Microsoft Surface Tablets: complete features, specifications and price

Both Surface tablets will sport 10.6 inch optically bonded, Gorilla Glass 2 HD touch-screens and they will come wrapped in Microsoft’s special magnesium case. An interesting feature about the new tablets is that they will come with a pair of magnetically attached covers: the Touch Cover and the Type Cover. The tablets will also be equipped with a built-in stand.

Microsoft has confirmed yesterday at their press event in Los Angeles that it will have its own line of tablets named Microsoft Surface, according to Engadget. They aren’t going to manufacture the tablets themselves but will put their brand name on them. And soon after the confirmation, Microsoft unveiled a pair of Surface tablets: The Surface for Windows RT and the Surface Windows 8 Pro.

Here’s a look at the Microsoft Surface tablets:

Features:

Both Surface tablets will sport 10.6 inch optically bonded, Gorilla Glass 2 HD touch-screens and they will come wrapped in Microsoft’s special magnesium case called VaporMG that weighs around 1.3 pounds. An interesting feature about the new tablets is that they will come with a pair of magnetically attached covers: the Touch Cover and the Type Cover. The tablets will also be equipped with a built-in stand.

The Touch Cover is 3mm thick and folds down to function as a full touch keyboard and has a built-in track pad, while the Type Cover is 5mm thick and  gives you large and more tactile keys. Both keyboards power down when folded back against the tablet. The covers are capable of differentiating between actual key presses and accidental presses and are able to color coordinate with the chosen shades.

Specifications:

The lighter and thinner Surface Windows RT will be powered by an NVIDIA Tegra-based ARM chip and will offer two variants of 32GB and 64GB of internal storage. It will feature a 10.6 inch CLearType HD capacitive touch-screen. It will also include Office Home and Student 2013. It measures 9.3mm in thickness and weighs around 676g. For connectivity it has microSD, USB 2.0, micro HD Video, 2×2 MIMO antennae.

The Surface Windows 8 Pro will feature a 10.6 inch CLearType Full HD 1920 x 1080p touch-screen, running on Intel’s Ivy Bridge processor. It will come in two variants of 64GB and 128GB of internal storage. The Surface 8 Pro will also offer pen support. It weighs at 903g and is 13.5mm in thickness. Other specs include microSDXC, USB 3.0, Mini Display Port, 2×2 MIMO antennae, Pen and Palm Block.

Pricing and Availability:

The Surface Windows RT is expected to be launched later in October during the official launch of Windows 8, while the Surface 8 Pro is expected to be available three months from the launch of the Surface RT. Microsoft has said that the Surface tablets will be made available at Microsoft’s own retail and online stores.

Information regarding the pricing was not disclosed by Microsoft but they assured, that the Surface RT tablet will be priced competitively to other Windows RT tablets, while the Surface 8 Pro’s price will be comparable to that of the Ultrabooks.

Microsoft seems to have really pushed their teams regarding the features and designs of the Surface tablets. The built-in kickstand seems very useful, so does the Touch and Type covers with their color sensitive features and unique pressure-sensitive technology. Overall, the Surface looks nice, promising and high on specs, and marks Microsoft’s foray into the world of tablets.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/18/microsoft-tablet-announced/