Microsoft Officially Announces the Surface 3 Tablet [Video]

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Posted March 31, 2015 at 2:48pm by iClarified

Microsoft has introduced Surface 3, the thinnest and lightest Surface they’ve ever shipped.

Powerful and efficient, Surface 3 is optimized to run full Windows and Office and features long battery life. The ability to run Windows apps and the versatile pen experience — great for taking notes or marking documents — make Surface 3 ideal for students, schools and anyone looking for a portable device to get things done. A 4G LTE-ready version,2 Surface 3 (4G LTE), will offer even more mobility.

“Surface 3 brings what customers love about Surface Pro 3 to more people, delivering the premium design and productivity of Surface in a more affordable device,” said Panos Panay, corporate vice president, Microsoft Surface. “We’ve taken everything we learned making Surface Pro 3 and poured that innovation into this newest Surface. It’s beautiful, versatile, powerful and productive, and our customers are going to love what it lets them do.”

Productivity and portability
Powered by the new quad-core Intel Atom x7 processor, Surface 3 is quick and responsive but designed to maximize efficiency with up to 10 hours of video-playback battery life. A range of storage and memory configurations gives people choice in power and capacity. The beautiful 10.8-inch ClearType HD multi-touch display featuring 3:2 aspect ratio, stereo speakers with Dolby Audio-enhanced sound, and the elegant and durable magnesium design are just a few of the benefits of Surface 3 that customers will recognize from Surface Pro 3. The three-position kickstand is ideal for using Surface 3 while working at a desk, sitting on a couch or holding in the palm of a hand as a natural writing surface. And with Surface 3 (4G LTE), anyone who needs connectivity on the go can get Internet access wherever their tasks take them.

Microsoft Officially Announces the Surface 3 Tablet [Video]

Free upgrade to Windows 10
To help people get even more done, Surface 3 and Surface 3 (4G LTE) ship with full Windows 8.1 and can be upgraded to Windows 10 for free when available. They also come complete with a one-year subscription of Microsoft Office 365 Personal, including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, plus OneDrive cloud storage. Full device specs are available here.

Built for business
And with Surface 3, businesses and schools will now enjoy a broader array of options. Even before its availability, educational institutions such as University of Phoenix and companies such as Prada, BASF and Emirates have committed to purchasing and deploying Surface 3 across their organizations because they see the value Surface 3 can bring to their employees and students. “Having explored multiple platforms, we are confident that Surface 3 meets the expectations of our experienced and professional flight crew,” said Captain Alan Stealey, divisional senior vice president, Flight Operations, Emirates. “The device’s innovative design and functionality prove to be the choice for our EFB (Electronic Flight Bag) initiative.”

Surface accessories
Surface 3 and Surface 3 (4G LTE) can be paired with new accessories: Surface 3 Type Cover is offered in a variety of colors and features an improved trackpad and responsive keyset for fast, accurate typing, alongside four vibrant Surface Pen colors — silver, black, blue and red. The Surface 3 Docking Station lets people easily connect to an external monitor and all their desktop devices, and Surface 3’s full-size USB 3.0 port, Mini DisplayPort, microSD card reader and Micro USB charging port make it compatible with the Surface Pro line of adapters and ready for quick and easy connections to a variety of accessories. Surface accessories specifics can be found here.

Pre-order and availability
Surface 3 and new accessories will be available for pre-order starting March 31 through microsoftstore.com, Microsoft stores and select partner retailers in the following markets: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States. Commercial customers should contact their authorized reseller for pre-order information.

Starting May 5 through those same retailers and resellers, customers can begin purchasing Surface 3, Surface 3 Type Cover, Surface Pen, Surface 3 Docking Station and Surface 3 Screen Protector, with availability in all 26 markets by May 7. Microsoft will offer Surface 3 (4G LTE) through T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless in the U.S. later this year. More to come regarding additional Surface 3 (4G LTE) availability and markets in the coming months. The tablet starts at $499.

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iPhone 6 Plus is my boy - March 31, 2015 at 8:07pm

Idk... Even with all the engineering and money put into hardware, theres limit what portable devices can do. And when it comes to tablet, its all about what it can do, which means they depend alot on app compatibility. And so far, microsoft's appstore is just trash. Maybe there will be a hope after OS revamp but not for now

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Steve Gate - March 31, 2015 at 8:07pm

@Bill Jobs: Only time will tell...

gamerscul9870 - March 31, 2015 at 8:26pm

Or critics judging from user adoption rate and how many have sold, even if you look at their tablet shares.

odedoo1 - March 31, 2015 at 4:16pm

finally 4G/LTE it was the only thing that was missing on the Surface Pro, now I'm getting one a full on computer on a tablet with USB 3 connections, 500GB memory no limits what so ever! not that I'm selling my iPad Air but it's more of a toy till apple will follow and create an iPad running a full OSX.

gamerscul9870 - March 31, 2015 at 8:02pm

This "toy" is a useful tool. If you're that worried about ipad being a laptop, just get a keyboard to make it look like a macbook and use your iPhone as a mouse. There really exists a black door to doing all this. Sure it's spending more but pays off.

SimonSays - March 31, 2015 at 3:01pm

Intel atom cpu? lol worthy. windows is a resource hungry OS, its going to be horrible running it on a atom cpu.

odedoo1 - March 31, 2015 at 4:18pm

like Apple devices are not! full day is good for me.

User - March 31, 2015 at 4:30pm

The difference is that the os on surface is RT and consume less resources. That is the difference between surface rt and surface pro wich is intel i3 or i5.

Rashaad Sallie - March 31, 2015 at 2:57pm

Very nice advert. I am a Apple user for many years but its really good to see other companies design good products. The ONLY thing thats keeps me using a Mac is the OS. If OS X ran on other devices I would have moved away from Apple devices, because its all about the software today. Every company is designing thinner, lighter and more powerful machines, and most have more features than a Apple MacBook Pro - but again what sets Apple part from the rest is OS X.... Lets hope this is not going to be a WHO COPIED WHO comment system again. Nice one from MS. As a matter of interest.... I wonder why Apple doesn't allow OS X to be installed on any other machine?

AppleMan12 - March 31, 2015 at 5:05pm

tonymacx86.com You welcome!

Rashaad Sallie - March 31, 2015 at 7:40pm

Yep I know about TonyMac, I built a few Hackintoshes myself. I was talking about installing OS X native on another machine.

gamerscul9870 - March 31, 2015 at 8:00pm

Because OS X was designed to work for computers, ios was made for ipad. Combining the two to me is a no brainer. What if I wanted different size products for suiting my types of work environment. Imagine using iphone like a laptop, no better yet to explain, what's the point of removable keyboard, plus if I wanted a computer, I would get one that's built like one with a working hinge instead of a stand to hold the monitor, plus I don't want to get fingerprints all over it. Why do that when using the trackpad makes it feel like you're doing it. I can draw with it more than ever, heck even so so many gestures and much more.

Steve Gate - March 31, 2015 at 2:57pm

Here is the device that officially killed the iPad. What goes around comes around.

Rashaad Sallie - March 31, 2015 at 2:59pm

I agree Steve. I sold my iPad for something else. The iPad was way too limited for me - features and in the OS. Im not saying one is BETTER than the other - for me the other made more sense and gave me more - easier and cheaper.

gamerscul9870 - March 31, 2015 at 5:24pm

And here is the product that doesn't sell, comes with an even worse version of windows that scores all time low, and is desperate of beating ipad. I'd rather have simplicity with so much new ideas.