A Surface Just Surfaced

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[<p>Right at this moment, I would not say no to a candy-pink keyboard. It would have to come from Microsoft and attached to a Surface – Microsoft's pre-new tablet, or rather, tablets, since there are two of them. And yet none, since these are not available yet.<br><br></p> <table style="width: 130px;" align="right" border="0" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="8"> <tbody> <tr> <td><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxk_WywMTzc%20" target="_blank"><img src="/businessworld/system/files/images/Home/video1.jpg" height="90" width="130"></a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>Microsoft has always had a thing for surfaces. In 2008, they demo'd at CES, a large table-like device called Surface on which you could interact with images, even 3D ones.&nbsp; <br><br>Even today, despite tablets being all over the place, that demo is impressive. Sadly the technology never made it to a Microsoft tablet but it did to a restaurant table in Hard Rock Café. And then in 2011, again at CES, Microsoft brought the next version of the Surface; only 4 inches thin. It was still huge and still nowhere near the tablets we know today.</p> <table style="width: 130px;" align="right" border="0" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="8"> <tbody> <tr> <td><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NesSYWODmM" target="_blank"><img src="/businessworld/system/files/images/Home/video2_0.jpg" height="90" width="130"></a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p>But Microsoft's next Surface in its 3.0 version is very much a tablet and nowhere near the&nbsp; technology&nbsp; demonstrated&nbsp; earlier. And this means there are now three tech giants in the game: Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Take a look at the new Surface at http://surface.com.<br><br>If you stop to see the introductory video, you'll find that the Surface is still very much a mystery. In fact, the video is full of mystery. You can see how good it looks and how it has a kickstand to make it stand up and a thin cover which doubles up as a keyboard. And of course that it's running Windows 8. But what else?<br><br>Well, both are 10.6 inch screens (an inch bigger than the iPad), And yet lighter. They have a 3mm thin cover which at first reminds you of Apple's Smart Cover. There are in fact two covers: one that has a touch keyboard and a second thicker one that also had a trackpad in additional to regular keys for typing. These cases add hugely to how attractive the device looks. Of the two tablets, one runs Windows 8 RT based on the NVIDA Tegra chip and the other, runs on Windows 8 Pro is based on Intel's Ivy Bridge processor (the one that is in all the newest ultrabooks). Why there need to be two tablets is already a little puzzling&nbsp; Think of the Windows RT as being the lighter one with more play and entertainment (though it will have Office) and Metro apps, and the Windows Pro as the business-friendly version.<br><br>Whatever few specs are available from Microsoft look fine, but how they work, how Windows works on them and most importantly what applications are there to be on both are still unknown factors.<br><br>The greatest buzz around the Surface tablets comes from the implications. What happens to all the other companies making tablets with Windows 8 on them? Asus, Acer, Lenovo and many others? Will Microsoft now compete with its own partners? Or is this, as suggested by Gartner, a response to partners not doing enough yet? We can't forget too that Nokia, a company in considerable financial dire straits at the moment, was also rumoured to trying to make a Windows 8 tablet, along with all the Windows-based Lumias. In a strange parallel, Google, which is soon to launch its own Nexus tablet, is also doing something similar because all its partners, Samsung included, have tablets based on Android which will be used on the new Nexus.<br><br>On the other hand, if Microsoft doesn't boldly step into the mobile and tablets space, it's standing to lose out. The tablet market is already predicted to be well over 200 million units by 2016, say many research firms. Where would Microsoft be if it depended only on others? With a single-digit market share as it has on mobile phones? In a world now referred to as "post-PC", this wouldn't do at all. In the PC world, Microsoft was, and still is, dominant.<br><br>The iPad of course has been the tablet that started off the whole industry. But Microsoft can't afford to let it continue its dominance just as much as it can't let Google flood the market with Android tablets. How the battle pans out, we will have to see after the tablets launch for real.<br><br>Another interesting dimension is whether the Microsoft tablets will end up competing with Ultrabooks, specially those with unusual form factors like those from Asus and Lenovo.<br><br>Microsoft's Surface tablets will only surface around October or November this year, and that too is only speculation. Nothing is known on how much it will change, who, if anyone, will be involved in developing it further, where it will be available, and what it will cost. Although the RT version will likely be priced similar to existing tablets.<br><br>If Surface arrives before the Mayan Calendar prophesy comes true and the world ends, I think I might change my mind and go for that red touch keyboard and cover.<br><br><em>Mala Bhargava is a personal technology writer and media professional</em><br><em>Contact her at mala at pobox dot com and @malabhargava on Twitter</em><br><br></p>