We mentioned a few days ago, Microsoft had made an appointment to the press to announce its new. Among them, we knew that a big surprise hiding without being sure what it was about. Many suspected when the Redmond company to want to walk on the beds of Apple, which still has a monopoly of the market shelves with iPad. This is last night, across the Atlantic - and very early this morning in Europe - the daddy of Windows has confirmed these rumors by presenting its first touch pad, the Microsoft Surface. Finally, we're talking shelf since the American, in collaboration with Samsung, had already developed a table with touch panel a few years ago, used primarily in companies and research centers which bore the name of ... Surface. Yes, already!
Presented with much fanfare by Steve Ballmer, finally we know relatively little about the technical specifications of the beast. In terms of its design, this will probably not his best asset for sale. The Microsoft Surface features a capacitive touch screen with a diagonal of 10.6 ", with treatment Gorilla Glass 2, circled by a black border. It would be a bit more slim than its main rival at Apple as CEO of Microsoft. showing a thickness of 9.3 mm, 0.1 mm and it is finer to show finally 25 g more about the balance since weigh 675 g - while the iPad weighs him, 650. Not surprisingly, they carry the latest version of the Microsoft OS, namely Windows 8 Metro and its interface. We also find a camera in front, one back of course, a USB 2.0 port and ... a handy kickstand for watching videos, but also to use the tablet with ultra-thin keyboard that will accompany its release.
At a time when shelves dock with keyboard-are democratizing, Microsoft offers a Cover Touch, likely inspired by the Smart Cover of rival ... With 3 mm thick, the Touch Screen Cover will protect the surface but above all offer a keyboard and a trackpad. Provided in a multitude of colors, it will also brighten up the design a little sad on the tablet.
On the heart of the Microsoft Surface, we therefore do not know much except that Steve Ballmer has announced that it would be available in two models: one based on an Intel platform (x86) and the other on ARM. This will reassure maybe different manufacturers the versatility of its Windows 8 planned for next fall. Anyway, the first offer 64 or 128 GB of storage capacity while the second will be available in 32 or 64 GB
No release date nor pricing have yet been announced. However, we can build on next fall, assuming that the first tablet of the Redmond giant would accompany the release of Windows 8. The agenda is still filled to Microsoft that should still hold some talks in the weeks to follow, in Amsterdam and Toronto that are likely the opportunity to learn a little more. The next important event will take place tomorrow, however, when the veil should finally be lifted on Windows Phone Apollo 8 ...
