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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Microsoft unveils Surface Windows 8 tablets | Microsoft unveils Surface Windows 8 tablets |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Microsoft has unveiled Surface - its own-brand family of tablets. | Microsoft has unveiled Surface - its own-brand family of tablets. |
| The touchscreen computers will be powered by its upcoming Windows 8 system and contain either an Intel or ARM-based processor. | The touchscreen computers will be powered by its upcoming Windows 8 system and contain either an Intel or ARM-based processor. |
| The company's chief executive, Steve Ballmer, said he had wanted to give the software "its own companion hardware". | |
| However, the move puts the company into competition with other manufacturers who will also be releasing tablets designed for the system. | |
| The devices have 10.6 inch (26.9cm) displays, built-in kickstands and are housed in magnesium cases - which the company described as the first of their kind. | |
| The Arm-based tablets are 9.3mm (0.4 inches) thick - slightly less than Apple's bestselling iPad - and run the Windows RT version of the new system. The Intel-based versions run Windows Pro and are thicker. | |
| The specifications mean the Surface tablets have bigger screens than the iPad and can also run standard software applications like Photoshop, but are heavier. | |
| Pen input | |
| A variety of accompanying covers fold out to offer a keyboard and multitouch trackpad. | |
| The devices are also designed to work with a pen accessory using what the firm dubbed "digital ink". When the stylus is held close to the screen of one of the tablets it ignores touch-input from the users' hands and "samples" the ink at 600dpi (dots per inch). | |
| The Arm-based version will be available with either 32GB (gigabytes) or 64GB of storage. Microsoft said they would be priced at a similar rate to other tablets using the same processor technology built by other firms. | |
| The company added that the Intel-based versions would be offered with either 64GB or 128GB of storage and would have price tags comparable to ultrabook laptops. |