Microsoft put on a show yesterday with the star attraction being their new tablet, the Surface. This is a pretty big step for Microsoft as they are more known for building software for people to work on rather than producing their own hardware, with the Xbox being a notable exception. So as they step into the ring to duke it out with the iPad we wanted to have a look at what it was bringing to the ring.
When we said Microsoft was making a tablet we actually mean that they are going to be bringing two tablets out. The Surface RT, and the Surface Windows 8 Pro. The Surface RT is the cheaper ARM-based tablet, so it’s basically a direct competitor for the iPad. The ARM chips, are the low-power-consumption processors you find in smartphones and most other tablets. The RT is similar in thickness to the iPad and boasts a screen of 10.6-inch, 1366 x 768.
The Surface Windows 8 Pro is a different kettle of chips. It runs on the full version of windows 8, so in addition to to running tablet apps it will also be able to run Windows app such as office and photoshop. With the touch cover that folds out to become a fully functioning keypad the comparison to ultra books and laptops is obvious.
Overall it looks quite slick.
Could this be an iPad killer? We will see, the RT will be in direct competition with the iPad and a lot of that will come down to usability and image. The iPad is considered to be “cool” so Microsoft are going to have really deliver and change its image if it wants to compete. Although the advert is definitely moving away from the old Microsoft image. I think that the 8 Pro will be the one to watch, as tablet market share continues to grow this is perfectly positioned to take advantage of those looking at tablets and ultrabooks.
What are your thoughts about the new Microsoft Surface? Do you think that it will be able to compete with the ipad? Let us know in the comments.
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June 20, 2012
Tech & Gadgets