Microsoft Releases Pricing Info for Surface Tablets, Taking Pre-Orders

Earlier today, the Microsoft Store updated with pricing information and details about the new Microsoft Surface tablets running Windows RT. We haven't yet seen pricing information about the Surface Pro, but today's update shows us details about three versions of the Surface running Windows RT, which is the low-end version of the upcoming Windows 8 operating system.

Options

There will be three options for the Surface tablet with Windows RT:

• 32 GB without Touch Cover ($499.00)
• 32 GB with Touch Cover ($599.00)
• 64 GB with Touch Cover ($699.00)

In case the Microsoft Store goes down again like it did earlier today, here's a screenshot from the page:

First Official Microsoft Surface Advertisement Released Yesterday

Yesterday (Oct. 15), Microsoft released the first official Surface advertisement. Called "The Movement," it features a lot of attractive people swapping Touch Covers, dancing, and throwing their Surface tablets like Frisbees to each other around fountains (something that we at DZone do not recommend--the dancing part, I mean). 

Touch Cover vs. Type Cover

The Surface will feature two types of covers, the Type Cover and the Touch Cover. They are both keyboards but the main difference is how they work. The Touch Cover is capacitive (like a touch screen) and the Type Cover has moving keys like a regular keyboard. The Type Cover costs about $10 more according to today's news. The Touch Covers will come in five different colors: white, red, black, cyan, and magenta.

All Surface tablets will come with a kickstand, seen above with the cyan Touch Cover.

Pricing Controversy

In September, just before pricing info about the upcoming ASUS Windows 8 Tablets was leaked, Steve Ballmer was interviewed by the Seattle Times, in which he hinted that the Surface RT could start as low as $399, which obviously did not turn out to be the case. Still, the cheapest Surface tablet is about $100 less expensive than the cheapest ASUS Windows 8 tablet, the ASUS Vivo Tab RT, which according to the leak in September will start at $599. This means that Microsoft's hardware is competing against its third-party licensees who have to pay a licensing fee to use Microsoft's Windows 8 on their own tablets. 

Release Date

The first Surface tablets will begin shipping before Halloween, on October 26th. There will be a Microsoft-sponsored kick-off event the day before, and are now taking pre-orders. Microsoft has already ordered 3-5 million tablets which they expect to sell by the end of Q4. We will have to wait and see how they do.