Microsoft Announces Surface Tablet
Back at Microsoft’s Xbox press briefing at E3 there was a lot of talk about SmartGlass. This was a way to seamlessly connect TV’s, computers, tablets and even phones. While they made a big deal about being able to use hardware that you already own, it made us wonder just how long it was going to be before the company released their own tablet. It would seem that we didn’t have to wait very long at all.
Last night at a top-secret press conference (seriously, the people attending weren’t even given the address until the morning of the announcement) they unveiled the Surface. For those with a good memory, the Surface is actually the name of a table computer that Microsoft unveiled years ago. While it is a catchy name, I’m really not sure why the company insists on using it for the new tablet. They even had to put a disclaimer at the bottom of the product page, directing people looking for the original Surface to a different place. Seriously, is your marketing department so understaffed that they can’t come up with a new name?
Anyway, back to the tablet. It will sport a 10.6” screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio and “Full HD.” (There’s no word on what the resolution will be, other than HD.) What’s interesting is that it will come with a magnetic cover, much the same as the one for Apple’s iPad. However, rather than simply protecting the screen and acting as a kickstand, it will feature a keyboard and trackpad. As for a kickstand, that’s built into the tablet. Other niceties that you’ll find are a USB 3.0 port, a microSD slot for adding extra storage, and dual webcams (one facing front and another facing the rear). Storage options will be 32GB and 64GB.
There is also a second version of the tablet planned, which is the Pro model. This will be running a different version of Windows 8, and be just a tad thicker (13.5mm, rather than 9.3mm). You’ll also get pen support, along with the option of 64GB or 128GB models. What’s most interesting about this model is that it will be powered by an Intel Ivy Bridge chip, rather than the ARM one found in the base tablet.
So far the company hasn’t touched on the inner workings of the tablets, or what they have planned for the gaming side of things. Obviously they have SmartGlass in mind to work with your 360, but with Windows 8 and an Ivy Bridge chip in the Pro model, will we be able to see some Windows games on the tablet? We won’t know for sure until it gets closer to launch.
