Microsoft Surface 3 officially announced

Microsoft has not had a lot of success with their Surface tablet line in the past, but managed to turn things around with the announcement of the Surface Pro 3. Now the company wants to continue that trend by introducing the brand new Microsoft Surface 3.

What makes the Surface 3 special, is that it doesn't run Windows RT like the Microsoft Surface 2 or the original Microsoft Surface. Instead you get full 64-bit Windows 8.1 (with Windows Pro for business customers) and will be updated to Windows 10 for free when it is available. With full Windows, you can run just about any native Windows desktop application on your Surface, including the modern apps on the Windows Store.

The Surface 3 also acts as a more compact, and more affordable variant of the Microsoft Surface Pro 3. The new tablet is 8.7mm thin, and weighs 622 grams (1.37 lbs), which makes it quite portable. It  comes with a 10.8 inch display with a 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. The 3:2 aspect ratio found on Surface Pro 3 and the iPad is also used here, making it easier to hold in portrait mode for reading or writing a quick note with the pen.

The table also adopts the kickstand design from the Surface Pro 3, with three preset positions - a narrow angle that’s great for working at a traditional desk, an intermediate angle that is designed for sitting on the couch or using the device on your lap, and a wide angle that provides a natural writing or drawing canvas. When the kickstand is not in use it blends into the body of the tablet as before.

Type Cover for Surface 3

The Surface 3 also has an 8MP rear camera, a 3.5MP front camera - both capable of 1080p video capture. The rear-facing camera now features autofocus to take better photos but is also particularly useful for capturing images of documents, barcodes and the like. According to Microsoft, the tablet should offer as much as 10 hours of battery life between charges, and you have a USB 3.0 charging port, which allows you to use your phone's charger if you can't find the 13W charger that comes with the slate. The Surface 3 is powered by a quad-core Intel Atom x7 processor, which is the fastest Atom processor currently in the market.

The base model is priced at $499 and comes with 64GB of storage and 2GB of RAM. You can also opt for the higher end model with 128GB of storage and 4GB of RAM for $100 more. Microsoft is also planning to release the two variants with 4G LTE connectivity at a later date. You can preorder the new Surface 3 right now using the following links:

Surface 3 - 64GB	Surface 3 - 128GB

The Surface 3 will also include a free one-year subscription to Office 365 Personal, including full versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote as well as 1 TB of OneDrive storage.

Surface 3 and Surface 3 Docking Station

Accessories like the Surface Type Cover will be available to turn the Surface into a laptop. The Surface 3 Docking Station allows you to connect an HD monitor, mouse and printer to the tablet. The Pen that is offered separately is the same one used on the Surface Pro 3, and is available in silver, blue, red and black.


source - Microsoft