The Microsoft Surface tablet picture
has abruptly come into focus. Tuesday morning this Redmond
Starting today at 9 a.m. PT, consumers can preorder Microsoft's
upstart 10.6-inch tablet at Surface.com, with prices
starting at $499 for the 32GB model and $699 for the 64GB model. Both tablets
are Wi-Fi only.
The Windows RT (Microsoft's ARM-friendly version of Windows 8, which ships Oct. 26) tablet, which offers a
built-in kickstand, does not ship with the 3mm thin Touch Cover keypad. That'll
run you $119. The Touch Cover, which features real keys, costs $129. You can
save $20 if you buy the $599 Surface/Touch Cover bundle (the $699 edition comes
with the Touch Cover).
We also now know a lot more about what's inside Surface's Titanium
shell and Vapor Magnesium (VaporMG) skeleton.
Along with a Nvidia Tegra 3 CPU (which may be running at 1.5 GHz),
Microsoft has stuffed an impressive 2 GB of RAM inside the Surface. It also
features an 802.11N Mimo Wi-Fi radio, Bluetooth 4.0, an accelerometer,
gyroscope, compass, dual microphones, stereo speakers, an HD-out port, a
full-sized USB 2.0 port and a micro SD-slot. There are two 720p cameras (no
1080p); one on the front and one on the back.
It also comes pre-loaded with Microsoft Office Home and Student
2013 RT Preview edition, which Microsoft execs say has been tweaked to
accommodate the touch-screen interface.
Like many of the mid-sized tablets entering the market today, the
Surface is a Wi-Fi-only device. Even so, it's sort of the odd man out when
compared to 9.7- and 8.9-inch LTE
devices from Apple and Amazon, respectively. Microsoft's Windows
8 lead Steven Sinofsky said he's not concerned about the Surface's lack of a
cellular feature, adding "it could be an option down the road. Maybe,
maybe not."
The device will ship Oct. 26, and also be available at roughly 65
Microsoft stores and holiday pop-up locations around the country. Microsoft is
devoting nearly 50% of its store floor space to the iPadrival. Surface will also go on sale in eight
international locations, including China ,
Hong Kong , United
Kingdom , Germany ,
France and Australia
Below the Surface
What consumers will see when they go shopping for the Surface is a
product that is subtly different than the one Microsoft showed off
during the summer. That's because the company had not quite finished
developing the Surface, which probably explains why reporters got so little
time with the product.
Mashable got a little closer to some of the finished devices this
week, as Microsoft proudly explained the development process (even taking us
behind the scenes at its top-secret development labs) and some of the key
hardware highlights that it believes set it apart from the tablet competition.
We got to very briefly hold the device. It weighs 1.5 pounds, but
does not feel heavier than the 1.46-pound iPad. Microsoft's Sinofsky and Panos
Panay, General Manager for Microsoft's Surface program, said that this is
because Microsoft engineered the "inertia" (the feeling you get when
someone, say, drops the Surface into your hand) to be different, essentially
spreading the weight out over a larger area and as evenly as possibly.
We also got a chance, in Microsoft's secret labs, to attach and
detach the Touch Cover, which, thanks to powerful -- albeit tiny — magnets,
snaps sharply into place with a resounding snap. The hold looks to be quite
strong, too. At one point, Sinofsky merrily dangled the tablet, holding it only
by the magnetically attached cover.
We typed a bit on the tablet's cover, too. It's smart enough to
not react when I rested my hands on the slightly raised, pressure-sensitive
urethane keyboard, but reacted well to touch typing. The cover even includes a
track pad area, which also responded well to taps and gestures.
What is it?
Though Surface is clearly a tablet device, Sinofsky pointed out
that the process of developing Windows 8 (on which Surface's Windows RT
operating system is based) started in the summer of 2009, when there was no
Apple iPad as a reference point (though it remains unclear if Microsoft began
working on its tablet at that time).
Sinofsky also seemed, at times, almost unwilling to truly define
the Surface as a tablet: "I've used a lot of tablets and this is not a
tablet, but this is the best tablet I've ever used. And I've used a lot of
laptops and notebooks, but this is not a laptop or notebook, but it's the best
laptop or notebook I've ever used."
Sinofsky did also, of course, describe the Surface as a
touch-first tablet device, but also emphasized its utility and productivity. In
fact, the desire to make the Surface a truly productive tablet drove many of
Microsoft's design decisions.
It is, at 10.6 inches for instance, larger than both the iPad and
many of the 10.1 tablets on the market today. And 9.7 inches and even 10.1
inches weren't large enough to accommodate the multi-tasking and the larger,
more comfortable Touch Cover typing experience Sinofsky and Panay desired, so
they settled on the larger 10.6-inch, 1366×768 display.
Of course, a larger screen means more power consumption and the
need for a bigger battery. Sinofsky explained that "you're in this
loop" of ever increasing screen size, more battery to support it and,
naturally, more weight.
This reality forced Microsoft to come up with its own magnesium
chassis, highly compressed touch-stack for the screen, and a host of other
patents and innovations to hit 1.5 pounds with all-day battery life, while not
turning the Surface into a heavy, bulky device.
From what we saw, Microsoft may have succeeded. However the true
test starts today as consumers place their orders and then, 10 days from now,
when customers get their hands on the new Surface tablet. Can it stand tall
among the iPads, Kindle Fires and Google Nexuses of the world? Only time -- and some
critical reviews -- will tell.
Are you getting ready to buy Microsoft's tablet? Let us know in
the comments.
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