Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 Could Be a Laptop-Killer~By Samantha Murphy Kelly

By Samantha Murphy Kelly
 

 Microsoft   unveiled its third-generation Surface Pro 3 device at an event in New York City on Tuesday, with larger surface area than its previous model and even lighter than a MacBook A The launch of the 12-inch Surface Pro 3 comes less than a year after Microsoft unveiled the Surface Pro 2, which received positive reviews for being a powerful PC inside a tablet form factor but has struggled to gain traction in the market.

See also: Microsoft Surface Event: It's Do or Die for Windows RT

Microsoft debuted its Surface Pro 3 tablet with a 12-inch screen at an event in New York City on Tuesday.

Image: Christina Ascani, Mashable

The Surface Pro 3, which comes with a multi-position kickstand, aims to not take on other tablets but the MacBook Air, with its eyes set on getting business professionals on board with its new design.
The pre-sale starts Wednesday for $799 for an Intel Core i3 version. Devices with i5 and i7 processors will also be available.
The company announced the news at its "small" Surface event, but didn't launch the Surface Mini rumored to debut at the presentation.
"This is the tablet that can replace your laptop," said Panos Panay, corporate VP of Microsoft, said during the event. "We designed it in thinness around every corner. This is faster than the Surface Pro 2 you've loved to date and is much thinner."
The Surface Pro 3 is 12 inches, up from 10.6 inches, to increase productivity and weighs 1.76 pounds, without a keyboard. It measures in at just 9.1mm and is the "thinnest Intel Core product ever made," Microsoft says. It comes with a 2160x1440 screen, microSD card reader and a USB 3.0 port.

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 screen vs. the Surface Pro 2.

Image: Microsoft

It also comes with an updated trackpad: "We got no praise for our [last] trackpad. We heard you."
In addition to an improved hinge, users can now tilt the screen to an angle of up to 150 degrees. The SP3 keyboard is different than before too, capitalizing on how it sits in your lap and cuts down on shaking that occurs when you type.
The device features a pen too, which during the on-stage demo seemed to work seamlessly when writing letters into a New York Times crossword puzzle. By clicking the pen, it impressively turned on a note-taking app too.

 

 

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Samantha Murphy Kelly

Samantha Murphy is a Tech Reporter for Mashable, where she covers all things tech and entertainment. She joined the Mashable team in 2011 and is based in New York.

Samantha is regularly featured on national TV broadcasts -- including Fox, Fox Business, CNBC and the BBC -- contributes to radio segments (NPR, Wall Street Journal Radio) and has served as a panelist and moderator at conferences.

Before joining Mashable, Samantha covered the tech industry as a senior writer for TechNewsDaily and wrote stories for sister publications LiveScience.com and Laptop Magazine. Her stories have been syndicated to various sites including CNN, Yahoo! News, MSNBC, ABC News, Fox News and CBS News. She also spent five years at a retail trade magazine writing about social media and technology, worked at ABC News in the Brian Ross investigative unit and got her start in journalism at CourtTV.com, where she reported on high-profile court cases. She’s a graduate of New York University with a degree in journalism.

Samantha has taught English in Thailand, climbed Mt. Fuji in Japan and has a thing for pizza.