Microsoft shows off new, larger Surface Pro tablet
Microsoft Corp on Tuesday unveiled a larger but lighter version of its Surface Pro tablet as it ramps up efforts to make an impact on the mobile computing market and counter the popularity of Apple Inc’s iPad and MacBook Air laptop.
At a presentation in New York, new Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella made it clear that Microsoft, which recently acquired Nokia’s handset business, is committed fully to making its own devices, despite a lack of success for its phones and tablets so far.
“We are not building hardware for hardware’s sake,” said Nadella, at the event. “We want to build experiences that bring together all the capabilities of our company.”
Microsoft, which is recasting itself as a ‘devices and services’ company, has not made much headway on the devices side, except for its Xbox game console.
The Surface, launched in October 2012 and refreshed last year, has about 2 percent of the tablet market, failing to make a dent on Apple’s iPad. Microsoft has only 3 percent global share in smartphones, chiefly through Nokia.
Microsoft is hoping that the new Surface Pro 3, which runs the full Windows operating system, will be the device consumers and companies go to when they are replacing laptops.
The new device has a 12-inch screen, slightly bigger than its last model, but is thinner and weighs less.
(Reporting by Bill Rigby, Editing by Franklin Paul and Tom Brown)
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