Surface 3 pre-orders start shipping; Microsoft buys the tech behind the slate's digital pen

posted by Alan F. / May 02, 2015, 4:50 PM

Surface 3 pre-orders start shipping; Microsoft buys the tech behind the slate's digital pen

Notifications have gone out to some of those who pre-ordered the Microsoft Surface 3, giving them the exciting news that their new slate has been shipped. The tablet was officially announced on March 31st and pre-orders were accepted starting that very day. At the time that the Surface 3 was introduced, Microsoft said that the tablet would launch on May 5th and would be available in 26 markets by May 7th.

The Surface 3 features a 10.8-inch screen with a resolution of 1920 x 1280. Driving the tablet is a quad-core 1.6GHz Intel Atom x7 processor with 10 hours of battery life. The tablet starts at $499 and accessories include the Surface Type Cover that turns the slate into a laptop, and a digital pen. The pen used for the Surface 3 is the same one offered to Surface Pro 3 users.

Speaking of the digital Surface Pen, Microsoft has purchased the patents and technology for the device from N-trig Ltd. for $30 million. As part of the transaction, some employees from N-trig will be joining Microsoft Israel.

source: Microsoft, WSJ, WindowsCentral

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12 Comments

1. rick_mobile

Posts: 359; Member since: Dec 13, 2010

Finally, This is exactly what I've been waiting for. Now I dont need to carry a full laptop + charger without pen functionality,,, or a tablet without the power of the laptop. Finally!!

posted on May 02, 2015, 5:16 PM 4

4. gaming64 unregistered

Not interested in buying one but this tablet looks real sleek. I already have a $600 laptop that is capable for gaming so I wont risk losing it.

posted on May 02, 2015, 6:43 PM 0

5. Taters

Posts: 6474; Member since: Jan 28, 2013

If this had a core M or an i5 in this for factor I would buy it. So maybe the surface 4 or 5

posted on May 02, 2015, 7:41 PM 0

6. MrElectrifyer

Posts: 3960; Member since: Oct 21, 2014

Nice, this is exactly what I wished the RT line was instead of bastardized like them ARM tablets. ARM Tablets are literally just overpriced jokes with Intel Atom tablets on the market. Good job Microsoft, still happily rocking my 256GB SSD 8GB RAM Surface Pro 2 ☺

posted on May 02, 2015, 7:43 PM 6

9. Penny

Posts: 1860; Member since: Feb 04, 2011

Yeah, I kinda got screwed being an early adopter of the RT. It's a great tablet, don't get me wrong, I just didn't know it would be headed toward a dead end.

posted on May 02, 2015, 10:08 PM 2

11. brrunopt

Posts: 742; Member since: Aug 15, 2013

ARM windows tablets are out of the future but a Surface RT is still a good tablet with future ahead..

posted on May 03, 2015, 4:55 AM 1

7. vergil9

Posts: 517; Member since: Apr 06, 2015

Any chances of a Lumia Note? It's about time Samsung's Note had a real rival.

posted on May 02, 2015, 8:00 PM 3

8. elitewolverine

Posts: 5192; Member since: Oct 28, 2013

I agree

posted on May 02, 2015, 8:54 PM 1

10. Krjal

Posts: 431; Member since: Dec 19, 2013

I'd love to see it but it's a lot harder when this tech requires a powered stylus. Miniturising an N-trig (Microsoft now?) stylus without a massive loss in either functionality or battery life is the biggest issue in bringing it to a smaller form factor like a 'Note' phone. Wacom's stranglehold on em resonance digitisers is the only reason they're still #1 in the stylus space and they're not gonna let go of those patents any time soon. I wish there was a way around it though. As a graphic designer I have to deal with Wacom every day and they've become quite sloppy with the lack of competition.