Microsoft unveils new tablet: Surface

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has unveiled the Surface, the
company’s new tablet.

Ballmer told a crowd in Los Angeles, “much like Windows
1.0 needed the mouse to complete the
experience, we wanted to give Windows 8 its own companion
hardware innovation. It’s something new, it’s something
different, it’s a whole family of computing devices from
Microsoft,” according to GeekWire’s Todd Bishop.

Surface attempts to take advantage of one of the few criticisms of Apple’s iPad, that it is better for consuming content than creating it.

Ballmer said Surface will be an entertainment device “without compromising the productivity that PCs are uniquely known for.”

The Surface has a 10.6 inch display,
weighs 1.5 pounds, and is less than 9.3mm thick. The case
boasts a
kickstand and a keyboard. The tablet also has a pen or
digital ink and front and rear-facing cameras.

According to Microsoft, two models of Surface will be
available: one running an ARM processor featuring Windows
RT, and one with a third-generation Intel Core processor
featuring Windows 8 Pro. It also runs Microsoft Office.

>>>Check out Todd’s blog
from the Los Angeles event

Steven Sinofsky, the president of Microsoft’s Windows
division, called the device a “tablet that’s a great PC _a
PC that’s a great tablet.”

A slightly thicker version _still less than 14 millimeters thick and under 2 pounds _ will work on Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 Pro operating system and cost as much as an Ultrabook, the company said. The pro version comes with a stylus that allows users to make handwritten notes on documents such as PDF files.

Each tablet comes with a keyboard cover that is just 3 millimeters thick. The kickstand for both tablets was just 0.7 millimeters thick, less than the thickness of a credit card.

Microsoft has been making software for tablets since 2002, when it shipped the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. Many big PC makers produced tablets that ran the software, but they were never big sellers. The tablets were based on PC technology, and were heavy, with short battery lives.

Microsoft didn’t say how long the Surface would last on battery power.

Microsoft’s decision to make its own tablet is a departure from the software maker’s strategy the personal computer market. With PCs, Microsoft was content to leave the design and marketing of the hardware to other companies, such as Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Lenovo and Acer, that licensed the Windows operating system and other software applications.

The more hands-on approach with its tablet indicates that Microsoft either lacks confidence in the ability of its PC partners to design compelling alternatives to Apple’s iPad or it believes it needs more control to ensure Windows plays a major role in the increasingly important mobile computing market.

Check out the
official specs (pdf)

The Associate Press contributed to this report.