New device set to land in New Zealand in early May
Microsoft announced today a new addition to the Surface family – the Surface 3 – which will be available in New Zealand by early May.
Frazer Scott, Marketing & Operations Director for Microsoft New Zealand, says like Surface Pro 3, Surface 3 is a tablet that can replace your laptop but is thinner, lighter and even more affordable.
“Powerful and efficient, Surface 3 is optimised to run full Windows and Office and features long battery life. Starting at just $NZ799, it packs performance and value into an elegant, lightweight design,” says Scott.
Scott says the ability to run Windows apps and the versatile pen experience1 — great for taking notes or marking documents — make Surface 3 ideal for students, schools and anyone looking for a portable device to get things done.
“Surface 3 brings what customers love about Surface Pro 3 to more people, delivering the premium design and productivity of Surface in a more affordable device,” said Panos Panay, corporate vice president, Microsoft Surface.
“We’ve taken everything we learned making Surface Pro 3 and poured that innovation into this newest Surface. It’s beautiful, versatile, powerful and productive, and our customers are going to love what it lets them do.”
Productivity and portability
Powered by the new quad-core Intel® Atom™ x7 processor,2 Surface 3 is quick and responsive but designed to maximise efficiency with up to 10 hours of video-playback battery life.3
A range of storage and memory configurations gives people choice in power and capacity. The beautiful 10.8-inch ClearType HD multi-touch display featuring 3:2 aspect ratio, stereo speakers with Dolby®
Audio-enhanced sound, and the elegant and durable magnesium design are just a few of the benefits of Surface 3 that customers will recognize from Surface Pro 3.
The three-position kickstand is ideal for using Surface 3 while working at a desk, sitting on a couch or holding in the palm of a hand as a natural writing surface.
Free upgrade to Windows 10
To help people get even more done, Surface 3 ships with full Windows 8.1 and can be upgraded to Windows 10 for free when available.4
It also comes complete with a one-year subscription of Microsoft Office 365 Personal, including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, plus OneDrive cloud storage.5 (Full device specs are available here.)
Surface accessories
Surface 3 can be paired with new accessories (sold separately): Surface 3 Type Cover is offered in a variety of colours and features an improved trackpad and responsive keyset for fast, accurate typing, alongside four vibrant Surface Pen colours — silver, black, blue and red.
The Surface 3 Docking Station lets people easily connect to an external monitor and all their desktop devices, and Surface 3’s full-size USB 3.0 port, Mini DisplayPort, microSD™ card reader and Micro USB charging port make it compatible with the Surface Pro line of adapters and ready for quick and easy connections to a variety of accessories. Surface accessories specifics can be found here.
Pre-order and availability
Surface 3 can be purchased via three retailers in New Zealand – JB Hi Fi, Noel Leeming, and Harvey Norman. Surface 3 can also be purchased commercially, through Datacom Systems Ltd, Spark New Zealand Ltd, Cyclone Computers Company Ltd, Acquire.co.nz, and The Laptop Company.
Pricing
| Surface 3 | Estimated retail price |
| 2 GB of RAM, 64 GB of storage | NZ$799.00 |
| 4 GB of RAM, 128 GB of storage | NZ$959.00 |
| Accessories | Estimated retail price |
| Surface 3 Type Cover | NZ$199.99 |
| Surface Pen | NZ$79.99 |
| Surface 3 Docking Station | NZ$309.99 |
| Surface 3 Screen Protector | NZ$79.99 |
More information on Surface can be found at www.surface.com.
For broadcast download, visit Surface Newsroom at http://www.microsoft.com/news/presskits/surface for b-roll clips.
ENDNOTES
1 Surface Pen sold separately.
2 Intel, Intel Atom and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.
3 Testing conducted by Microsoft in March 2015 using 128GB units with 4 GB of RAM. Testing consisted of full battery discharge during video playback. All settings were default except Wi-Fi was associated with a network and Auto-Brightness was disabled. Battery life varies significantly with settings, usage and other factors.
4 Free upgrade to Windows 10 for qualified Windows 8.1 devices that upgrade in the first year. More information and additional offer terms available in the coming months. See http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/about?ocid=WIN10_0_WOL_Hero_Home_Windows-10_Null_01 for more information.
5Available on Surface 3 with Windows 8.1 purchased prior to Dec. 31, 2015. While supplies last. Office activation required within six months of Windows activation date.
NOTE: Some information relates to a pre-release product, which may be substantially modified before it is commercially released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.
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For more information, contact:
Brendan Boughen (Communications Manager, Microsoft NZ)
Phone: 027 839 6044
Email: [email protected]
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential.