Microsoft goes tablet

The Microsoft Surface

Microsoft has been busy this week. From announcing their expansion into the mobile market with the Surface, to the new Windows Phone 8, they have certainly pulled the spotlight on themselves this month.  When you think of Microsoft, you always think of their software, and the widely successful XBOX consoles. But, this week that changed.

Microsoft's business model has always been mostly software. Save for the gaming console expansion, they had concentrated all their money and work into their big software titles such as Windows, their games, and various other offerings such as Windows Phone.
With the announcement of the Microsoft Surface, one has to wonder what they are up to. It seems a bit out of their field of expertise, considering that most of their hardware offerings are made by third-party partners, such as the Windows Phones. But then again, they are good at surprising us.

The Surface is basically a standard tablet. It will run Windows 8, which with its 'metro' style tile system could be the ideal operating system in the case of mobile computing. Unlike many of its rivals, the Surface will come with a detachable touch-pad keyboard. This allows you to stand it up similar to a laptop or netbook computer. Various rumours are floating around the net, including things like Wi-Fi only connection options, a price tag that will range from $700 to $1000, and full integration with Live, which is of course the same way Windows 8 will work.

MS has been known to go extravagant on many things, and I'm sure this will be no exception. Include with the Surface the soon to be released Windows 8 (which we will assumedly see in the Northern Hemisphere fall) and the new Windows 8 phones that are coming out sometime next year, Microsoft is stacking their cards up on the new mobile venture.

We will have to wait and see what their future will hold.