The Microsoft Surface tablet is now available widely at retailers in Canada following the launch of Windows 8.
We got a hands on demo of the device at Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 launch event on Monday. Take a look at this rare hardware release from Microsoft in this video:
Microsoft Surface is best used with its touch cover accessory.
Those who are looking to use a tablet as a productivity tool may be drawn to the Surface. It has handy ports like a standard USB input, so you can connect it to a USB keyboard or printer for example. It also has a mini-HDMI output port and expandable storage with a microSD card slot.
Here’s a quick look at the specs for Surface with Windows RT, the tablet available on the market now: it has a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, 2 GB of RAM, and 32 GB of storage with a 64 GB option. The screen is 10.6 inches in a widescreen format, with a resolution of 1366 by 768, and there are two video cameras capable of shooting 720p video.
Pricing for the Surface in Canada starts at $519 for the 32 GB version. If you add the touch cover, the cost is $619, and if you want to buy the 64 GB version with the cover, the cost is $719.
Still to come from Microsoft is the Surface with Windows 8 Pro. This tablet will run on an Intel Core i5 processor with Intel HD Graphics 4000. It will have 4 GB of memory and offer up to 128 GB of storage. It will be a bit heftier than the current Surface model, and it’s not yet known what the price will be.
Brian Jackson is the Editor at ITBusiness.ca. E-mail him at [email protected], follow him on Twitter, connect on Google+, read his blog, and check out the IT Business Facebook Page. 
