Microsoft Surface Windows tablet coming Oct. 26 for $199, report says

The Surface's Touch Cover keyboard comes in five colors: red, blue, black, pink and white.

/ Microsoft

Microsoft may be launching its Surface Windows RT tablet in the coming months, according to a recent report by the blog Engadget.

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Citing an "inside source," Engadget reports that a launch timeline for the Microsoft Surface tablet was established at a meeting held at the TechReady15 conference. According to the source, the Windows RT version of the tablet will go on sale on October 26 for $199.

Microsoft's Surface tablet features a 10.6-inch display, a full version of the Windows 8 operating system, Gorilla Glass, a built in kickstand and a tactile multi-touch keyboard.

Two versions of the Surface are planned: an Intel-powered Surface Pro and the Surface RT, which is powered with an ARM chip that runs Windows RT - a version of Windows 8.

If the reported price of the Surface tablet is correct, it would be the cheapest full-sized tablet to be released this fall. For comparison, Apple's newest iPad retails for $499 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 starts at about $400.

Speculation over the Surface tablet's release date and price comes on the heels of similar rumors of a 7-inch Apple iPad mini, which is said to be priced at between $249 and $299.

Microsoft enters the market with notable competitors. In June, Google announced the Nexus 7 Tablet, which is also priced at $199. Last fall, Amazon and Barnes & Noble announced 7-inch tablets - the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet, respectively.

Currently, Apple dominates the full-sized tablet market. In a June earnings call, the company reported 17 million iPads sold in the third quarter alone. According to a preliminary NPD DisplaySearch report in May, the iPad is estimated to have a 62.8 percent share of the tablet market worldwide.

Microsoft announced the Surface tablet in June. This will be the company's first hardware launch.

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A closer look at Microsoft's Surface tablet

[woodslayer67]

i am very happy to have option to the ipad. The ipad is a great TOY. i am hoping that this will be a great companion to my laptop. I would love to have this as a portable device and go back to a desktop. Running a pair of xeon 6 core, 32gb ram, two or three monitors and RDP and quit lugging a laptop around. we will see.

[t_dur_den]

This is not the company's first hardware launch. Microsoft has a long tradition of selling hardware starting with Microsoft Mouse. They have been selling keyboards as well. Doesn't Xbox count as a hardware?

[Techno_Dynamo]

I would think they would be refering to the tablet market. Being that there are windows tablet already that where previously designed by third-party OEM's. Microsoft has designed an In-House Tablet. Built and approved by Microsoft