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www.pgcitizen.ca | Wednesday, December 5, 2012
These 4 hot handhelds are the must-have device for the reader/browser/ gamer on your list Timothy R. Schulte | CTW Features
Tablet Time Microsoft Surface The Microsoft Surface (Price TBD) is perhaps the coolest new tablet of 2012 – and a big part of that doesn’t even have to do with the
tablet itself. The Surface comes with a 3mm cover that magnetically “clicks” into place along the edge of the device, similar to the iPad Smart Cover for all intents and purposes. But
when you open the cover, you’ll find a full keyboard, including trackpad, integrated on the inside. No need to lug around a bulky Bluetooth keyboard. The cover actually comes in two varieties: the Touch Cover and the Type Cover (Prices TBD).The 3mm Touch Cover is capacitive, responding to the force you put on a button, so it won’t start inputting a letter just because your fingertip is resting on a key.The 5mm Type Cover features movable keys for the feel of a traditional keyboard.The combination of a cover keyboard and built-in kickstand gives the ease and comfort of typing on a laptop with the portability of a tablet. Both covers are available in five colors. The Surface RT (a Pro model will be released later) features a 10.6-inch, 16:9 widescreen ClearType HD display, making it great for viewing downloadable movies from the Windows Store or streaming from apps like Netflix. Light and thin, the Surface weighs in at just less than 1.5 pounds (676 grams/1.49 pounds) and is only 9.3mm thick – specs that more or less match up with the iPad. Like the iPad, it has front and rear cameras for capturing photos and video-conferencing. Cont’d on page 26