Microsoft Surface tablet to launch October 26
updated 06:22 pm EDT, Mon July 30, 2012
Release date tipped in SEC filing
Microsoft's Surface tablets should be launching this year on October 26, right alongside the company's new Windows 8 operating system. The launch date was revealed in an SEC filing, wherein the company detailed plans for its Windows Division.
The filing confirms the release date for Windows 8, which Microsoft announced last week, and goes on to say "at that time, we will begin selling the Surface." Microsoft, when unveiling the Surface tablets earlier this year, didn't give any indication on a release schedule for the devices beyond later this year. The company still has yet to reveal any pricing details on the devices.
Surface represents a significant wager on Microsoft's part. Its hardware manufacturing partners have, so far, been unable to do any serious damage to Apple's dominant position in the tablet sector, and the Redmond company is now producing Microsoft-branded computing devices for the first time. The company designed the Surface under heavy secrecy, informing its traditional hardware partners only at the last minute of the project's existence.
