[BLOG] Microsoft Officially Unveil Surface Pro 3 at New York Event

[CrimsonShade]

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The Microsoft Surface tablets live a troubled existence. Ostensibly tablet devices designed by Microsoft to show how Windows 8 (and later 8.1) are designed to work on a Tablet, the devices originally came with; then later made optional a series of Covers (such as the Touch Cover and Type Cover) that added physical keyboards to the mix. Combined with the tablets featuring a kickstand to keep the screen upright, it often felt more like Microsoft were actually aiming to build hybrid devices - laptops with a removable screen that just HAPPENED to be usable as a tablet - rather than tablet devices in their own right.



The Surface Pro 3 takes it even further.



Microsoft's belief is that up until now, tablets and laptops have been mutually exclusive devices, suiting different use cases. Unveiled today at a purpose-built event at New York City, Microsoft say their next entry to their Surface line of tablets is designed with one particular purpose in mind - to bridge that gap. So no longer is it enough to sell tablets with enough optional accessories to be usable as laptops - Microsoft's new goal is to have their tablet replace your laptop entirely.



In order to achieve that goal, Microsoft first started by upping the 10.6-inch screen - as seen on the Surface Pro 2 - to 12-inches, or one whole foot wide. The display also comes with a 2,160 x 1,440 resolution, topping traditional 1080p HD displays on the market. The combination leads to a 4:3 viewing ratio - the same as a typical TV before Widescreen became commonplace - which Microsoft says is "critical" to compete with a typical laptop screen.



Despite the enlarged screen, Microsoft also seems to be committed to making the overall device smaller and lighter to use. At 9.1mm thick, the Surface Pro 3 shaves a millimetre-and-a-half of thickness from the Pro 2; while it weighs just 800g. The lightness of the tablet was demonstrated by placing it on a pair of scales with a MacBook Air on the other side, demonstrating it to be lighter than Apple's famously ultra-thin laptop in a thinly-veiled dig towards one of the biggest players in the Tablet Computing market.



But if Microsoft really want to make this a laptop-killer, it needs the power to match. For this, Microsoft is equipping all the Surface Pro 3 tablets with Intel Core processors (more on that later), not only improving the power of the tablets beyond that of previous Surfaces, but also pushing it into the realm of - yes, you guessed it - your typical medium- to high-end laptop. Microsoft ran a number of high-end apps; and even a 3D-rendering app on-stage during the presentation to prove its capabilities. Adobe also came on-stage to show off a new version of Photoshop, "specifically optimised" for the Surface Pro 3, which even has 200% bigger icons to make it work equally well when touched with a stylus or with fingers. Adobe claim that the updated app also contains an enhanced feature set that has been made possible with the power of the new device.



Microsoft will release the Surface Pro 3 in three flavours, offering different Intel Core processors - the i3, i5 and i7 in order of power - to allow users to compromise between performance and price. All of them will sport a number of USB 3.0 ports and a redesigned kickstand, which rotates between angles starting at the standard 22 degrees up to 150 degrees - a departure from the fixed viewing angles of the previous two iterations. They will also come with Microsoft's popular Type Covers in multiple colours.



While the devices hit stores in America on Wednesday, global release plans and price points are not yet known. Taking the American prices, however, the entry level i3 device - with minimum storage and RAM included - will cost $799; the equivalent of £480 here in the UK. Customers who want an Intel Core i5 will need to dish out $999 to $1,299 (roughly £590 - £770) depending on Storage and RAM, and the most priciest i7 model - with the full 512GB of storage and 8GB of on-board RAM - will set you back over a grand in our money, with the US price of $1,949 equating to over £1100 this side of the pond. We hope to have news on the European launch dates and price points as soon as they become available.