Will Microsoft Surface beat its competitors in tablet market?

Touted as the competition to Apple's iPad, Microsoft launched Surface tablet , promising to be different. Microsoft Corp. is taking up the competition with Apple Inc. and its iPad by borrowing a page from Apple's playbook. It is keeping both software and hardware development under the same roof.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's famously tough-talking CEO sounded downright Zen and Apple-inspired as he introduced the Surface .

With Surface, Microsoft faces the challenge of selling the soon-to-be-launched Windows 8 to PC makers who want to make tablets, while at the same time selling tablets directly to consumers. Take a look at other tablets available in the market.

Gadget and Gizmos' Nandagopal Rajan writes the first reviews of the Microsoft Surface , a 10.6'' tablet featuring a ClearType HD display, are mostly positive. The Surface seems to be a viable alternative to Apple's iPad.

The device will hit stores this fall in two models - a lighter, cheaper one with a phone-style processor, and a heavier one with a PC-style Intel processor and the ability to run standard Windows programs. Many details aren't available yet.

Features of two Surface models and its competitors:

- Weight: About 1.5 pounds for the RT version, 2 pounds for the Pro version. Both are heavier than the iPad and other leading competitors. The iPad is 1.44 pounds and Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 is 1.24 pounds. Amazon's Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble's Nook Tablet are both less than a pound.

- Screen size: The display of both Surface models will be 10.6 inches diagonally. That's larger than most rival tablets. The Galaxy is 10.1 inches, while the iPad is 9.7 inches. The Kindle and Nook devices are 7 inches.

- Storage options: 32 or 64 gigabytes for the RT model, 64 or 128 GB for the Pro version. Those are all on the high side. Although the iPad goes up to 64 GB, the standard is 16 GB. The Galaxy also has 16 GB. The Kindle comes with 6 GB, and the Nook comes with 8 or 16 GB.

- Keyboard: Microsoft made a big deal of a removable rubberized keyboard, which also folds over the tablet to act as a cover. The tablet also has a kickstand, which means, combined with the keyboard, it can be set up and used like a small laptop. The Asus Transformer is a popular tablet with a similar concept. A solid keyboard "dock", which also contains an extra battery, attaches to the tablet. The combination folds up like a laptop.

- Expandability: The Surface's storage will be expandable with microSD cards. The Galaxy and the Nook also accept microSD cards, while the iPad and the Kindle don't have slots for more memory.

- USB ports: The RT model will accept USB 2.0 devices, and the Pro version will support the newer USB 3.0. Most tablets, including the iPad, the Galaxy, the Kindle and the Nook, lack ports for connecting USB devices.

Two important things Microsoft didn't specify: how long the Surface's battery lasts on a single charge and the prices the tablets will carry when they hit stores this fall.

With AP inputs