Microsoft (MSFT) this afternoon held a press conference in Los Angeles to make what it had suggested would be a major announcement. Unfortunately, yours truly was not on hand for the event.
But other very talented folks were in attendance, including the folks at Engadget, filing their live blog report. �Forbes’s Eric Savitz, formerly head of this blog, was also on hand at the Hollywood Shindig, doing his usual best.
On stage at the event, CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled what the company is calling “Microsoft Surface,” a tablet computer running its Windows 8 operating system, and a second version running a different edition of Windows 8, “Windows RT,” which is meant for devices running on chips based on designs by ARM Holdings (ARMH).
The device, measuring 9.3 millimeters for the ARM-based model, or .37 inches, thick, has a magnesium frame, and weighs in at under 1.49 lbs, the company said. That would seem to place it one tenth a millimeter below the 9.4 millimeters of Apple‘s (AAPL) iPad, but slightly lighter than the iPad’s 1.44 lbs to 1.46 lbs. The Surface contains a built-in USB slot.
The Surface runs a processor from Nvidia (NVDA), a partner of ARM’s, in one version, Microsoft said, but there will also be a version running Intel (INTC) processors, the company said.
The Intel version is thicker and heavier. It weighs in at 903 grams, or 1.99 lbs, and is 13.5 millimeters thick, just over half an inch.
Engadget has the full specs on both models here.
Microsoft did not provide information on battery life.
The Surface has a detachable, magnetically latched cover, which sounds similar to Apple‘s (AAPL) iPad cover, but which features its own touch-sensitive keyboard, the company said. That keyboard uses an accelerometer to measure key presses.
In a nod to the separate paths of Windows 8 and Windows RT, Microsoft said it will offer the ARM-based Windows RT in storage capacities totaling 32 or 64 gigabytes, with pricing comparable to existing ARM-based tablets; and it said it will offer the Intel machines with either 64 gigabytes or 128 gigabytes of storage, at prices comparable to the “ultrabook” laptops that Intel has been promoting. Those machines tend to start at $699.
The availability of the Surface is tied to the availability of those two versions of Windows, the company said. However, Microsoft has not said when Windows 8 will be commercially available. Most analysts expect the software to come to market in September or October.
Microsoft on Monday unveiled a tablet computer it said was specially designed for Windows 8, the Microsoft Surface. Image courtesy of Engadget.
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