft’s willingness to think outside of the box. Specifically, each Surface tablet comes with a magnetic cover (similar to the iPad’s own cover) that also doubles as a multi-touch keyboard. While it remains to be seen how useful consumers find this feature, it’s a seemingly slick feature that is certainly different from anything we’ve seen before.
What’s more, the pro-level Surface device will be stylus friendly and enables users to write and make annotations without triggering any multi-touch actions.
Microsoft is certainly making a big bet with its Surface tablets, but the company remained mum about pricing and availability, though they did say that pricing would be comparable with other ARM-based and Ultrabook style tablets. Also conspicuously absent were any details pertaining to battery life.
Another issue is how Microsoft’s tablet partners will react to a situation where they pay large licensing fees to Microsoft to ultimately compete with Microsoft’s own offering.
More on the Surface tablets over here at Microsoft
