Microsoft unveils 'Surface' tablet in iPad challenge

Microsoft on Monday unveiled a Surface tablet computer as the technology titan steps in with its own hardware to take on Apple's market-ruling iPads. Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer described the iPad challenger as a tablet that "works and plays" when he showed it off at a press event in Los Angeles. Surface is also the name of table and poster-sized touch screen computers that Microsoft has pitched to the business market for use in restaurants, shops, bars and other venues. A tablet demo video online at microsoft.com/surface/ promised the tablet was "coming soon.' A version of Surface running on Windows RT software tailored for ARM mobile device chips measured 9.3 millimeters thick and weighed 676 grams. It boasted a 10.6-inch (26.9 centimeter) high-definition screen and will be available with 32 or 64 gigabytes of memory, according to Microsoft. A tablet model powered by Windows 8 Pro software measured 13.5 millimeters thick, weighs 903 grams and will be available with 64 or 128 gigabytes of memory. "It's a whole new community of computing devices from Microsoft," Ballmer said. "It embodies the notion of hardware and software really pushing each other."