Microsoft Surface Tablet Unveiled, Set to Rival Apple's Popular iPad (Video)

President of the the Windows and Windows Live Division Sinofsky holds new Surface tablet computer during his presentation as it is unveiled in Los Angeles(Photo : Reuters)

By Zanub Saeed

Microsoft officially revealed its Surface tablet at an event on Monday, which will be the first tablet made by the brand that created the Windows operating system.

Microsoft revealed that the new tablet would run on the not-yet-released Windows 8 operating system, and is the very first commercial personal computer sold by the company itself, and not third-party companies, noted CNN in a news report. The name Surface is not new, as Microsoft released a giant touchscreen computer four years ago with the name "Microsoft Surface," which was sold to retailers and commercial customers.

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The specs for the Surface tablet include a 10.6-inch high-definition touchscreen, with front and rear-facing cameras just as the Apple iPhone 4 generation smartphones have, and is 9.3 millimeters thick weighing 1.5 pounds, Microsoft announced. Microsoft said that it will not be the exclusive manufacturer of the Surface tablet.

One of the big differences between the Surface tablet and various other types of tablets, including the popular iPad, is that it can be flipped down to become a full keyboard, a built-in kickstand, and a pen that can be used to write on the tablet, noted CNN and Microsoft.

The Windows RT version of the Surface tablet will be available this fall in the sizes of 32 gigabytes and 64 gigabytes, though no price was released of either version. Microsoft noted that they would be priced "comparably" against other tablets available in the market, including the cheapest version of Apple's iPad, which runs at nearly $500. The Windows 8 version of the Surface tablet will be released towards the end of the year in 64 gigabytes and 128 gigabytes version, said Microsoft and CNN, and may be sold at the same price as ultrabooks, which come in at a costly $1,000.

"Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen made a big bet -- a bet on software -- but it was always clear that we had to push hardware in ways that sometimes manufacturers hadn't envisioned," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said at Monday's event. "We believe that any intersection between human and machine can be made better when all aspects, hardware and software, are working together."