After all the speculation surrounding the impending launch of an ‘Xbox Surface’ tablet over the last few days, Microsoft had managed to garner a great deal of curiosity for its announcement in its press conference in LA.
The Redmond company finally did unveiled what it had in store for the tablet market – for starters, it’s simply called Surface, and it is a 10.6 inch tablet.
The Microsoft Surface tablet is a 9.3 mm thick device with an incredibly lightweight magnesium exterior. Moreover, it has a ‘Kickstand’ included in it to support the slate while a user watches videos or views presentations, for instance.
The 10.6 inches of Cleartype HD screen real estate are covered with Corning’s latest and toughest protective glass – Gorilla Glass 2. Moreover, the Surface tablet will have two cameras that Microsoft dubs ‘LifeCams’ (albeit with as yet unspecified resolutions).
The Surface tablet will come in two flavors – an ARM powered Windows 8 RT version (with either 32 GB or 64 GB of storage provided onboard), and an Intel Ivy Bridge Core i5 processor powering Windows 8 Pro (with either 64 GB or 128 GB). USB 2.0 and HDMI ports are provided in the tablet as well – a welcome change from the typically proprietary ports seen in most tablets nowadays.
Overall, the Surface tablet seems to be an impressive piece of hardware that may hold its stead against the domineering presence of the Apple iPad in the tablet market. Given that Microsoft is launching its own online retail stores, and assuming that there will be a promotional barrage coming up from Redmond sooner than later, the Surface may just prove to be a worthy foe to Apple’s slate, and a tablet worth your money.
Find out more about the Surface here.
