Microsoft announce the Surface 3

Microsoft announce the Surface 3
Microsoft have announced the latest in their range of Surface Tablets, the latest being the Surface 3 which is the successor to the Windows RT equipped Surface 2. This time round though it’s running Windows 8.1.

It’s summed up by Panos Panay, the corporate vice president, of Microsoft Surface.

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.

Spec wise it’s below the existing Surface 3.

  • Operating System: Windows 8.1.
  • Exterior Dimensions:10.5 x 7.36 x 0.34 inches (267 x 187 x 8.7 millimeters).
  • Weight: 1.37 pounds / 622 grams.
  • Magnesium Silver.
  • Physical buttons: Volume, Power, Home.
  • Storage: 64 GB with 2 GB RAM or 128 GB with 4 GB RAM.
  • Display: 10.8 inch, ClearType, HD Plus Display, Resolution: 1920 x 1280, Aspect ratio: 3:2, 10-point multi-touch.
  • Surface Pen – sold separately.
  • CPU: Quad-core Intel® Atom™ x7-Z8700 processor (2MB cache, 1.6GHz with Intel Burst™ technology up to 2.4 GHz).
  • Network: Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac), Bluetooth 4.0 low energy.
  • Battery: Up to 10 hours of video-playback battery life.
  • Cameras and A/V: 3.5 megapixel 1080p front-facing camera, 8.0 megapixel 1080p rear-facing camera with auto-focus, Microphone, Stereo speakers with Dolby® Audio-enhanced sound.
  • Ports: USB 3.0 Mini DisplayPort, microSD™ card reader, Micro USB charging port (passes power and USB 2 data), Headset jack, Cover port Surface 3.
  • 4G LTE Model – Nano-SIM card slot.
  • Sensors: Ambient light sensor • Proximity sensor • Accelerometer • Gyroscope • Magnetometer

Microsoft announce the Surface 3
Microsoft announce the Surface 3

For me the main thing about this is the price and the fact it runs full on Windows. It’ll be a really flexible device. It’s ideal for students, schools, mobile professionals  and anyone looking for a portable device to get things done. There is also a 4G LTE-ready version, which will help with mobility. Prices for the Surface 3 start at just £419. Windows 10 will also be coming to the Surface 3 as well.

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.

Personally I’m quite interested in this, it offers a lower price point Surface, that in itself offers a lightweight and more portable computing solution to the more traditional laptop. Pre orders for the Microsoft Surface 3 open today. For more information and to pre order just head over to the UK Surface page here.