Microsoft's Surface tablet will be priced from $499 for a 32GB version in the US – and £399 in the UK – and go on sale on 26 October in eight countries including the UK, the company said on Tuesday.
The announcement came just hours before Apple sent out teaser invitations for an event in San Francisco on 23 October, with the tagline "We've got a little more to show you" – widely expected to be a smaller "iPad mini" along with a revision to its tablet line to incorporate its new "Lightning" connector.
Announcing the long-awaited details of its pricing, Microsoft said that the base model will cost $499 – which gives it the same price as a base-level iPad 3, though that only has 16GB of storage – while a version with an integral keyboard cover will cost $599. A 64GB version with a bundled keyboard cover will cost $699.
In the UK, the starting 32GB model will cost £399, the same as the base iPad 3, and the cover with integrated keyboard will cost an additional £100 if bought separately. The prices are thus £399 for a 32GB model with no cover, £479 for the 32GB model with cover, and £559 for the 64GB model with cover. The Surface will go on sale in the US and Canada in Microsoft stores, and will be available for online orders in the UK, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Australia and China.
Unlike Apple with the existing iPad line, Microsoft is not offering a 3G-capable version. For its size, the Surface's 1366x768 screen has a lower resolution than that of the iPad 3, although it is comparable with 2011's iPad 2, which has a 1024x768 resolution, and is priced from £329 for a 16GB model.
The Surface is based on ARM chips, using the same British chip architecture as in almost every mobile phone, and runs a new touch-based version of Windows written for ARM called Windows RT. Existing Windows apps will not run on it.
Source: The Guardian
