Microsoft might not have an official presence at CES 2013 (it has no stand and left Qualcomm with keynote duties) but it did not decline from making an announcement at the show-- the next Surface tablet, the Surface Pro.
Shown to the press in pre-production form, the Surface Pro is Surface on steroids. Display resolution is up from 1366 x 768 to 1920 x 1080, and the touchpanel handles active pen input via included stylus (which magnetically snaps on the side of the tablet when not in use).
Pen input is pressure sensitive and reportedly feels rather natural.
Hardware is somewhat rejigged from the regular Surface-- the Pro is thicker (13.5mm instead of 9.4mm) and heavier thanks to beefed up hardware (Core i5 processor, x2 fans and a 42.5Wh battery). Even the kickstand is slightly different, angling the device at 26 degrees instead of 22 degrees.
Connectivity options are identical to the previous model, with 720p cameras, mini DisplayPort, microSD slot and full-size USB 3.0 port. The OS of choice is Windows 8 Pro, making the tablet a proper mobile PC.
Did Microsoft get it right with the Surface Pro? Certain questions remain (such as battery life), but clearly Microsoft has both lofty mobile computing ambitions and good looking hardware show. Either way, it seems Surface is just getting started.
